Jan 11, 2014, 10:36 am
Last edit by: EqualOpp
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, $30-200. 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
Jul 24, 2021 | 11:58 am
#1246
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Paris
Programs: AA LT Plat (4m+), AF Plat, A3 Gold, Hyatt Lifetime Globalist, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat/Ambassador
Posts: 2,721
Jul 24, 2021 | 11:02 pm
#1247
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SIN (LEJ once a year)
Programs: SQ, LH, BA, IHG Diamond AMB, HH Gold, SLH Indulged, Accor Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 8,792
Interesting on the cancellation fees, I hope it has been / will be extended. I also have two sets of LX flights (for 2 pax) around end of the year that I'm not so sure the travel environment will be opened up and safe, but to be seen. If those flights go ahead without changes (allowing a cancel / redeposit), I would rather like to avoid 4 x 200$ fees especially after "donating" many 25$ booking fees to LM over the last 1.5 years. YMMV.
Jul 25, 2021 | 5:56 am
#1248
Join Date: May 2020
Programs: Lifemiles, Marriott Titanium,
Posts: 75
Interesting on the cancellation fees, I hope it has been / will be extended. I also have two sets of LX flights (for 2 pax) around end of the year that I'm not so sure the travel environment will be opened up and safe, but to be seen. If those flights go ahead without changes (allowing a cancel / redeposit), I would rather like to avoid 4 x 200$ fees especially after "donating" many 25$ booking fees to LM over the last 1.5 years. YMMV.
Jul 26, 2021 | 6:01 pm
#1249
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 84
Does anyone know what LM's current no-show policy is on star alliance award tickets? I'm looking at booking a LM award ticket for a friend, but I'll only know if he can actually take the flight within 24 hours before departure, since he's waiting on a visa to be issued for the destination country. I see that LM doesn't allow cancellations that close in. If he no-shows and then I cancel after the fact, is the ticket completely lost? or am I only in hock for the usual $200 refund fee?
Jul 27, 2021 | 1:54 pm
#1251
Join Date: Jul 2021
Posts: 6
I cancelled a Lifemiles award ticket on ANA and Asiana on January for a trip I had on April 2021. Got my miles back in less then 24 hours. Taxes took about 6 months to be refunded.
I redeemed again my Lifemiles for Asia on April 2022. My biggest worry is the elimination of the cancellation fee and the possibility that tourism hasn't been opened for 2022.
I redeemed again my Lifemiles for Asia on April 2022. My biggest worry is the elimination of the cancellation fee and the possibility that tourism hasn't been opened for 2022.
Aug 4, 2021 | 10:45 am
#1252
Join Date: Aug 2021
Posts: 45
I called yesterday at 19:00 PST to cancel award ticket I have for December. 0 wait and the agent confirmed there is no cancellation fees until Sept 30, 2021. I was told the miles would take up to 3 hrs to be redeposited (they were there when I woke up) and no time frame for the return of taxes and fees.
Aug 4, 2021 | 12:53 pm
#1253
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 462
Called to do a change to destination, and was told only date changes allowed. I was given the option to refund miles, which I accepted. The miles were back within three hours as promised with no fees. Was told that taxes will be back in 3-5 months. Have done previous cancellations with LM during COVID and my experience is they do end up refunding, but closer to five months than three.
Aug 6, 2021 | 2:50 pm
#1254
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: NYC
Posts: 229
Oops, I posted already on a different thread -- thought I was answering this one. Data point: canceled a Lifemiles award ticket on Lufthansa for next week, no fee, easy call. It makes me wonder, for the people who *have* been charged (upthread), if it has something to do with the cancelation policy of the airline you're flying? LH has a no-fee cancel policy right now.
Aug 6, 2021 | 4:17 pm
#1255
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Alexandria, VA - DCA/IAD
Programs: BA Gold, American Airlines, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond
Posts: 5,089
data point: I have recently cancelled both AC and UA award flights and in both cases have CXLD no problem, miles redeposited to my LM account in a couple of days or less, and my credit card refunded the taxes.
Aug 12, 2021 | 7:37 am
#1256
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: New York, NY
Programs: Independent
Posts: 475
One more datapoint: just cancelled a Turkish ticket from New York to Europe because I was afraid of problems transiting on the return. (I was ticket changed to an overnight layover in the UK.) No cancellation fee, took 13 minutes from dialing-finish.
Aug 18, 2021 | 12:07 pm
#1258
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 175
I just cancelled a Lifemiles booking made on Avianca metal. Flight was booked on May 28, 2021 and cancelled today. The agent told me that for a limited time, there are no penalties or fees for cancellation, I will get my miles back within 5 business days, and the money will take longer because, Avianca.
Related, I had to cancel another Lifemiles booking back in May because they changed the flights and the new itinerary didn't work for me. At the time, they told me I would get the miles back within 5 days (I did) and the money, eventually. Strangely, I got a refund of the taxes and fees for one of the two passengers on that booking to a credit card that was not the one I used for that booking (I guess they had it on file for something else). Still waiting on the second passenger's refund. No way to know which one was refunded, as the amounts were the same for both passengers.
Related, I had to cancel another Lifemiles booking back in May because they changed the flights and the new itinerary didn't work for me. At the time, they told me I would get the miles back within 5 days (I did) and the money, eventually. Strangely, I got a refund of the taxes and fees for one of the two passengers on that booking to a credit card that was not the one I used for that booking (I guess they had it on file for something else). Still waiting on the second passenger's refund. No way to know which one was refunded, as the amounts were the same for both passengers.
Aug 26, 2021 | 9:55 am
#1259
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Antwerp
Programs: Quite a few...
Posts: 76
LH Award
Back in June I booked intra-EU OW award on Lufthansa with my Lifemiles for a flight in October that was supposed to depart at 7pm. That flight got cancelled and I got automatically put on a different flight departing 4 hours earlier, at 3pm which is useless for me (neither is flying the next day). I am choosing another carrier which departs around my desired time and I will just buy a normal ticket for that.
Now: with UA or LH it wouldn't be a problem canceling this and getting miles back in the account. Are there any strategies for talking to AV agents you can suggest. BTW, I wasn't notified about the change in any way - I checked my booking on LH website and saw that the original flight was CXL'ed and I have a confirmed seat on an earlier flight.
I assume LifeMiles will not try to charge me for doing this?
Now: with UA or LH it wouldn't be a problem canceling this and getting miles back in the account. Are there any strategies for talking to AV agents you can suggest. BTW, I wasn't notified about the change in any way - I checked my booking on LH website and saw that the original flight was CXL'ed and I have a confirmed seat on an earlier flight.
I assume LifeMiles will not try to charge me for doing this?
Aug 26, 2021 | 10:27 am
#1260
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Paris
Programs: AA LT Plat (4m+), AF Plat, A3 Gold, Hyatt Lifetime Globalist, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat/Ambassador
Posts: 2,721
Back in June I booked intra-EU OW award on Lufthansa with my Lifemiles for a flight in October that was supposed to depart at 7pm. That flight got cancelled and I got automatically put on a different flight departing 4 hours earlier, at 3pm which is useless for me (neither is flying the next day). I am choosing another carrier which departs around my desired time and I will just buy a normal ticket for that.
Now: with UA or LH it wouldn't be a problem canceling this and getting miles back in the account. Are there any strategies for talking to AV agents you can suggest. BTW, I wasn't notified about the change in any way - I checked my booking on LH website and saw that the original flight was CXL'ed and I have a confirmed seat on an earlier flight.
I assume LifeMiles will not try to charge me for doing this?
Now: with UA or LH it wouldn't be a problem canceling this and getting miles back in the account. Are there any strategies for talking to AV agents you can suggest. BTW, I wasn't notified about the change in any way - I checked my booking on LH website and saw that the original flight was CXL'ed and I have a confirmed seat on an earlier flight.
I assume LifeMiles will not try to charge me for doing this?
1) Request the redeposit. You will get the miles back in a few days and the taxes later.... who knows is anyone's guess. Then you rebook.
2) The painful option... calling and getting their operational changes department to update the record. Caveat--- this can be easy but most often it is extremely time consuming because the agents are either a) not easily reachable or b) incompetent.
Have you checked the one-way price of the ticket? It might make more sense to purchase it...