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
Sep 1, 2021 | 8:35 pm
#1262
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
Thanks for the update, I guess I'll have to see if it is time to get rid of those LX flights around Christmas as it is looking less likely to be feasible and safe even by then. A total of 800$ cancellation fees would sting post 30 Sep.
Sep 1, 2021 | 10:17 pm
#1263
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 155
They have extended the fee waiver numerous times. Id expect them to do so past Sept. 30, although i have no special knowledge.
Sep 2, 2021 | 12:13 am
#1264
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
Yes, no one knows. I'm playing it safe and already fired off an email to the support team to get the tickets refunded / miles redeposited. I still got backup flights in place for the same dates through another FFP that will be much easier and cheaper to cancel if needed. YMMV.
Sep 11, 2021 | 4:03 am
#1266
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
Just got my miles back for 2 bookings (LX Biz) and went the email route. This, for me at least, requires a bit more patience always, but ultimately works out fine so far. It is always a two step process to email and request cancelation without fee (as per current "courtesy" offer) and then getting an email back asking one to acknowledge a bunch of conditions like 5 days for mileage to come back, backlog in taxes refunds so will take a few months (yeah right 
) and no booking fee reimbursement.
I confirm that email and then the request is routed to the team actually making the cancellation. Had my miles back in account 2 days later. Total time maybe 7-8 days.
) and no booking fee reimbursement.I confirm that email and then the request is routed to the team actually making the cancellation. Had my miles back in account 2 days later. Total time maybe 7-8 days.
Sep 11, 2021 | 9:17 am
#1267
Join Date: Aug 2021
Posts: 45
What email did you use? A month ago it took overnight to get miles back and most recently 1 week. I noticed I didn't receive any email confirmation until the miles were refunded. Now I'm just waiting for the tax/fees for both of those but may send email at some point. Meanwhile I have about 275K lifemiles to be used up
Sep 13, 2021 | 7:35 am
#1268
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
What email did you use? A month ago it took overnight to get miles back and most recently 1 week. I noticed I didn't receive any email confirmation until the miles were refunded. Now I'm just waiting for the tax/fees for both of those but may send email at some point. Meanwhile I have about 275K lifemiles to be used up
Sep 19, 2021 | 12:25 am
#1269
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 648
Hi,
Does anyone have a link to the cancellation fee waiver until September 30? I am checking LifeMiles site but in the "Total or partial redemption of tickets with LifeMiles" section it only talks about change waiver (on flights operated by Avianca), nothing about cancellations (for Star Alliance). Thanks
https://www.avianca.com/us/en/covid-...lity-policies/
Does anyone have a link to the cancellation fee waiver until September 30? I am checking LifeMiles site but in the "Total or partial redemption of tickets with LifeMiles" section it only talks about change waiver (on flights operated by Avianca), nothing about cancellations (for Star Alliance). Thanks
https://www.avianca.com/us/en/covid-...lity-policies/
Sep 19, 2021 | 7:16 am
#1270
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
I didn't have to quote any rules or statements. I just gave details of my bookings and asked for a fee free cancellation as currently offered by LM. Done. YMMV.
Sep 19, 2021 | 7:07 pm
#1271
Join Date: Aug 2021
Posts: 45
Hi,
Does anyone have a link to the cancellation fee waiver until September 30? I am checking LifeMiles site but in the "Total or partial redemption of tickets with LifeMiles" section it only talks about change waiver (on flights operated by Avianca), nothing about cancellations (for Star Alliance). Thanks
https://www.avianca.com/us/en/covid-...lity-policies/
Does anyone have a link to the cancellation fee waiver until September 30? I am checking LifeMiles site but in the "Total or partial redemption of tickets with LifeMiles" section it only talks about change waiver (on flights operated by Avianca), nothing about cancellations (for Star Alliance). Thanks
https://www.avianca.com/us/en/covid-...lity-policies/
Oct 6, 2021 | 4:03 pm
#1273
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Long Beach, CA
Programs: AA PLTPRO, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 3,650
Cancelled a pair of award tix for November last week. It took a bit of time because the agent had to keep checking on things but it was ultimately completed with no hassle and the miles returned in a couple of days. I just received an email today advising the approval of the return of the taxes. All in all, a pretty good outcome other than the bummer of having to cancel the tix
Oct 7, 2021 | 9:24 am
#1274
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
I think I got like three of those refund messages over a few months for the same flights and they always said 30 days or so, but so far 'nada'. So if it comes, be happy, but give it time.