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)
Dec 7, 2017, 6:34 am
#736
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,722
Anyone know how to book a SAS award? I can't get it to display ANY availability on SAS, even when the award seats are wide open according to United.
Example: May 26 OSL-BGO (Bergen). United shows economy awards available every day that week. Lifemiles shows nothing, neither on Star Alliance nor on SAS. And that's the same for both the old and new booking engines.
[OT- successfully booked a C award on United's new IAH-SYD flight by reverting to the old Lifemiles booking engine as described by [b]skimthetrees above. The new engine hasn't heard about that flight]
Example: May 26 OSL-BGO (Bergen). United shows economy awards available every day that week. Lifemiles shows nothing, neither on Star Alliance nor on SAS. And that's the same for both the old and new booking engines.
[OT- successfully booked a C award on United's new IAH-SYD flight by reverting to the old Lifemiles booking engine as described by [b]skimthetrees above. The new engine hasn't heard about that flight]
Re: OSL-BGO, why not just take the train? It's a little longer, but it's very scenic- did the train ride myself a few short months ago.
Dec 7, 2017, 8:48 am
#737
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
Dec 7, 2017, 2:17 pm
#738
Join Date: Dec 2006
Programs: United 1k aa exec plat
Posts: 1,842
thanks-i was trying to use the new
check my trip which doesnt work!
check my trip which doesnt work!
Dec 11, 2017, 3:05 pm
#739
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: UA, QF, VS, AA, US, HH, SPG
Posts: 974
Old interface is back today
the old interface is back at the moment - country is set to "rest of the world" - did not do anything special.
Dec 12, 2017, 10:42 am
#740
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Valencia, Spain
Programs: Pascal and Python, no C++
Posts: 738
can't corroborate. You sure it's not your local browser cache?
Dec 12, 2017, 11:17 am
#741
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,838
Same here, nothing works. VPNs, private sessions, nothing.
Dec 12, 2017, 12:52 pm
#742
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: UA, QF, VS, AA, US, HH, SPG
Posts: 974
New browser is back for me and showing availability on sample routes (as was the old browser yesterday)
Dec 13, 2017, 9:19 pm
#743
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: DCA/IAD
Programs: most of them
Posts: 3,283
getting availability on AC for flights I am looking for (new interface) [DCA-YYC and YVR-DCA]. But booking craps out with an error message when I select the options I want. Sent emails to support
Dec 13, 2017, 9:55 pm
#744
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,722
The new interface seems a lot faster now, but still not showing the availability of the old interface.
Last edited by iluvdoco; Dec 13, 2017 at 10:02 pm
Dec 17, 2017, 5:00 pm
#745
Join Date: Dec 2006
Programs: United 1k aa exec plat
Posts: 1,842
am trying the screenshot route to deal with website error-but not getting any reply after 65hrs-any idea how to proceed?
Dec 18, 2017, 6:53 am
#746
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
Dec 18, 2017, 11:24 am
#747
Join Date: Dec 2006
Programs: United 1k aa exec plat
Posts: 1,842
support lifemiles
Dec 23, 2017, 11:38 pm
#748
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
seems the old interface is truly dead.
Dec 24, 2017, 2:35 pm
#749
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: MOW
Programs: A3 Silver, TK Gold
Posts: 12
A similar error occurred to me several times after entering card data and switching to payment.
I tried to pay by cards 3-4 banks (cards were both credit and debit). And only on the card of one of the banks the payment is always successful. The reason is not clear.
I tried to pay by cards 3-4 banks (cards were both credit and debit). And only on the card of one of the banks the payment is always successful. The reason is not clear.
Jan 26, 2018, 4:18 pm
#750
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Currently SJO (but also LON and NYC)
Programs: SkyTeam: AF/KL Gold. Star Alliance: CM Gold; AV Gold; UA. OneWorld: BA Sapphire
Posts: 183
Hi everyone
I'd like to use my AV LifeMiles to upgrade an economy flight from BOG to LHR which I purchased as part of a longer itinerary. Since originally there was no availability in the 'I' fare bucket (the one for award biz class tickets and award upgrades), but biz cabin was mostly unsold, I purchased an ExpertFlyer Premium subscription and set up an alert. Sure enough, yesterday ExpertFlyer notified me that there were seats available in the "I" fare bucket. I called Avianca but was told that no upgrade awards were available. I insisted that I could see there was availability in the I fare bucket. However, the agent explained that only from the internal Avianca system can one see if the available seats in 'I' are available for award tickets only or also for upgrades. In this case, the agent assured me they were only available for award tickets for the time being, although this might change in the coming days and weeks. Is this possible? Any thoughts on what I should do? Thanks!
I'd like to use my AV LifeMiles to upgrade an economy flight from BOG to LHR which I purchased as part of a longer itinerary. Since originally there was no availability in the 'I' fare bucket (the one for award biz class tickets and award upgrades), but biz cabin was mostly unsold, I purchased an ExpertFlyer Premium subscription and set up an alert. Sure enough, yesterday ExpertFlyer notified me that there were seats available in the "I" fare bucket. I called Avianca but was told that no upgrade awards were available. I insisted that I could see there was availability in the I fare bucket. However, the agent explained that only from the internal Avianca system can one see if the available seats in 'I' are available for award tickets only or also for upgrades. In this case, the agent assured me they were only available for award tickets for the time being, although this might change in the coming days and weeks. Is this possible? Any thoughts on what I should do? Thanks!