Aug 17, 2013, 12:43 am
Last edit by: Tokyoite
Please do your homework before buying Lifemiles. It is what it is... for some that's useful, for others it's not.
Biggest complaints are about
- mixed class bookings are available but now many of the suitable connections dont show
- not being able to book anything that isn't available online (there are work-arounds, see screenshot method below)
- the quality of the call center (English speaking agents are scarce, you might get thrown in a loop with call transfers within their call center)
- no stopovers (>24H) or open jaws, but you can book one way awards
- no reservations on Certain subsidiaries of Star Alliance carriers (Lufthansa Cityline, Germanwings)
Problems with ticketing / lack of confirmation screen or email
- write down the confirmation number shown on the screen after confirming your purchase.
check here: http://serviciosenlinea.avianca.com/...doReserva.aspx
Sometimes, even if you cannot see the PNR, the record may have been created, so better to call them and give them flight details you were trying to book. They can find the PNR from those details.
- ticketing usually takes place within 10-15 min of booking
- but it may also take up to 2 days
- if miles have been deducted from your account and a temporary authorization has been placed on your CC, you're probably fine even if you did not see a confirmation screen
- if no e-ticket number is visible on checkmytrip.com after two days, you should contact LifeMiles. You can expedite the ticketing by emailing with your booking reference to: [email protected] after you have booked, especially if you have booked last minute flights, and need ticketing straight away
Screenshot method.
So, on a date you are looking for in the future, there is availability for LAX-NRT and NRT-BKK. But not LAX-NRT-BKK.
It may be a case of the LM system not offering the through connection.
Take three screen shots - two 'available' screen shots for LAX-NRT and NRT-BKK and the 'not available' screen for LAX-BKK.
Send them all off with a scan of your passport page (PDF) and LM will make the booking manually for you.
Send to these two email addresses, and CC yourself (just for your records)
[email protected]
[email protected]
Sample email:
====
Email topic: Urgent request for booking Lifemiles Award
====
Dear Sirs,
I have tried several times, over several days, but the following itinerary does not show on the website.
Please see the three attached screenshots I took just now.
Please do the manual booking First Class/Business class for xx,000 miles. (*Know how many miles the whole award should cost-here, to avoid surprises once ticketed)
The availability is only 1 seat for this date, so please process this request urgently before it is gone.
Los Angeles (LAX) - Bangkok (BKK)
Saturday August 11th 2018
NH 175 connecting to NH 807
(*Provide the specific flight numbers you want, to avoid surprises once ticketed)
My passport copy (Number xxxx, expiry 20xx/xx/xx, Nationality xxx) is attached in this email.
LifeMiles Number: xxx
First Name: xxx
Last name: xxx
Date of Birth: Month, date, year
Gender: Male/Female
Email: xxxx
Phone Number: +1-xxxx
Regards,
XXX
=========
Biggest complaints are about
- mixed class bookings are available but now many of the suitable connections dont show
- not being able to book anything that isn't available online (there are work-arounds, see screenshot method below)
- the quality of the call center (English speaking agents are scarce, you might get thrown in a loop with call transfers within their call center)
- no stopovers (>24H) or open jaws, but you can book one way awards
- no reservations on Certain subsidiaries of Star Alliance carriers (Lufthansa Cityline, Germanwings)
Problems with ticketing / lack of confirmation screen or email
- write down the confirmation number shown on the screen after confirming your purchase.
check here: http://serviciosenlinea.avianca.com/...doReserva.aspx
Sometimes, even if you cannot see the PNR, the record may have been created, so better to call them and give them flight details you were trying to book. They can find the PNR from those details.
- ticketing usually takes place within 10-15 min of booking
- but it may also take up to 2 days
- if miles have been deducted from your account and a temporary authorization has been placed on your CC, you're probably fine even if you did not see a confirmation screen
- if no e-ticket number is visible on checkmytrip.com after two days, you should contact LifeMiles. You can expedite the ticketing by emailing with your booking reference to: [email protected] after you have booked, especially if you have booked last minute flights, and need ticketing straight away
Screenshot method.
So, on a date you are looking for in the future, there is availability for LAX-NRT and NRT-BKK. But not LAX-NRT-BKK.
It may be a case of the LM system not offering the through connection.
Take three screen shots - two 'available' screen shots for LAX-NRT and NRT-BKK and the 'not available' screen for LAX-BKK.
Send them all off with a scan of your passport page (PDF) and LM will make the booking manually for you.
Send to these two email addresses, and CC yourself (just for your records)
[email protected]
[email protected]
Sample email:
====
Email topic: Urgent request for booking Lifemiles Award
====
Dear Sirs,
I have tried several times, over several days, but the following itinerary does not show on the website.
Please see the three attached screenshots I took just now.
Please do the manual booking First Class/Business class for xx,000 miles. (*Know how many miles the whole award should cost-here, to avoid surprises once ticketed)
The availability is only 1 seat for this date, so please process this request urgently before it is gone.
Los Angeles (LAX) - Bangkok (BKK)
Saturday August 11th 2018
NH 175 connecting to NH 807
(*Provide the specific flight numbers you want, to avoid surprises once ticketed)
My passport copy (Number xxxx, expiry 20xx/xx/xx, Nationality xxx) is attached in this email.
LifeMiles Number: xxx
First Name: xxx
Last name: xxx
Date of Birth: Month, date, year
Gender: Male/Female
Email: xxxx
Phone Number: +1-xxxx
Regards,
XXX
=========
Lifemiles serious booking problems - Beware (old legacy thread)
Jun 8, 2020, 4:40 pm
#1831
formerly 1984SW
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
Programs: UA
Posts: 1,058
I was looking for MID-BKK awards on ua.com for August and September, and saw quite a few J award seats on LH from IAH, DFW, AUS and DEN to FRA on various days.
Aug 23, 2020, 4:10 am
#1832
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: SFO/SJC/OAK
Programs: OZ Diamond (*G), KQ Asante Gold (ST+), Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,511
Lifemiles is having serious problems booking anything on Turkish Airlines. I have tried booking 2 different itineraries that included Turkish flights and the website errored out on both. So I emailed to have it booked manually, and got a response today that
"We share our apologies for the experience you had when booking your tickets on our website. Up to this moment, it's not possible to book flights with Turkish Airlines. This situation has been reported and is being worked on; however, there's no specific time frame when it'll be sorted out; reason why, we can only recommend you to attempt the redemption procedure on our website by searching with different airlines."
This is very annoying, and the lack of timeline on this issue is mind-boggling.
"We share our apologies for the experience you had when booking your tickets on our website. Up to this moment, it's not possible to book flights with Turkish Airlines. This situation has been reported and is being worked on; however, there's no specific time frame when it'll be sorted out; reason why, we can only recommend you to attempt the redemption procedure on our website by searching with different airlines."
This is very annoying, and the lack of timeline on this issue is mind-boggling.
Aug 23, 2020, 9:07 am
#1833
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 138
Lifemiles is having serious problems booking anything on Turkish Airlines. I have tried booking 2 different itineraries that included Turkish flights and the website errored out on both. So I emailed to have it booked manually, and got a response today that
"We share our apologies for the experience you had when booking your tickets on our website. Up to this moment, it's not possible to book flights with Turkish Airlines. This situation has been reported and is being worked on; however, there's no specific time frame when it'll be sorted out; reason why, we can only recommend you to attempt the redemption procedure on our website by searching with different airlines."
This is very annoying, and the lack of timeline on this issue is mind-boggling.
"We share our apologies for the experience you had when booking your tickets on our website. Up to this moment, it's not possible to book flights with Turkish Airlines. This situation has been reported and is being worked on; however, there's no specific time frame when it'll be sorted out; reason why, we can only recommend you to attempt the redemption procedure on our website by searching with different airlines."
This is very annoying, and the lack of timeline on this issue is mind-boggling.
Aug 23, 2020, 9:11 am
#1834
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: SFO/SJC/OAK
Programs: OZ Diamond (*G), KQ Asante Gold (ST+), Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,511
Yeah, it is something recent. I made a booking last month that included a Turkish flight and it was not a problem.
Aug 23, 2020, 1:43 pm
#1835
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 13
I've been kicking around visiting Turkey for a couple months. Last week, after making a rough itinerary I decided to lock in an award flight for IAD-IST-ASR. Once I moved to the purchase stage it errored out. Same result calling in. I did notice a few days prior direct flights between any US airport and IST showed no results, while using IST as connecting had no issues unless you attempted to book. Within the last couple days, even that's not the case. Nothing on TK is showing up.
I will probably book on UA or LH and connect in FRA to IST.
I will probably book on UA or LH and connect in FRA to IST.
Sep 2, 2020, 7:28 pm
#1836
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast
Programs: AA CONCIERGE KEY & 1MM, HILTON DIAMOND
Posts: 11,970
I've been kicking around visiting Turkey for a couple months. Last week, after making a rough itinerary I decided to lock in an award flight for IAD-IST-ASR. Once I moved to the purchase stage it errored out. Same result calling in. I did notice a few days prior direct flights between any US airport and IST showed no results, while using IST as connecting had no issues unless you attempted to book. Within the last couple days, even that's not the case. Nothing on TK is showing up.
I will probably book on UA or LH and connect in FRA to IST.
I will probably book on UA or LH and connect in FRA to IST.
Sep 3, 2020, 8:44 pm
#1839
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast
Programs: AA CONCIERGE KEY & 1MM, HILTON DIAMOND
Posts: 11,970
Sep 4, 2020, 12:00 am
#1840
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: UA, AS
Posts: 2,393
Thanks for the info. I would imagine this would not be isolated to just one partner and if so this could cause significant problems for all partner awards. Let's hope the recent Colombian government loan to Avianca alleviates these problems.
Sep 4, 2020, 12:15 am
#1841
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denmark
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 11,825
This is exactly as predicted upthreads/in the "cnxl of LM tickets" thread - partners not getting paid and will remove inventory to prevent further losses.
Sep 4, 2020, 12:18 am
#1842
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: UA, QF, VS, AA, US, HH, SPG
Posts: 974
Cripes - just not what I (and other long suffering LM points holders) wanted to hear - yet they continue to push "buy" promos. If and when we can ever travel again - looks like it won't be on LM award tickets.
Sep 4, 2020, 6:24 am
#1843
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast
Programs: AA CONCIERGE KEY & 1MM, HILTON DIAMOND
Posts: 11,970
As you probably know, Lifemiles is very aggressive with frequent promos for F and J awards on flights that are actually operated by their Star Alliance partners so obviously not getting paid for such inventory is an abuse for their partners and they have lost their patience with Lifemiles. However, some partners like UA may be more willing to release just Y space because in the eyes of UA, they have lots of Y seats that would otherwise remain empty and they can still collect some ancillary revenue such as luggage fees from Y awards.
Sep 5, 2020, 11:28 am
#1844
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: SFO/SJC/OAK
Programs: OZ Diamond (*G), KQ Asante Gold (ST+), Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,511
I wouldn't be so negative this quick. Yes, the lack of access to TK space is incredibly annoying, but just this past week I flew IST-FRA-LAX-SFO on a mix of LH/UA in J without any issues.
Sep 6, 2020, 1:42 pm
#1845
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: 14.66m NbW of PHL
Programs: HH Diamond
Posts: 848
Been trying to book BKK-EWR in the last few days, for May 2021. Fails every time after entering the traveler details.
Sent for email processing but the seats have gone. Luckily there are plenty of options (thru Paris, Zurich, Brussels) but it's pretty pathetic to have to do via email and wait for them to respond.
Sent for email processing but the seats have gone. Luckily there are plenty of options (thru Paris, Zurich, Brussels) but it's pretty pathetic to have to do via email and wait for them to respond.