May 26, 2014, 8:47 am
Last edit by: SingaporeDon
Every forum on Flyertalk has a personality. A forum gains a personality through user input over time, and Lifemiles is a very definitive example of how users have developed a unique community.
While Flyertalk boards actively encourage sharing of info, the Lifemiles community has developed and thrived via obscuring of certain data elements. It may not be easy for new participants to break through the codes and gain knowledge of the program's quirks, but the overall board community has adopted this unique approach. And frankly, that is not going to change overnight.
If a FT member wants to participate on this board, then they will need to respect other users. Hence, posts that run counter to this community's standards, will be removed.
While Flyertalk boards actively encourage sharing of info, the Lifemiles community has developed and thrived via obscuring of certain data elements. It may not be easy for new participants to break through the codes and gain knowledge of the program's quirks, but the overall board community has adopted this unique approach. And frankly, that is not going to change overnight.
If a FT member wants to participate on this board, then they will need to respect other users. Hence, posts that run counter to this community's standards, will be removed.
C1 North America
C1.5 Caribbean, Bermuda
C2 Europe
C2.5 Middle East
C3 Asia
C4 South America
C5 Africa
C6 Oceania
2X, 3X: in the context of this LifeMiles thread, 2X and 3X refer to any 2nd and 3rd legs of a one-way award ticket.
LifeMiles' Star Alliance Award Chart
LifeMiles' old Star Alliance Award Chart (before Oct 15 2014) // Table of changes
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 easily-seen example is travel on Copa from LAX to SJU (via PTY).
Understand Cabotage: Departing country 1, transiting country 2, returning to country 1 (no stopping) *is* cabotage (example: depart JFK, connect in YYZ to return to ORD, or depart Miami, connect in Bogota, return to San Francisco). On the other hand, departing country 1, going to completely unrelated country 2, and ending up in country 3, is not cabotage. So if you fly JFK-JNB-ZRH, for instance, this is completely not cabotage.
Availability: Seeing availability for *A award seats elsewhere is no guarantee they are accessible on Lifemiles. For instance award space shown on ANA often is not accessible on Lifemiles. Similarly, finding award space on single legs doesn't mean you'll get award space on the combined itinerary. And no, there is no way to overcome that.
Screenshot Method
Send email to [email protected] with attached screenshots on Lifemiles website of each individual leg showing availability. Also, screenshot showing no availability as one booking. Include passenger names, gender and DOB and copy of passenger passport. They will either call you for payment or email the itinerary and give you 3 days to call up and make payment by CC.
NOTE: This previous thread has been closed; it can be read here LM F and J routes (and the occasional trick-it)
LM F and J routes (and the occasional trick-it) Rebooted v2.0
Feb 4, 2015, 1:09 pm
#1669
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: AT
Programs: *G at A3,TK;M&M,LM; IHG RA, AB Plat.
Posts: 105
Feb 10, 2015, 8:16 am
#1670
Join Date: Jan 2000
Programs: Free agent
Posts: 1,296
Is it possible to book on SQ or Air New Zealand anymore in C? I have searched through the old threads and see mentions of T-14 for SQ bookings but the inventory I see on ANA doesn't show up on the LifeMiles site even at T-14. Same with Air New Zealand. Attempting to book SIN-MEL/SYD or SIN-AKL. Is this a situation that requires a call to book?
Feb 10, 2015, 8:57 am
#1671
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: SFO
Programs: AY Plat, LH FTL
Posts: 7,374
Is it possible to book on SQ or Air New Zealand anymore in C? I have searched through the old threads and see mentions of T-14 for SQ bookings but the inventory I see on ANA doesn't show up on the LifeMiles site even at T-14. Same with Air New Zealand. Attempting to book SIN-MEL/SYD or SIN-AKL. Is this a situation that requires a call to book?
I haven't confirmed - you may be looking at a lot of trial and error, or maybe someone will throw you a bone.
Just don't ask about short checking bags...that kills deals apparently
Feb 10, 2015, 11:24 am
#1672
Join Date: Jan 2000
Programs: Free agent
Posts: 1,296
Up thread, someone mentioned playing with reversed married segments - perhaps, if you can't find A-B, look for A-B-C. There was a similar comment to a VFTW post a few days ago that observed the same thing.
I haven't confirmed - you may be looking at a lot of trial and error, or maybe someone will throw you a bone.
Just don't ask about short checking bags...that kills deals apparently
I haven't confirmed - you may be looking at a lot of trial and error, or maybe someone will throw you a bone.
Just don't ask about short checking bags...that kills deals apparently
Feb 10, 2015, 12:06 pm
#1673
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: UA, QF, VS, AA, US, HH, SPG
Posts: 974
Is it possible to book on SQ or Air New Zealand anymore in C? I have searched through the old threads and see mentions of T-14 for SQ bookings but the inventory I see on ANA doesn't show up on the LifeMiles site even at T-14. Same with Air New Zealand. Attempting to book SIN-MEL/SYD or SIN-AKL. Is this a situation that requires a call to book?
A friend of mine did this successfully when he could see A-B then B-C separately but not A-B-C (connection was only a couple of hours). LM booked for him then called to go through the payment process over the phone. (Note this was a TG itinerary not SQ but my point is that if it a shortcoming of the booking engine it seems LM are willing to make the booking manually).
Feb 11, 2015, 12:05 pm
#1674
Join Date: Jan 2000
Programs: Free agent
Posts: 1,296
You MIGHT try e-mailing LM support and requesting that they book it manually assuming the award seat is in fact available to *A (ANA does not show SQ long haul AFAIK and NZ almost never releases C long haul awards). I recommend using Aeroplan (i.e. AC's ff program) to search - I find it very accurate (you can use it directly by joining Aeroplan or using KVS/AC-StarAlliance method).
A friend of mine did this successfully when he could see A-B then B-C separately but not A-B-C (connection was only a couple of hours). LM booked for him then called to go through the payment process over the phone. (Note this was a TG itinerary not SQ but my point is that if it a shortcoming of the booking engine it seems LM are willing to make the booking manually).
A friend of mine did this successfully when he could see A-B then B-C separately but not A-B-C (connection was only a couple of hours). LM booked for him then called to go through the payment process over the phone. (Note this was a TG itinerary not SQ but my point is that if it a shortcoming of the booking engine it seems LM are willing to make the booking manually).
Feb 12, 2015, 2:44 pm
#1675
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 151
UA F
While I understand that F availability has become a rare treasure in LM, UA did not seem to pose a problem so long as the availability existed.
A few weeks ago, I noticed that booking requests on UA metal from the Europe to the West Coast would yield Avianca's weird pricing algorithm and not return any availability. UA flights from Europe to the East Coast did not seem to be affected. However, the same booking issue is present with all East Coast routes also now.
Has anyone else experienced this? Is UA F now also gone / blocked? Business UA availability seems to be showing up correctly.
A few weeks ago, I noticed that booking requests on UA metal from the Europe to the West Coast would yield Avianca's weird pricing algorithm and not return any availability. UA flights from Europe to the East Coast did not seem to be affected. However, the same booking issue is present with all East Coast routes also now.
Has anyone else experienced this? Is UA F now also gone / blocked? Business UA availability seems to be showing up correctly.
Feb 13, 2015, 3:16 am
#1677
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: London
Programs: SK Gold, ITA Executive, Sixt Diamond, Hertz PC, Avis PC, IHG Platinum
Posts: 5,163
Feb 13, 2015, 6:29 am
#1678
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,838
Feb 13, 2015, 8:36 am
#1679
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 151
Could you please kindly elaborate then why UA is not showing? Is this an isolated incident that will resolve itself? Availability continues to not show up on LM, even though its there at saver levels for more than one seat when booking on UA.
Feb 13, 2015, 9:02 am
#1680
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: CDG
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 1,611
I cannot speak for UA F, I have never searched for it.