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 4, 2018, 3:37 am
#661
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,040
One thing that surprised me was zero flexibility for cancellations due to flight schedule changes.
At least my itinerary only had a $100 cancellation fee. But, as others have mentioned, the process seems to be pretty much streamlined, as long as the payment processes correctly...
At least my itinerary only had a $100 cancellation fee. But, as others have mentioned, the process seems to be pretty much streamlined, as long as the payment processes correctly...
Aug 4, 2018, 10:57 pm
#663
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,720
Aug 13, 2018, 1:45 am
#664
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 1
Hi all, I made an absolute noob mistake of booking an LM award ticket SIN-ICN on the wrong dates. And only realizing my mistake 2 hours later. My key question is:
Is it cheaper to cancel or change the tickets in this case?
Thanks in advance for your advice!
Is it cheaper to cancel or change the tickets in this case?
Thanks in advance for your advice!
Aug 13, 2018, 7:24 am
#665
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: SJO - MAN - LAX
Programs: MileagePlus Gold, Avis PP, National EE, Lifemiles Silver, ConnectMiles Gold
Posts: 532
Call and say you're in the US and you need to cancel your flight. The US part should give you 24 hours to cancel.
Aug 14, 2018, 7:14 am
#667
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: SJO - MAN - LAX
Programs: MileagePlus Gold, Avis PP, National EE, Lifemiles Silver, ConnectMiles Gold
Posts: 532
Aug 19, 2018, 1:05 pm
#668
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 108
I first called the LifeMiles U.S call center (800-284-2622) today to cancel an award reservation (SYD-BKK) but the system was not accepting the PIN (I chose on their web-site few days ago), so the agent was not able to proceed with the cancellation.
I then tried the LifeMiles Canada call center (800-722-8222) and the same PIN worked without any issues. Then the agent processed the automated credit card payment fees $200 and instantly refunded the miles to my account in about 5 minutes total time.
My recommendation is to use the Canada call center for the fastest times and accuracy.
LifeMiles program has some great redemptions available and one should not be afraid to use the program. I used LM to travel around the globe and this is the first time I paid a fee of $200 to cancel a booking, which is on par with any U.S airline fees.
I then tried the LifeMiles Canada call center (800-722-8222) and the same PIN worked without any issues. Then the agent processed the automated credit card payment fees $200 and instantly refunded the miles to my account in about 5 minutes total time.
My recommendation is to use the Canada call center for the fastest times and accuracy.
LifeMiles program has some great redemptions available and one should not be afraid to use the program. I used LM to travel around the globe and this is the first time I paid a fee of $200 to cancel a booking, which is on par with any U.S airline fees.
Aug 20, 2018, 12:13 am
#669
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,838
Sep 20, 2018, 3:31 pm
#671
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: ORD, MIA
Programs: AA EXP, JL JGC, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 382
Cancelled a ticket today that I booked at the last minute and no showed about 9 months ago. Process was surprisingly smooth. Followed the instructions on the wiki, pin and amex card were taken by phone entry. Phone call start to finish took less than 5 minutes, and I was pleasantly surprised.
Sep 21, 2018, 11:34 pm
#673
formerly 1984SW
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
Programs: UA
Posts: 1,058
I'm contemplating making a change to a LM ticket I have for April 2019. I will be in Mexico from mid-Oct to mid-Dec. Will I be able to make the change on the phone with the Mexico reservations number for Avianca, or do I need to call the USA number as listed in the Wiki?
Sep 26, 2018, 5:47 am
#674
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
or use Skype to call the US number
Oct 14, 2018, 10:28 am
#675
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Thousand Oaks, Ca., USA
Programs: AA Lifetime Plat; Bonvoy Titanium Lifetime Elite;Hyatt Globalist; HHonors Diamond; United Silver
Posts: 8,311
One thing that surprised me was zero flexibility for cancellations due to flight schedule changes.
At least my itinerary only had a $100 cancellation fee. But, as others have mentioned, the process seems to be pretty much streamlined, as long as the payment processes correctly...
At least my itinerary only had a $100 cancellation fee. But, as others have mentioned, the process seems to be pretty much streamlined, as long as the payment processes correctly...
I know I need to cancel a pair of tickets, but was waiting for a schedule change to see if that would save me the fee. Is that futile?