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)
Aug 18, 2021, 9:45 pm
#977
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,406
Is the LH first class space that is showing consistently for the last week of the schedule on Lifemiles site (FRA-SFO) accurate? I can't verify with other Star Alliance carrier sites because their schedule doesn't go out 365 days. I just don't want to transfer over a bunch of points for 2 first class seats if it's phantom availability. Seems a bit sketchy as Lufthansa's own schedule doesn't go out that far...
There's also AC business class space showing during the last week of schedule.
There's also AC business class space showing during the last week of schedule.
I would say that given the general availability is only 15 or 30 days before, and in the absence of the glitch repeating itself, the availability might be phantom. If LH's own schedules catch up, and they have an award there, I would say your booking would be safe if made through LM (as in LH wouldn't then cancel it). But there's still no guarantees that the ticket will actually ticket in the first place.
Bottom line: too risky to transfer I reckon. If you already had the miles there, no worries. If you really want to take a punt, you could transfer 40 per cent of the miles needed and top up with cash via points plus pay. That would protect you a little.
Aug 18, 2021, 11:35 pm
#978
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: SFO/YYZ
Programs: AC 25K, AS MVP Gold, BA Bronze, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,472
Is the LH first class space that is showing consistently for the last week of the schedule on Lifemiles site (FRA-SFO) accurate? I can't verify with other Star Alliance carrier sites because their schedule doesn't go out 365 days. I just don't want to transfer over a bunch of points for 2 first class seats if it's phantom availability. Seems a bit sketchy as Lufthansa's own schedule doesn't go out that far...
There's also AC business class space showing during the last week of schedule.
There's also AC business class space showing during the last week of schedule.
Traditionally LH F is only available 14 days before departure. I think I read that is now moving to 30 days? That being said, there was some glitch a couple years back where LM - no other star partner - had ~330 days of LH F. It was there, bookable, and I flew on it.
I would say that given the general availability is only 15 or 30 days before, and in the absence of the glitch repeating itself, the availability might be phantom. If LH's own schedules catch up, and they have an award there, I would say your booking would be safe if made through LM (as in LH wouldn't then cancel it). But there's still no guarantees that the ticket will actually ticket in the first place.
Bottom line: too risky to transfer I reckon. If you already had the miles there, no worries. If you really want to take a punt, you could transfer 40 per cent of the miles needed and top up with cash via points plus pay. That would protect you a little.
I would say that given the general availability is only 15 or 30 days before, and in the absence of the glitch repeating itself, the availability might be phantom. If LH's own schedules catch up, and they have an award there, I would say your booking would be safe if made through LM (as in LH wouldn't then cancel it). But there's still no guarantees that the ticket will actually ticket in the first place.
Bottom line: too risky to transfer I reckon. If you already had the miles there, no worries. If you really want to take a punt, you could transfer 40 per cent of the miles needed and top up with cash via points plus pay. That would protect you a little.
Same is true for the AC space. You can look for things like LHR-YVR-SFO and it won't even show the "n seats left" in red text, but it will just error out before you can even try to confirm the booking. Then at T-360 that seemingly plentiful AC space vanishes and you're left with whatever availability they actually released and LM can access.
thanks nexusCFX
Sep 7, 2021, 5:27 pm
#980
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 69
Transfer from CapOne not Available
I transferred points from Capital One this morning. The transaction shows up in my LM account but when I try to book a ticket it says I have 0 miles available. Is there a lag between point transfer and actually being able to use them?
Sep 8, 2021, 8:30 am
#981
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 1,868
There was no lag for me in June - miles were immediately reflected in transactions and balance.
Nov 1, 2021, 5:27 pm
#982
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Sydney
Programs: QF Plat, VA Gold, HH Diam, PC Plat, SPG Gold
Posts: 2,082
When you try and pay for a Lifemiles award ticket with a credit card, it asks for a "personal identification number" in addition to the CVV number. Surely this is not your card PIN? Is it your passport number? Thanks but it has been a while since I booked an award ticket with LM.
Nov 1, 2021, 5:59 pm
#984
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,406
When you try and pay for a Lifemiles award ticket with a credit card, it asks for a "personal identification number" in addition to the CVV number. Surely this is not your card PIN? Is it your passport number? Thanks but it has been a while since I booked an award ticket with LM.
Nov 8, 2021, 9:42 am
#985
Join Date: Nov 2019
Location: TYO
Programs: AS G75k, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 63
I just made a reservation on TK using LifeMIles, I got the PNR and eticket number. I went to checkmytrip to get the TK PNR. Went to TK website and when trying to manage reservation to select seat, I get this message:
Is this normal? Also after reading horror stories of lifemiles not actually ticketing a booking, am I in risk here? Thank you
Error
This reservation cannot be viewed due to the sales channel where it was modified. You can apply to the channel on which you have arranged your reservation to make a transaction.
Nov 8, 2021, 12:00 pm
#986
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,406
I just made a reservation on TK using LifeMIles, I got the PNR and eticket number. I went to checkmytrip to get the TK PNR. Went to TK website and when trying to manage reservation to select seat, I get this message:
Is this normal? Also after reading horror stories of lifemiles not actually ticketing a booking, am I in risk here? Thank you
Is this normal? Also after reading horror stories of lifemiles not actually ticketing a booking, am I in risk here? Thank you
Nov 8, 2021, 2:40 pm
#987
Join Date: Nov 2019
Location: TYO
Programs: AS G75k, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 63
Nov 8, 2021, 11:33 pm
#988
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 74
