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
Aug 3, 2020, 2:03 pm
#1006
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 1,610
I successfully booked and ticketed a lifemiles flight on UA metal 4 days ago (july 30th), so unless this is a change in the last 3 days that's not true. My flight still shows ticketed fwiw
Aug 3, 2020, 3:41 pm
#1009
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: YYZ/YHM/BUF
Programs: AA Plat, HH Gold, MR Plat
Posts: 4,212
My upcoming itinerary on AC metal was cancelled. When I called customer service, man in broken English tried saying the reservation was "affected by coronavirus" (
) although the flight was never removed from AC's schedule and still has available seats. He transferred me to the "El Cambio Operacionales", and the lady there spoke better English and rebooked my original flights under a new PNR and ticket number. Appears to be a widespread issue. Everyone should monitor their PNRs several times a day so they don't lose their award seats! Could it be intentional or a system glitch? Seems like they do whatever they want, I doubt there's any protection booking through a Colombian airline 
) although the flight was never removed from AC's schedule and still has available seats. He transferred me to the "El Cambio Operacionales", and the lady there spoke better English and rebooked my original flights under a new PNR and ticket number. Appears to be a widespread issue. Everyone should monitor their PNRs several times a day so they don't lose their award seats! Could it be intentional or a system glitch? Seems like they do whatever they want, I doubt there's any protection booking through a Colombian airline
Aug 3, 2020, 3:46 pm
#1010
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Brasil
Programs: banned from AA
Posts: 69
My upcoming itinerary on AC metal was cancelled. When I called customer service, man in broken English tried saying the reservation was "affected by coronavirus" () although the flight was never removed from AC's schedule and still has available seats. He transferred me to the "El Cambio Operacionales", and the lady there spoke better English and rebooked my original flights under a new PNR and ticket number. Appears to be a widespread issue. Everyone should monitor their PNRs several times a day so they don't lose their award seats! Could it be intentional or a system glitch? Seems like they do whatever they want, I doubt there's any protection booking through a Colombian airline
) although the flight was never removed from AC's schedule and still has available seats. He transferred me to the "El Cambio Operacionales", and the lady there spoke better English and rebooked my original flights under a new PNR and ticket number. Appears to be a widespread issue. Everyone should monitor their PNRs several times a day so they don't lose their award seats! Could it be intentional or a system glitch? Seems like they do whatever they want, I doubt there's any protection booking through a Colombian airline Last edited by veganryan; Aug 3, 2020 at 3:47 pm Reason: typo
Aug 3, 2020, 4:37 pm
#1011
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast
Programs: AA CONCIERGE KEY & 1MM, HILTON DIAMOND
Posts: 11,970
Immediate rebooking is only possible if there is still award space, but if there isn't, then Lifemiles staff will just tell you they will open a ticket to get your miles redeposited
Aug 3, 2020, 4:43 pm
#1012
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: YYZ/YHM/BUF
Programs: AA Plat, HH Gold, MR Plat
Posts: 4,212
I called the 1-800-284-2622 number. In my case the award inventory was still available on my flights. Not sure if rebooking would've been possible if the inventory was gone. I wonder if this is a sign that they are getting closer to shutting down the airline and/or program.
Aug 3, 2020, 5:52 pm
#1013
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,408
I don’t see how rebooking would have been ossicle if the award space had gone It would generally require the operating airline to convert revenue seats to award inventory, and then have LM ticket. That’s not common except in the event of a cancellation by the operating airline where they proactively protect you on another flight.
It would generally require the operating airline to convert revenue seats to award inventory, and then have LM ticket. That’s not common except in the event of a cancellation by the operating airline where they proactively protect you on another flight.
Aug 3, 2020, 11:09 pm
#1014
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denmark
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 11,901
Aug 3, 2020, 11:12 pm
#1015
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denmark
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 11,901
Aug 4, 2020, 8:56 am
#1017
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: PHX
Posts: 4,787
I have a flight booked on AC in June that I booked using LifeMiles from PHX-YVR-LON. I just checked it on Avianca’s website and it shows the leg from YVR-LON as “cancelled.” When I check on AC.com it shows the flight as “changed.” It looks as though AC changed the flight number on the YVR-LON leg but everything else is the same — schedule, equipment, etc.
I wonder if flight number changes are showing as weird on LifeMiles’ end?
There does not appear to be any open partner availability for the flight at this time so if my ticket is no good I don’t think a rebook is currently possible. No idea if I still have a good ticket or not but I guess I need to call AC. Truth is given these reports my confidence is pretty low with lifemiles right now and I would probably take the free redeposit at this point. Taxes and charges were only $62 on two tickets so waiting 5 months is not a huge deal.
I wonder if flight number changes are showing as weird on LifeMiles’ end?
There does not appear to be any open partner availability for the flight at this time so if my ticket is no good I don’t think a rebook is currently possible. No idea if I still have a good ticket or not but I guess I need to call AC. Truth is given these reports my confidence is pretty low with lifemiles right now and I would probably take the free redeposit at this point. Taxes and charges were only $62 on two tickets so waiting 5 months is not a huge deal.
Aug 4, 2020, 9:58 am
#1018
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast
Programs: AA CONCIERGE KEY & 1MM, HILTON DIAMOND
Posts: 11,970
Lifemiles hasn't issued any refunds since April. They are just taking advantage of Covid19 to hide their serious financial issues.
If you call Lifemiles, even the automated system tells you that they are expecting refunds to take 5 months.
If you call Lifemiles, even the automated system tells you that they are expecting refunds to take 5 months.
Last edited by fly747first; Aug 4, 2020 at 10:04 am
Aug 6, 2020, 6:41 pm
#1019
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 2
I called the lifemiles support number to cancel my award booking ticket last week and was told the miles redeposit would take up to 15 business days. Has anyone cancelled bookings recently? Would it really take that long to get the miles refunded? Thanks
Aug 6, 2020, 6:46 pm
#1020
Join Date: Sep 2018
Programs: Alaska
Posts: 2,190
$25 per person per ticket will not be refunded, though. The rest of tax, seems no one has received it.