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
Feb 17, 2015, 10:44 pm
#406
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,839
Hi,
Newbie here -
Does anyone out there have experience in cancelling one ticket, as in one of us cant go at that particular time? They were booked together, so I am assuming not, but perhaps someone would be good enough to advise if its at all possible and if so how?
TIA
Newbie here -
Does anyone out there have experience in cancelling one ticket, as in one of us cant go at that particular time? They were booked together, so I am assuming not, but perhaps someone would be good enough to advise if its at all possible and if so how?
TIA
Feb 18, 2015, 4:00 am
#407
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: AT
Programs: *G at A3,TK;M&M,LM; IHG RA, AB Plat.
Posts: 105
If you need the miles (from the unuseable ticket) sooner: You can cancel each ticket of an existing reservation. As mlqsko wrote, make sure that the agent cancels the right ticket/passanger!
Feb 18, 2015, 2:28 pm
#408
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 10
Hi Everyone,
I have booked a flight with my lifemiles BEFORE the chart upgrade last year. Now I need to change the dates of my travel. Will they require me to have more miles now? or will they change the tickets without requiring more miles (but only the $150 change fee)?
Thanks in advance for help!
I have booked a flight with my lifemiles BEFORE the chart upgrade last year. Now I need to change the dates of my travel. Will they require me to have more miles now? or will they change the tickets without requiring more miles (but only the $150 change fee)?
Thanks in advance for help!
Feb 19, 2015, 12:11 am
#409
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: SIN
Programs: SQ, UA, Delta, BMI(RIP), Marriott Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Diamond (Thanks Amex) Hyatt Discov
Posts: 1,942
Hi Everyone,
I have booked a flight with my lifemiles BEFORE the chart upgrade last year. Now I need to change the dates of my travel. Will they require me to have more miles now? or will they change the tickets without requiring more miles (but only the $150 change fee)?
Thanks in advance for help!
I have booked a flight with my lifemiles BEFORE the chart upgrade last year. Now I need to change the dates of my travel. Will they require me to have more miles now? or will they change the tickets without requiring more miles (but only the $150 change fee)?
Thanks in advance for help!
Cancellation will cost $100 less, but of course you will have a) to find availability again and b) pay more in miles as per the new chart.
Feb 19, 2015, 6:10 am
#411
Moderator: Avianca, Travel Photography, Travel Technology & USA
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Far western edge of the La-La Land City limits
Programs: Emeritus VIP Fromins Deli Encino grandfathered successor program - UA MM & HH Diamond
Posts: 3,729
Time to cut down on the off topic postings and snarky tone.
Feb 19, 2015, 6:19 am
#412
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: AT
Programs: *G at A3,TK;M&M,LM; IHG RA, AB Plat.
Posts: 105
For some routings, the new chart is cheaper. BKK->C6 for example.
Feb 19, 2015, 12:22 pm
#413
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 10
Thanks for the reply.
If you cancel, it is basically all of these below
$50 cancel fee + lost $25 booking fee + new $25 booking fee = $100
vs.
Change
$150 change fee
So difference is really $50? Is this right? Thx
Feb 19, 2015, 12:24 pm
#414
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,839
You did not lose the booking fee, it is associated with the ticket. What you DO after the ticket is issued counts, so it is $75 vs $150.
Feb 19, 2015, 11:37 pm
#416
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 58
I recently made a reservation on LX for my brother and sister through the Lifemiles website. When I tried to get the seat assignment on the Swiss website, I couldn't get to the booking because the system thought that I had put in an incorrect name for one of the passengers. I checked the booking on checkmytrip, and the names of the passengers appeared like this:
1) MR First name Last name
2) First nameMSS Last name
It appears that the title MSS is merged into my sister's first name. When I typed in my sister's name with the MSS tagged on to the end, I was able to get in to the system and get the seat assignments on the Swiss website. Will this cause a problem when they check in for the flight? (Thank you in advance for any opinions on this)
1) MR First name Last name
2) First nameMSS Last name
It appears that the title MSS is merged into my sister's first name. When I typed in my sister's name with the MSS tagged on to the end, I was able to get in to the system and get the seat assignments on the Swiss website. Will this cause a problem when they check in for the flight? (Thank you in advance for any opinions on this)
Feb 19, 2015, 11:39 pm
#417
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,839
It appears that the title MSS is merged into my sister's first name. When I typed in my sister's name with the MSS tagged on to the end, I was able to get in to the system and get the seat assignments on the Swiss website. Will this cause a problem when they check in for the flight? (Thank you in advance for any opinions on this)
Mar 8, 2015, 4:31 am
#419
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Germany
Programs: AV,ST,OW Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 209
Hi, I just cancelled a ticket yesterday in record time of 20minutes. It helps to have your PIN number handy and all the data of your PNR and credit card. Points were refunded immediately. I preferred to cancel and pay 50$ rather than the change fee. Then I booked OZ A388 in J from LAX to ICN rather than angled J in the 777 from ORD. And Im in.Exciting!.
Mar 14, 2015, 4:42 pm
#420
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Sydney
Posts: 389
Cancellation went according to WIKI exactly
Thank you for the very handy Wiki, managed to cancel 2 tickets and the whole call went via the textbook Wiki script. Agent was very polite and competent, the whole call was done via Skype in 20 minutes. Points refunded immediately, will see how long it takes for the tax refund (if at all).