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)
May 31, 2021, 10:48 pm
#1981
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: CLE
Programs: NEXUS, MileagePlus Silver, Frontier Diamond, IHG Spire, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hertz PC
Posts: 264
Does the United website show your flight availablility at the saver level when you are NOT logged in to your MileagePlus account? The bloggers warn that logging into your MileagePlus account before a search often gives one extra saver award space that is not retrievable by third party frequent flyer programs (like Avianca LifeMiles).
Jun 3, 2021, 5:08 pm
#1982
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 432
Successfully redeemed three different tickets on Ethiopian airlines with LM online. Everything worked as it should, and got PNR in the end. Even did two tickets mixed cabin, also no issues.
Jun 4, 2021, 7:18 am
#1983
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 17
Can’t add other Travelers to profile or booking
I’m trying to book an award flight with multiple passengers and it keeps giving me an error when I try to add additional passengers. Has anyone experienced this? What can I do?
I’ve tried different devices, laptops, browsers etc
Their whatsapp and online chat is just a bot.
I’ve tried different devices, laptops, browsers etc
Their whatsapp and online chat is just a bot.
Jun 4, 2021, 8:55 pm
#1984
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: UA, AS
Posts: 2,393
How many companions are in your profile? There is a limit of something like 5 (4?) companions.
Jun 5, 2021, 10:51 pm
#1985
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 95
Want to ask if anyone has any issues lately (2021) booking Turkish airlines not being able to check in? OR not able to fly? due to LM not "paying/ transferring miles to Turkish"?
Any problem at all?
Somewhat scared that I'll be stranded since I have to fly to bigger airport (not my home town airport) to catch the Turkish flight.
Thank you all for input!
Any problem at all?
Somewhat scared that I'll be stranded since I have to fly to bigger airport (not my home town airport) to catch the Turkish flight.
Thank you all for input!
Jun 6, 2021, 7:41 am
#1986
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: UA, AS
Posts: 2,393
Want to ask if anyone has any issues lately (2021) booking Turkish airlines not being able to check in? OR not able to fly? due to LM not "paying/ transferring miles to Turkish"?
Any problem at all?
Somewhat scared that I'll be stranded since I have to fly to bigger airport (not my home town airport) to catch the Turkish flight.
Thank you all for input!
Any problem at all?
Somewhat scared that I'll be stranded since I have to fly to bigger airport (not my home town airport) to catch the Turkish flight.
Thank you all for input!
So long as your payment to Lifemiles has been processed and you have a Lifemiles confirmation and ticket numbers you have verified by checking it on avianca.com ("Manage your booking" tab), including verifying you have ticket numbers issued, you should be OK so check that if you haven't already. If a schedule change shows there you should confirm it which can usually be done there (Manage your booking on avianca.com).
It is also good to check the booking on the Turkish website. If the Avianca PNR doesn't work to retrieve it you need the Turkish PNR which you can either get by calling LifeMiles (avoid if possible due to long hold times) or some other method. IIRC, you used to be able to find the partner airline PNR by looking up your booking on the phone app but maybe it was just the ticket number. For some reason they did not used to show the partner PNR on avianca.com. I cannot remember whether I used the Avianca app or the LifeMiles app. Try them both. If you cannot retrieve the TK PNR there then other alternatives to calling LifeMiles are using checkmytrip.com which usually will show the partner PNR, or you may be able to up the LifeMiles PNR on another Star Alliance airline site which may give the partner PNR (maybe try united.com?).
Last edited by skimthetrees; Jun 6, 2021 at 7:48 am
Jun 7, 2021, 12:40 pm
#1987
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow
Programs: Airline Free Agent, Bonvoy Platinum, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 3,811
Looks like OZ space doesn't show up even when specifying the airline for flts between LAX-ICN
Jun 7, 2021, 12:50 pm
#1988
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: HH Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Gold, Hyatt something
Posts: 33,539
Jun 13, 2021, 1:39 am
#1989
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 95
Never flown Turkish but here is some general advice based on booking other partners.
So long as your payment to Lifemiles has been processed and you have a Lifemiles confirmation and ticket numbers you have verified by checking it on avianca.com ("Manage your booking" tab), including verifying you have ticket numbers issued, you should be OK so check that if you haven't already. If a schedule change shows there you should confirm it which can usually be done there (Manage your booking on avianca.com).
It is also good to check the booking on the Turkish website. If the Avianca PNR doesn't work to retrieve it you need the Turkish PNR which you can either get by calling LifeMiles (avoid if possible due to long hold times) or some other method. IIRC, you used to be able to find the partner airline PNR by looking up your booking on the phone app but maybe it was just the ticket number. For some reason they did not used to show the partner PNR on avianca.com. I cannot remember whether I used the Avianca app or the LifeMiles app. Try them both. If you cannot retrieve the TK PNR there then other alternatives to calling LifeMiles are using checkmytrip.com which usually will show the partner PNR, or you may be able to up the LifeMiles PNR on another Star Alliance airline site which may give the partner PNR (maybe try united.com?).
So long as your payment to Lifemiles has been processed and you have a Lifemiles confirmation and ticket numbers you have verified by checking it on avianca.com ("Manage your booking" tab), including verifying you have ticket numbers issued, you should be OK so check that if you haven't already. If a schedule change shows there you should confirm it which can usually be done there (Manage your booking on avianca.com).
It is also good to check the booking on the Turkish website. If the Avianca PNR doesn't work to retrieve it you need the Turkish PNR which you can either get by calling LifeMiles (avoid if possible due to long hold times) or some other method. IIRC, you used to be able to find the partner airline PNR by looking up your booking on the phone app but maybe it was just the ticket number. For some reason they did not used to show the partner PNR on avianca.com. I cannot remember whether I used the Avianca app or the LifeMiles app. Try them both. If you cannot retrieve the TK PNR there then other alternatives to calling LifeMiles are using checkmytrip.com which usually will show the partner PNR, or you may be able to up the LifeMiles PNR on another Star Alliance airline site which may give the partner PNR (maybe try united.com?).
Jun 15, 2021, 6:51 am
#1990
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 1,610
Has anyone had a successful booking today - on Chrome incognito and Safari and mobile website, after you pick your award flights and add travellers, clicking "Continue to Redemption" button no longer works, so you cannot proceed. This is happening for both myself and spouse's account, wondering if others are seeing this also and were able to resolve it?
Jun 16, 2021, 12:39 am
#1991
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Hong Kong SAR
Programs: OZ & BA Gold, HHonors Diamond, Marriott & Accor Plat
Posts: 295
Has anyone had a successful booking today - on Chrome incognito and Safari and mobile website, after you pick your award flights and add travellers, clicking "Continue to Redemption" button no longer works, so you cannot proceed. This is happening for both myself and spouse's account, wondering if others are seeing this also and were able to resolve it?
Jun 16, 2021, 3:25 pm
#1992
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 796
Manual booking also possible for cash + miles?
A general question :
if I don’t have enough miles and want to pay with the cash+miles option, can I still make a manual booking (screenshot method) and have them hold the seats and then we sort out the pricing when they call me to issue?
I don’t want to buy miles only to find out due to some glitch or space disappearing that I can’t get the ticket after all...
if I don’t have enough miles and want to pay with the cash+miles option, can I still make a manual booking (screenshot method) and have them hold the seats and then we sort out the pricing when they call me to issue?
I don’t want to buy miles only to find out due to some glitch or space disappearing that I can’t get the ticket after all...
Jun 16, 2021, 8:47 pm
#1993
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: UA, AS
Posts: 2,393
A general question :
if I don’t have enough miles and want to pay with the cash+miles option, can I still make a manual booking (screenshot method) and have them hold the seats and then we sort out the pricing when they call me to issue?
I don’t want to buy miles only to find out due to some glitch or space disappearing that I can’t get the ticket after all...
if I don’t have enough miles and want to pay with the cash+miles option, can I still make a manual booking (screenshot method) and have them hold the seats and then we sort out the pricing when they call me to issue?
I don’t want to buy miles only to find out due to some glitch or space disappearing that I can’t get the ticket after all...
Jun 16, 2021, 9:31 pm
#1994
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,406
A general question :
if I don’t have enough miles and want to pay with the cash+miles option, can I still make a manual booking (screenshot method) and have them hold the seats and then we sort out the pricing when they call me to issue?
I don’t want to buy miles only to find out due to some glitch or space disappearing that I can’t get the ticket after all...
if I don’t have enough miles and want to pay with the cash+miles option, can I still make a manual booking (screenshot method) and have them hold the seats and then we sort out the pricing when they call me to issue?
I don’t want to buy miles only to find out due to some glitch or space disappearing that I can’t get the ticket after all...
I have always done this previously with at least 40% of the required miles in my account which is the minimum for the miles+pay option. When you send your screenshots you tell them you will be doing cash+miles and will pay for the additional miles when you are completing ticket payment. .
I have not tried to make a booking with under the minimum 40% required.
Last edited by LHR/MEL/Europe FF; Jun 17, 2021 at 6:14 am Reason: spellin
Jun 17, 2021, 4:01 am
#1995
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 796
Yes, you can.
I have always done this previous with at least 40% of the required miles in my account which is the minimum for the miles+pay option. When you send your screenshots you tell them you will be doing cash+miles and will pay for the additional miles when you are completing ticket payment. .
I have not tried to make a booking with under the minimum 40% required.
I have always done this previous with at least 40% of the required miles in my account which is the minimum for the miles+pay option. When you send your screenshots you tell them you will be doing cash+miles and will pay for the additional miles when you are completing ticket payment. .
I have not tried to make a booking with under the minimum 40% required.