Jan 1, 2014, 5:17 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
NOTE: This thread has been superseded by the thread entitled LM F and J routes (and the occasional trick-it) Rebooted v2.0. Please follow the discussion there.
Region definitions
C1 North America
C1.5 Caribbean, Bermuda
C2 Europe
C2.5 Middle East
C3 Asia
C4 South America
C5 Africa
C6 Oceania
2X, 3X: in the context of this LifeMiles thread, 2X and 3X refer to any 2nd and 3rd legs of a one-way award ticket.
LifeMiles' Star Alliance Award Chart
Cash & Miles redemptions: buying the max (60%) isn't always the best deal (unless you're purchasing all miles right there). Check here for the best CPM.
Beware of Cabotage: LifeMiles has been known to issue tickets that constitute Cabotage, and at least one instance of denied boarding has been reported, stranding the passenger. An easily-seen example is travel on Copa from LAX to SJU (via PTY).
Region definitions
C1 North America
C1.5 Caribbean, Bermuda
C2 Europe
C2.5 Middle East
C3 Asia
C4 South America
C5 Africa
C6 Oceania
2X, 3X: in the context of this LifeMiles thread, 2X and 3X refer to any 2nd and 3rd legs of a one-way award ticket.
LifeMiles' Star Alliance Award Chart
Cash & Miles redemptions: buying the max (60%) isn't always the best deal (unless you're purchasing all miles right there). Check here for the best CPM.
Beware of Cabotage: LifeMiles has been known to issue tickets that constitute Cabotage, and at least one instance of denied boarding has been reported, stranding the passenger. An easily-seen example is travel on Copa from LAX to SJU (via PTY).
LM F and J routes (and the occasional trick-it)
May 7, 2014, 8:20 pm
#2251
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
May 7, 2014, 8:33 pm
#2252
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Programs: Flying: VA; Buying: AA, AS, AV, BA, UA!
Posts: 2,349
I think it has been discussed in the LM forum as well...no, it's not really a comfortable connection. Sometimes it will work, it would have a relatively high failure rate though.
May 7, 2014, 10:02 pm
#2254
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 6,385
The "complaints" on facebook received a standard response from the social media people at LM who probably had no idea what's going on.
May 7, 2014, 10:21 pm
#2255
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: TLV
Posts: 522
The latest posts on FB actually received an acknowledgement that the matter was being handled by their IT. So apparently they did eventually "get it", or someone higher up "got it" and clued them in or just gave them the new response to use). We'll never know what really got it fixed. Not that it matters any.
May 7, 2014, 10:29 pm
#2256
Join Date: Sep 2010
Programs: IC Royal Ambassador, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 486
Thanks to all the people who wrote in to LM!
May 7, 2014, 11:33 pm
#2258
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Valencia, Spain
Programs: Pascal and Python, no C++
Posts: 738
The latest posts on FB actually received an acknowledgement that the matter was being handled by their IT. So apparently they did eventually "get it", or someone higher up "got it" and clued them in or just gave them the new response to use). We'll never know what really got it fixed. Not that it matters any.
May 7, 2014, 11:42 pm
#2259
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: DFW
Programs: AS, BA, AA
Posts: 3,670
Does anyone know how "country" is defined for cabotage? And I don't mean this in a facetious way. Is Puerto Rico considered US by this definition? Is St. Maarten technically Dutch? Reunion France? Bermuda or Caymans British? What about UA's milk run in the pacific?
Even if the answer is yes to all of the above, why can I not start a RTW in guam and finish in boston? It's because they are coded as different countries by IATA/ISO. Same with Netherlands and St. Maarten, and so on. Trust me, I've tried.
I'm a little confused by this perceived ambiguity.
Even if the answer is yes to all of the above, why can I not start a RTW in guam and finish in boston? It's because they are coded as different countries by IATA/ISO. Same with Netherlands and St. Maarten, and so on. Trust me, I've tried.
I'm a little confused by this perceived ambiguity.
http://books.google.com/books?id=yhG...page&q&f=false
As for RTW trips, I would bet it has more to do with your attempted start and finish points being in different IATA TC Areas (GUM is Area 3, BOS is Area 1; AMS is Area 2, SXM is in Area 1). I'm fairly sure the definition of a RTW trip includes that it must have exactly 3 sequential crossings between TC Areas, and/or start and finish in the same TC Area.
May 8, 2014, 12:09 am
#2260
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: DL plat
Posts: 316
This source may be a little dated, but try here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=yhG...page&q&f=false
As for RTW trips, I would bet it has more to do with your attempted start and finish points being in different IATA TC Areas (GUM is Area 3, BOS is Area 1; AMS is Area 2, SXM is in Area 1). I'm fairly sure the definition of a RTW trip includes that it must have exactly 3 sequential crossings between TC Areas, and/or start and finish in the same TC Area.
http://books.google.com/books?id=yhG...page&q&f=false
As for RTW trips, I would bet it has more to do with your attempted start and finish points being in different IATA TC Areas (GUM is Area 3, BOS is Area 1; AMS is Area 2, SXM is in Area 1). I'm fairly sure the definition of a RTW trip includes that it must have exactly 3 sequential crossings between TC Areas, and/or start and finish in the same TC Area.
As explained to me by someone else, the RTW bit actually refers to the code assigned by an international organization (ISO) whereas cabotage is governmental law. Two different and unrelated things which have no overlap, both unfortunately not working in our favor. Thanks for helping understand the technicalities.
May 8, 2014, 2:37 am
#2261
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: TYO
Programs: AP 75k
Posts: 137
Read through all of the thread and picked up pieces here and there, can anyone a few hints (PM) for C3-C1...kind of stumped here
May 8, 2014, 3:28 am
#2263
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: BTS
Posts: 611
If you know the principle behind the possible tricks you already know everything you need. If you don't know, no amount of hints will help you.
May 8, 2014, 4:25 am
#2264
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
Cabotage most definitely exists in Australia, this is why you can't book SYD-MEL standalone on UA.
May 8, 2014, 5:30 am
#2265
Join Date: Jun 2010
Programs: IC Amb :-(, UA silver, BA Gold, SPG Plat, A-Club Plat, Marriott Plat
Posts: 913
I have working solutions for C2-C3, C3-C2,C1-C3 but haven't started looking at C4 or C6 yet.
In an attempt at connecting two thread topics together, is it possible to run into US cabotage problems connecting C6-C1? (e.g. what zone is American Samoa?)