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 17, 2020, 6:04 pm
#976
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,838
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32444520-post956.html
The flight is not an issue, the closed border is.
Jun 17, 2020, 6:22 pm
#977
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 64
Thanks, I guess I'll send an email to Lifemiles support. The border is indeed closed right now except for NZ citizens and essential workers.. although there is no definitive timeline for when it'll reopen, but I'm predicting it won't be reopened this year.
Jun 17, 2020, 6:34 pm
#978
Join Date: Sep 2018
Programs: Alaska
Posts: 2,188
when is your flight? If it is after August 31st, you have to wait.
Jun 24, 2020, 9:29 pm
#982
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: MAD
Programs: UA, US, AA, Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt
Posts: 374
cancellation without notice
Maybe others have already posted about this. I had an award ticket booked for July 11: IAD>IST>MAD. While I was reading about the Turkish "HES" code to see if I needed to have one, I tried to pull up my booking at the Turkish website. Unable to. Went to Avianca. Notice that the flights were cancelled.
I have no idea when the flights were cancelled but I haven't received an email or phone call about it yet. I've rebooked on other carriers, but it might be a good idea to regularly check your bookings if cancellations happen without timely notification.
PS: I booked a new award rather than wait for Lifemiles support to offer me something else because there were only 2 seats available on the alternative carriers. I emailed [email protected] to say the original flights were cancelled and I'd like to request a redeposit and refund of taxes.
I have no idea when the flights were cancelled but I haven't received an email or phone call about it yet. I've rebooked on other carriers, but it might be a good idea to regularly check your bookings if cancellations happen without timely notification.
PS: I booked a new award rather than wait for Lifemiles support to offer me something else because there were only 2 seats available on the alternative carriers. I emailed [email protected] to say the original flights were cancelled and I'd like to request a redeposit and refund of taxes.
Jun 29, 2020, 5:50 pm
#983
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 21
Maybe others have already posted about this. I had an award ticket booked for July 11: IAD>IST>MAD. While I was reading about the Turkish "HES" code to see if I needed to have one, I tried to pull up my booking at the Turkish website. Unable to. Went to Avianca. Notice that the flights were cancelled.
I have no idea when the flights were cancelled but I haven't received an email or phone call about it yet. I've rebooked on other carriers, but it might be a good idea to regularly check your bookings if cancellations happen without timely notification.
PS: I booked a new award rather than wait for Lifemiles support to offer me something else because there were only 2 seats available on the alternative carriers. I emailed [email protected] to say the original flights were cancelled and I'd like to request a redeposit and refund of taxes.
I have no idea when the flights were cancelled but I haven't received an email or phone call about it yet. I've rebooked on other carriers, but it might be a good idea to regularly check your bookings if cancellations happen without timely notification.
PS: I booked a new award rather than wait for Lifemiles support to offer me something else because there were only 2 seats available on the alternative carriers. I emailed [email protected] to say the original flights were cancelled and I'd like to request a redeposit and refund of taxes.
Jun 30, 2020, 11:51 am
#984
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: IAD/DCA
Programs: Bunch of mid-tiers
Posts: 1,034
After 3 months of waiting for taxes on award tickets to refund I finally disputed with AMEX. As posted up thread I got the miles back quickly and the refund status checker has shown as “authorized” since early April.
Jul 3, 2020, 3:22 pm
#985
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Paris
Programs: AA LT Plat (4m+), AF Plat, A3 Gold, Hyatt Lifetime Globalist, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat/Ambassador
Posts: 2,648
update...and alert.... I had a Lifemiles award ticket US-ZRH-CDG on Swiss... flight was cancelled.
The first person I spoke with insisted I had to cancel, wait 15 days and then rebook. I am glad I insisted....
He then transferred me to the "departamento de cambios operacionales" - the operational change division. They immediately rebooked me on Lufthansa, no wait, an even exchange. Received the ticket in less than 5 minutes.
So moral of the story... if your flight is cancelled... ask for CAMBIOS OPERACIONALES :-)
The first person I spoke with insisted I had to cancel, wait 15 days and then rebook. I am glad I insisted....
He then transferred me to the "departamento de cambios operacionales" - the operational change division. They immediately rebooked me on Lufthansa, no wait, an even exchange. Received the ticket in less than 5 minutes.
So moral of the story... if your flight is cancelled... ask for CAMBIOS OPERACIONALES :-)
Jul 3, 2020, 8:14 pm
#986
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 10
Same here. Tired of waiting refund from lifemiles. Have filed charge-back from AMEX as well.
Last edited by isdnman; Jul 4, 2020 at 12:49 am
Jul 6, 2020, 10:31 am
#987
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: N/A
Programs: N/A
Posts: 823
Need advice....HELP!
This is a mess and I need some advice on what to do.
I booked a one way LM ticket for the first week of August.
IST-IAD (TK) (connection) IAD-RDU (UA)
The UA flight was cancelled and UA auto booked me me on a flight that overlapped with the IST-IAD flight. That caused all sorts of issues. Somehow somewhere that caused me to show LM that I was booted off the TK flight. I got LM to move me to a UA flight the next day, but they can't re-ticket me on the TK flight.
LM told me to call TK - TK says I am still on the flight (confirmed on their website with seats assigned), but LM shows the flight cancelled and cannot re-ticket. I really do not want to cancel and wait 15 days for my miles to come back.
LM also refuses to route me through another city even when there is award availability.
I have spent hours on the phone. LM is useless, TK says they can't do anything because it isn't their ticket. I just want my TK IST-IAD flight back!!!!
I booked a one way LM ticket for the first week of August.
IST-IAD (TK) (connection) IAD-RDU (UA)
The UA flight was cancelled and UA auto booked me me on a flight that overlapped with the IST-IAD flight. That caused all sorts of issues. Somehow somewhere that caused me to show LM that I was booted off the TK flight. I got LM to move me to a UA flight the next day, but they can't re-ticket me on the TK flight.
LM told me to call TK - TK says I am still on the flight (confirmed on their website with seats assigned), but LM shows the flight cancelled and cannot re-ticket. I really do not want to cancel and wait 15 days for my miles to come back.
LM also refuses to route me through another city even when there is award availability.
I have spent hours on the phone. LM is useless, TK says they can't do anything because it isn't their ticket. I just want my TK IST-IAD flight back!!!!
Last edited by A4K; Jul 6, 2020 at 11:07 am
Jul 6, 2020, 4:03 pm
#988
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Paris
Programs: AA LT Plat (4m+), AF Plat, A3 Gold, Hyatt Lifetime Globalist, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat/Ambassador
Posts: 2,648
This is a mess and I need some advice on what to do.
I booked a one way LM ticket for the first week of August.
IST-IAD (TK) (connection) IAD-RDU (UA)
The UA flight was cancelled and UA auto booked me me on a flight that overlapped with the IST-IAD flight. That caused all sorts of issues. Somehow somewhere that caused me to show LM that I was booted off the TK flight. I got LM to move me to a UA flight the next day, but they can't re-ticket me on the TK flight.
LM told me to call TK - TK says I am still on the flight (confirmed on their website with seats assigned), but LM shows the flight cancelled and cannot re-ticket. I really do not want to cancel and wait 15 days for my miles to come back.
LM also refuses to route me through another city even when there is award availability.
I have spent hours on the phone. LM is useless, TK says they can't do anything because it isn't their ticket. I just want my TK IST-IAD flight back!!!!
I booked a one way LM ticket for the first week of August.
IST-IAD (TK) (connection) IAD-RDU (UA)
The UA flight was cancelled and UA auto booked me me on a flight that overlapped with the IST-IAD flight. That caused all sorts of issues. Somehow somewhere that caused me to show LM that I was booted off the TK flight. I got LM to move me to a UA flight the next day, but they can't re-ticket me on the TK flight.
LM told me to call TK - TK says I am still on the flight (confirmed on their website with seats assigned), but LM shows the flight cancelled and cannot re-ticket. I really do not want to cancel and wait 15 days for my miles to come back.
LM also refuses to route me through another city even when there is award availability.
I have spent hours on the phone. LM is useless, TK says they can't do anything because it isn't their ticket. I just want my TK IST-IAD flight back!!!!
Jul 6, 2020, 7:55 pm
#989
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: N/A
Programs: N/A
Posts: 823
Thanks! I spoke to them multiple times, I would say I called Avianca 20-25 times over the past 5 days. Spoke to LM, operational changes, supervisors. No one was willing to make any exceptions to the routing or do anything. Very frustrating. I gave up and I ended up cancelling the flights because I need to have something booked and need to get the LM back to do so.
Jul 8, 2020, 2:49 pm
#990
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: DFW
Programs: OWE AA EXP;*A TK Gold; Marriott LTT; Hyatt Globalist; IHG Plat; National VIP
Posts: 3,097