May 21, 2014, 7:31 pm
Last edit by: Tokyoite
Coronawiki (March 2020)
Does anyone know if Lifemiles will waive cancellation fees for an award ticket due to COVID-19 concerns?
Unfortunately, barring an outright flight cancellation, Lifemiles will not waive cancel fees.
Just pay the $200 as a "self caution fee". (nobody is actually preventing you the passenger from flying as you booked).
In the future, it would be wise to invest in travel insurance.
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Transferring Amex MR points will extend expiration of LM. Post #906 confirms this. Expiration date updates overnight, so wait 24 hours after the transferred miles have posted to LM.
LifeMiles' Star Alliance Award Chart
Cash & Miles redemptions: the price per mile purchased during award booking varies significantly depending on how many miles are purchased. The "sweet spots" are between 38% and 58% of the total mileage required, where miles are purchased for 1.5 cents. See here for some examples.
Beware of Cabotage: LifeMiles has been known to issue tickets that constitute Cabotage, and at least one instance of denied boarding has been reported, stranding the passenger. An example is travel on Avianca from LAX to SJU (via SAL/BOG). For additional information see the WIKI of this thread.
https://www.lifemiles.com/eng/abo/wnb/wnbtercond.aspx
Does anyone know if Lifemiles will waive cancellation fees for an award ticket due to COVID-19 concerns?
Unfortunately, barring an outright flight cancellation, Lifemiles will not waive cancel fees.
Just pay the $200 as a "self caution fee". (nobody is actually preventing you the passenger from flying as you booked).
In the future, it would be wise to invest in travel insurance.
=====
Transferring Amex MR points will extend expiration of LM. Post #906 confirms this. Expiration date updates overnight, so wait 24 hours after the transferred miles have posted to LM.
LifeMiles' Star Alliance Award Chart
Cash & Miles redemptions: the price per mile purchased during award booking varies significantly depending on how many miles are purchased. The "sweet spots" are between 38% and 58% of the total mileage required, where miles are purchased for 1.5 cents. See here for some examples.
Beware of Cabotage: LifeMiles has been known to issue tickets that constitute Cabotage, and at least one instance of denied boarding has been reported, stranding the passenger. An example is travel on Avianca from LAX to SJU (via SAL/BOG). For additional information see the WIKI of this thread.
https://www.lifemiles.com/eng/abo/wnb/wnbtercond.aspx
Miles Expiration Policy valid from April 15th , 2018.
- Any miles accrual transaction in a member´s account in the Program extends the validity of the miles in the account of such member for a term of twelve (12) months from the date of such accrual of miles. Other transactions that may affect the balance of miles in a member’s account, including redemption transactions, will have no effect on them and will not extend the validity of the miles in such account. This general rule will have the following exceptions that extend the validity of such miles in the account of such member for twenty-four (24) months from the date of such accrual: (i) any accrual of miles in a member´s account with an Elite Status at the time of the accrual; (ii) any accrual of miles derived from a cobranded credit or debit cards under the LifeMiles brand.
- ......the following accrual activities do not extend the validity of the miles in the member´s account: 1) the birthday bonus or any other miles bonus that may be given by the LifeMiles Program and LifeMiles LTD so establishes.; 2) the migration of points or miles from other loyalty programs to the LifeMiles Program made as a consequence of the union of both loyalty programs or the migration of one member from another loyalty program to the LifeMiles Program; and 3) the merger of accounts of the LifeMiles Program, including those derived from a member´s duplicate accounts.
LM Newbie Lounge: Ask your Questions Here (Flame Free)
May 22, 2017, 3:35 pm
#646
Join Date: May 2009
Location: TPA Bay area
Posts: 485
Expiration date--is that date must be used, or booked?
I'm not a newbie, but I don't want to get flamed with a newbie question. On my LifeMiles account page it lists the expiration date. Is that the date I must travel by (a la British Airways), or the date I must book the trip award trip by (a la Delta)?
Can I extend the expiration date by making a purchase, any purchase, and crediting to my Lifemiles account (a la the Big Three)?
Can I extend the expiration date by making a purchase, any purchase, and crediting to my Lifemiles account (a la the Big Three)?
May 23, 2017, 8:10 am
#648
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: YVR
Programs: OZ Diamond, Jiffypark Manhattan Gold
Posts: 4,485
I'm trying to figure out if buying lifemiles is a good idea.
Let's put aside the value proposition, I've already done my thinking on that.
However, what concerns me is the online search engine. I'm looking to go YVR-EZE-MSY-YVR. I've found plenty of availability on UA/AC/CM/AV combos on different dates. Then I searched on the engine on the lifemiles site and it was showing no availability for EZE-MSY-YVR for 5 days around when I was searching for either.
Does that mean it's NOT bookable? I read a comment that you can't book anything over the phone that isn't bookable online. The space is there...I've found it on EF/UA/Aeroplan. But the AV engine seemed to come up empty.
So it leaves me with a couple questions...
1) Can you in fact book something over the phone that you can't book online? (forget routing rules etc, I know this route is legitimate)
2) Is it the norm that the engine has difficulty finding pretty simple itineraries?
Let's put aside the value proposition, I've already done my thinking on that.
However, what concerns me is the online search engine. I'm looking to go YVR-EZE-MSY-YVR. I've found plenty of availability on UA/AC/CM/AV combos on different dates. Then I searched on the engine on the lifemiles site and it was showing no availability for EZE-MSY-YVR for 5 days around when I was searching for either.
Does that mean it's NOT bookable? I read a comment that you can't book anything over the phone that isn't bookable online. The space is there...I've found it on EF/UA/Aeroplan. But the AV engine seemed to come up empty.
So it leaves me with a couple questions...
1) Can you in fact book something over the phone that you can't book online? (forget routing rules etc, I know this route is legitimate)
2) Is it the norm that the engine has difficulty finding pretty simple itineraries?
May 23, 2017, 11:40 am
#649
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,724
2) yes
May 24, 2017, 3:46 am
#652
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
May 24, 2017, 5:55 am
#653
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,724
There are still some uses for LM, but I probably wouldn't buy LM if you're new to the program. Too many headaches from the website. You have to have an extremely flexible schedule to travel, since LM *A award availability is so sporadic.
Last edited by iluvdoco; May 24, 2017 at 6:05 am
May 24, 2017, 8:52 am
#654
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: YVR
Programs: OZ Diamond, Jiffypark Manhattan Gold
Posts: 4,485
When I originally read the program didn't allow mixed cabin bookings, I wrote it off, cuz sometimes there isn't J in the cabin, let alone available, so I wasn't sure how you'd get around things like that.
I also wrote it off due to the qualifications needed for elite status, I'd never take enough AV segments to make it, I fly them probably 4-6 segments a year.
But then the mixed cabin thing changed, I was reading about how they don't charge fuel surcharges and started thinking about jumping in at some point but sadly you guys have convinced me otherwise
.
I also wrote it off due to the qualifications needed for elite status, I'd never take enough AV segments to make it, I fly them probably 4-6 segments a year.
But then the mixed cabin thing changed, I was reading about how they don't charge fuel surcharges and started thinking about jumping in at some point but sadly you guys have convinced me otherwise
.
Jun 3, 2017, 6:20 pm
#655
Join Date: Jun 2010
Programs: AA Plat,PC Plat, HHonors Gold
Posts: 904
My miles were supposed to expire in September (Last usage was in September 2015). Just noticed that they expired yesterday. Have not received any expiration emails from Avianca either. Called about 5 times, but the agents disconnect the call whenever I call. Do I have any recourse?
Jun 13, 2017, 4:18 pm
#656
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Southern California
Programs: The usual for over 7 Million paid miles flown to date... My first paid flight was on a DC3.
Posts: 1,518
Transit through Bogota
My wife is traveling on a paid Business Class ticket from Los Angeles to Madrid with a 6.5 hour connect in Bogota. Avianca had a great sale on Business Class seats, hence this itinerary. Is the lounge in Bogota decent for a stopover of this length of time? Thanks.
Aug 26, 2017, 3:26 pm
#659
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Houston TX
Programs: United Premier 1k, Hertz Presidents Circle, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 408
My daughter is flying into IAH from Costa Rica with a layover in El Salvador. With Harvey it's going to be hard to get in, any idea of what Avianca will do and if there is a way to get her switched to a different flight or even a star alliance flight?
Sep 5, 2017, 8:50 am
#660
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 393
Is it best to sign up for an account with first and middle name or just first name in the first name field? When booking, will it give me the ability to add a middle name during the booking process?
all my identification (DL, PAssport etc) has first and middle usually on the same line and then last on another line and I know every airline and every countries uses middle name differently so I want to avoid any potential issues...
all my identification (DL, PAssport etc) has first and middle usually on the same line and then last on another line and I know every airline and every countries uses middle name differently so I want to avoid any potential issues...