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.
=====
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 2, 2013, 5:21 am
#91
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
Aug 2, 2013, 5:23 am
#92
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
I'm very new to LM, but this ongoing 1+1 promo seems interesting.
How good is in general J award availability from Europe to BKK/SIN or maybe HKG? I don't specifically prefer any *A partner and am rather flexible on the departure airport, too LH, LX, OS, SK, TG, SQ, TK - bring it on!
How good is in general J award availability from Europe to BKK/SIN or maybe HKG? I don't specifically prefer any *A partner and am rather flexible on the departure airport, too LH, LX, OS, SK, TG, SQ, TK - bring it on!
Unfortunately availability is quite bad IMHO.
Aug 2, 2013, 7:18 am
#93
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,839
Aug 2, 2013, 10:27 am
#94
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
I assume calling up LM and trying to get it added back in won't be easy either.
Aug 2, 2013, 7:04 pm
#96
Join Date: Aug 2013
Programs: Hilton Diamond, CX MPO DM
Posts: 96
Thanks for your replies, I called Avianca 6 hours after booking my SQ redemption, and was told it was going to be "another 2 hours", and voila... the SQ ticket appeared in my email 8 hours after booking. Phew...
I called SQ to double confirm this, and I was offered a cake as a goodwill gesture (did not expect that at all - it's not my birthday).
I called SQ to double confirm this, and I was offered a cake as a goodwill gesture (did not expect that at all - it's not my birthday).
Aug 3, 2013, 2:36 am
#98
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
Thing with award seats is that there no guarantee's that once they drop you will get them added in. SQ or LM did cancel mine last year so I am always vary.
DL holds AF tickets for days but I have found there is no guarantee. Some times they stick around till the deadline sometime they drop within a few hours.
Aug 3, 2013, 2:53 am
#99
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: CKH
Posts: 575
LM online award availability issue
In the LM award search engine, how come I can see availability (all in business class) from both BKK-CPH/ARN and CPH/ARN-OSL on Jan 5th, but can't see availability when I try to search from BKK-OSL? Can this be booked anyway by calling them, even if it doesn't show up online in the award search engine, when I know availability is there (I also checked the connection times, and they are good)?
Snacky
Snacky
Aug 3, 2013, 2:56 am
#100
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
In the LM award search engine, how come I can see availability (all in business class) from both BKK-CPH/ARN and CPH/ARN-OSL on Jan 5th, but can't see availability when I try to search from BKK-OSL? Can this be booked anyway by calling them, even if it doesn't show up online in the award search engine, when I know availability is there (I also checked the connection times, and they are good)?
Snacky
Snacky
Aug 3, 2013, 3:00 am
#101
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: CKH
Posts: 575
Snacky
EDIT: SAS Go/SAS Plus classes are not the culprit, as I can see other flights in the search engine, where this also would have been an issue if that was the reason.
Last edited by Snacky; Aug 3, 2013 at 12:26 pm
Aug 3, 2013, 3:20 am
#102
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
Yes, all seats are in the same cabin (as they are named "business" seats for all legs in the LM booking engine). Maybe the new SAS Go and Plus classes intra-Europe are making trouble (SAS just discontinued business class intra-Europe), as they are not technically business-seats anymore in the SAS-system. But they still report as business-seats in the LM booking engine, so I don't understand why LM won't let them show up when I search flights to my final destination.
Snacky
Snacky
Aug 3, 2013, 3:54 am
#103
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: CKH
Posts: 575
Snacky
Last edited by Snacky; Aug 3, 2013 at 5:33 pm
Aug 3, 2013, 4:07 am
#104
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
But the last leg do show up in a search, I just have to do an extra search for it. Wouldn't the call center be able to confirm that the leg CPH/ARN-OSL indeed is a business class seat (which it is according to their own search engine), and then book the all the legs together manually from their side (against a manual booking fee perhaps)?
Snacky
Snacky
Frustrating to say the least as the award is available and most other *A members will be able to do it.
Aug 3, 2013, 4:13 am
#105
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: CKH
Posts: 575
So the LM search engine is useless then. I wonder if it is a deliberate limitation. Anyway, maybe an alternative routing will open up by the end of the month, as I will not purchase points without being able to book my award ticket immediately. I'll make sure to keep looking frequently. If I indeed can't find anything, then LM has lost a potential returning points-buying customer (LM, are you reading this? 
)
Snacky
)Snacky
Last edited by Snacky; Aug 3, 2013 at 5:33 pm