Jan 11, 2014, 10:36 am
Last edit by: TEDisgone
WARNING - The cancellation fee has been increased up to $200 for long haul premium awards as of Feb 2017 .
T&Cs here:
How to cancel a Lifemiles ticket:
Some agents have stated that the ticket can be cancelled even AFTER the flight dates, as long as the ticket is "open". Confirmed by FTers @ #334, 336, 371 and 445.
T&Cs here:
How to cancel a Lifemiles ticket:
- Lifemiles tickets cannot be canceled or changed online, you need to call the Avianca/TACA call center
(+1 800 284 2622)(number updated to +1 866 919 0081 as of February 2024). #2 for English, then enter your Lifemiles number, enter #3 for Lifemiles then #3 again for transactions. - The cancellation fee is variable, $50-200. The change-fee is $150. This is per passenger/ticket. If you cancel, you will not get back the $25 booking fee paid when the ticket was issued.
- The cancellation fee for Awards booked after 20th/2/2017: Award Tickets are reimbursable by paying a fee that varies depending on the redeemed route, the redemption channel and other circumstances, Accurate information of the reimbursement cost shall be informed at the time of redeeming the Award Ticket. If you cancel, you will not get back the $25 booking fee paid when the ticket was issued.
- You need to set-up a phone PIN to do any changes to tickets on lifemiles.com before or during the call. Do this before you call as doing this while calling can add a couple of minutes to the call
- Make sure your address and phone number are up to date in your lifemiles account. This will help immensely as spelling out everything letter-by-letter to the phone agent.
- Your credit card information is collected via an automated system on the phone and not by the agent. The system first asks you for your card number (Visa, Mastercard, or American Express), followed by the expiration month/year in MMYY format, then followed by the Security Code. Press * to correct mistakes in entering numbers.
- You need to enter/confirm credit card information for every ticket seperately. The process is simpler for remaining tickets as you only need to: first confirm the last 4 digits of the card (1 - Yes; 2 - No); followed by the expiration Month; followed by the expiration Year; followed by the Security code. For AMEX,(and sometimes for visa too ) the whole cared number has to be entered again
- Similarly if you have used credit cards before, the system keeps information about your credit cards, so even for the first ticket, the process is simpler as you only need to confirm the last four digits of credit card, then expiration month, then expiration year last two digits only followed by the security code
- Be prepared to spend between 20 minutes and 3 hours on the phone to get your changes / cancellation done, depending on the agent you get, or if you're really unlucky, you may spend days getting it sorted out.
- Avianca transactions may trigger fraud alerts on your credit card, you may need to contact your bank about this.
- Miles should be back in your account instantaneously, tax refund can take longer (2-3 weeks)
- Money paid for miles purchased as part of "more money/less miles" choice will NOT be refunded in cash but as miles.
- As soon as your flight is ticketed, the refund for a cash & miles booking will be only in miles
- BE PATIENT: some agents are very knowledgeable and fast, others take hours to get a simple cancellation done
- TAXES ARE REFUNDABLE: if an agent claims that taxes are non-refundable you may need to write an email to [email protected] to follow-up
- You should be able to see your cancellation receipts under "Your Lifemiles" - "Print receipts" (Only works with Internet Explorer!)
- NEW RULE - Ticket cannot be cancelled in the T-48 to T+24 window. Ticket can be cancelled after T+24 as long as ticket is valid, which is up to 365 days after issuance date (not travel date!)
Some agents have stated that the ticket can be cancelled even AFTER the flight dates, as long as the ticket is "open". Confirmed by FTers @ #334, 336, 371 and 445.
Cancellation of Lifemiles ticket
Jun 15, 2014, 11:22 pm
#287
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: MDE
Programs: AA EP, CM PP, AV GM, UA Silver, SPG Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Plat, Marriott Plat, Accor Plat
Posts: 1,002
Having a Vonage or 8x8 line comes in very handy for calls like this. We use 8x8 for our business phone system for mostly other reasons (+ one Vonage line as an emergency backup), but I call Colombia frequently and never feel even a hint of pain when the bill comes. They can replace your regular household phone, and your number can be ported to them, so as long as you have a good internet connection, you can call wherever you want without breaking the bank on either one while maintaining your existing service at what I've found to be a savings in both cases.
Jun 16, 2014, 5:12 pm
#288
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Anywhere I need to be.
Programs: OW Emerald, *A Gold, NEXUS, GE, ABTC/APEC, South Korea SES, eIACS, PP, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 16,046
Jun 22, 2014, 2:17 pm
#290
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: YUL & SIN
Posts: 340
Long wait times
Hi all!
Been a lurker for the longest times...
Called today and waited 3 hours now and no one has picked up.... Called the 2 toll-free numbers and also direct to Bogota. Called on 3 lines!!
Anyone trying to call them, you may not want to call today.
Thanks all!
Been a lurker for the longest times...
Called today and waited 3 hours now and no one has picked up.... Called the 2 toll-free numbers and also direct to Bogota. Called on 3 lines!!
Anyone trying to call them, you may not want to call today.
Thanks all!
Jun 22, 2014, 4:02 pm
#291
Ambassador: LATAM
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: PNA
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 4,648
Tomorrow is Día de la Virgen Coquetea y Traviesa de Guadalupe. It's a national holiday and this is a puente weekend. Lots of places are sleepy and it wouldn't surprise me if Avianca Bogotá is somewhat understaffed.
Jun 23, 2014, 8:52 pm
#293
Join Date: Jun 2013
Programs: SPG Plat 100, A3*G
Posts: 678
I canceled 2 tickets a while back and received the miles back, ...
The flight is in 6 hours and it seems that the tickets are still valid and I could even check-in on LH.com.
LM mistake? Maybe I should try to cancel again?
The flight is in 6 hours and it seems that the tickets are still valid and I could even check-in on LH.com.
LM mistake? Maybe I should try to cancel again?
Jun 25, 2014, 9:35 am
#296
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
No he won't as the ticket has not been cancelled by LM but if you do take it then they will most likely deduct the miles from your account later. This is really bad practice and I would really stress against trying it.
Jun 25, 2014, 5:22 pm
#298
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Programs: Flying: VA; Buying: AA, AS, AV, BA, UA!
Posts: 2,349
Jun 29, 2014, 11:34 am
#300
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: HAM
Programs: A few
Posts: 213
I really don't know what they do with their IT on a daily basis, but it never seems to improve, only get worse 
Needed to cancel two tickets, I used to be through in 10min, these days it always requires (after 4-5 times trying the automated system at different times of the day) someone in the manual cancellation billing department doing the transaction "by hand" via me reading the numbers to him. The same happened last month. Cancelling during a weekend has turned out to be impossible, since nobody works in the payment departments who could look at the issue when "the system doesn't work"
It really bugs me that other people currently still only need the wonderful 10min which I also used to have, whilst I by now need 4-5hrs per ticket. Seems they dislike me being dependent on flexibility in my travel plans
Needed to cancel two tickets, I used to be through in 10min, these days it always requires (after 4-5 times trying the automated system at different times of the day) someone in the manual cancellation billing department doing the transaction "by hand" via me reading the numbers to him. The same happened last month. Cancelling during a weekend has turned out to be impossible, since nobody works in the payment departments who could look at the issue when "the system doesn't work"
It really bugs me that other people currently still only need the wonderful 10min which I also used to have, whilst I by now need 4-5hrs per ticket. Seems they dislike me being dependent on flexibility in my travel plans