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
Dec 26, 2021, 10:31 am
#1306
Join Date: Jul 2021
Posts: 6
This week I had to cancel 3 award tickets. "Officially" they are now charging the $200 cancellation fee for reinstating. However it seems that there is also a cancellation fee waiver until December 31 but it is not documented anywhere and the agent quickly redeposited my miles on my account. Taxes to be deposited in 1 month.
Dec 26, 2021, 9:18 pm
#1307
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 5
Last week, I was able to get a ticket (HND-JFK) canceled and the miles reinstated for free. (Normal price: $200.) When I was on the phone with LifeMiles about a year ago, they told me that there were free cancelations within 60 days of departure due to Covid. When I finally called to cancel the flight last week, I asked the agent if I'd have to pay a fee to reinstate the miles. She said she'd check, put me on hold, and then came back and told me I wouldn't have to pay. I have no idea what their official policy is regarding tickets booked during Covid, but this one worked out in my favor!
Dec 27, 2021, 11:24 am
#1308
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 5
Data point: was on hold 2 hours 6 minutes yesterday and dropped - when I called back I got a new recording that said they are only operation 7 am to 7 pm Columbia time. I called this am and the phone was answered within 13 minutes and I had my miles back in 19 minutes. My flight is tomorrow so I was able to cancel with the 24 hour window.
Jan 12, 2022, 3:24 pm
#1309
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Atl
Posts: 253
Do you call Turkish to do this cancelation? Or Lifemiles?
Jan 12, 2022, 7:55 pm
#1310
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 153
It seems to me like they’re following the rules specified here to determine refunds for all LifeMiles tickets, even those with partners: https://www.avianca.com/us/en/covid-...lity-policies/
Jan 12, 2022, 11:10 pm
#1311
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,404
Jan 14, 2022, 7:12 am
#1313
Join Date: May 2012
Location: C6 and C3
Programs: *Gold, ST Elite, OW sapphire
Posts: 108
Data point: was on hold 2 hours 6 minutes yesterday and dropped - when I called back I got a new recording that said they are only operation 7 am to 7 pm Columbia time. I called this am and the phone was answered within 13 minutes and I had my miles back in 19 minutes. My flight is tomorrow so I was able to cancel with the 24 hour window.
what charm did you use?
Jan 17, 2022, 6:27 am
#1314
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 2,203
I went back a couple of months and didn't find what I was looking for, so apologies if I missed it.
IAD ADD DXB award. DXB is not allowing passengers transiting through ADD, however the flights are still scheduled as there are exceptions to the transit.
Any experience with LM allowing cancellation under these circumstances without the cancellation fee?
IAD ADD DXB award. DXB is not allowing passengers transiting through ADD, however the flights are still scheduled as there are exceptions to the transit.
Any experience with LM allowing cancellation under these circumstances without the cancellation fee?
Jan 17, 2022, 7:18 am
#1315
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: YYC
Posts: 2,073
I went back a couple of months and didn't find what I was looking for, so apologies if I missed it.
IAD ADD DXB award. DXB is not allowing passengers transiting through ADD, however the flights are still scheduled as there are exceptions to the transit.
Any experience with LM allowing cancellation under these circumstances without the cancellation fee?
IAD ADD DXB award. DXB is not allowing passengers transiting through ADD, however the flights are still scheduled as there are exceptions to the transit.
Any experience with LM allowing cancellation under these circumstances without the cancellation fee?
Jan 21, 2022, 12:27 pm
#1316
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Alexandria, VA - DCA
Programs: BA Gold, American Airlines, Marriott Plat, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond
Posts: 5,075
For those who have cancelled a LifeMiles award ticket recently, how long did it take for the LMs to show back in your LifeMIles account?
I cancelled a LM award ticket on United and the United app showed the ticket as cancelled immediately so I know it's happened.
I cancelled a LM award ticket on United and the United app showed the ticket as cancelled immediately so I know it's happened.
Jan 22, 2022, 5:32 am
#1318
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 432
one thing I'm curious is if LM is insisting on $200 cancellation fees, or if it's still YMMV depending on the agent. Anyone have recent experience (from 2022) to share if LM charged them a fee to cancel?
Jan 22, 2022, 9:07 am
#1319
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: YYC
Posts: 2,073
Cancelled three tickets recently, one came back almost immediately. Other two I'm still waiting (four days since I called to cancel).
one thing I'm curious is if LM is insisting on $200 cancellation fees, or if it's still YMMV depending on the agent. Anyone have recent experience (from 2022) to share if LM charged them a fee to cancel?
one thing I'm curious is if LM is insisting on $200 cancellation fees, or if it's still YMMV depending on the agent. Anyone have recent experience (from 2022) to share if LM charged them a fee to cancel?