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
May 20, 2015, 7:56 am
#1817
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: NYC
Posts: 9,125
While they may not notice/care about the TK flight you will NOT be able to check in online because of your final destination that requires a visa (assuming US citizen or citizen of other countries requiring visas). When you get to the airport you will not be able to check in via kiosk either without an agent intervention because they will be prompted to confirm that you have a visa even though you can of course get one on arrival. So you will just have to tell the agent that that's your plan, to get VOA.
May 20, 2015, 7:59 am
#1818
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 1,470
They definitely checked for Turkey with me. The initial agent was not aware of VOA and didn't believe me that it exists in Turkey, had to ask someone else. Then the second agent asked me why I didn't just get a Visa in advance before finally printing my boarding passes. This was back in January.
May 21, 2015, 2:59 am
#1820
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Germany / Thailand
Programs: M&M/S SPG livetime gold, but not running behind status & points anymore! Now only book value for $
Posts: 3,090
This thread tends to be not any more " the occasional trick it "
This thread tends to be not any more " the occasional trick it " !
Lately only find discussions about VISA's , booking Problems etc.
Shouldn't here only discussed as per title ?? ( even there is not much left ).
Lately only find discussions about VISA's , booking Problems etc.
Shouldn't here only discussed as per title ?? ( even there is not much left ).
May 21, 2015, 2:08 pm
#1821
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 93
much left? Are you sure there is something "tricky" left?
May 25, 2015, 3:43 am
#1823
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: 13,053
May 25, 2015, 4:40 am
#1824
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Valencia, Spain
Programs: Pascal and Python, no C++
Posts: 738
It's not untrue, there still are some, but these gems are so well hidden, it would take weeks of work to find them, if you haven't been in this game for long.
I would rather advise to study the award chart, look at the areas where there is a fair relatioship between required mileage and normal ticket prices (not that many anymore) and then go ahead and search for availability. This is difficult enough nowadays.
May 25, 2015, 4:27 pm
#1826
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
Also, without knowledge of them, I'm guessing they are also extremely impractical for 95% of even posters in this thread. If they were more practical, a la gummy bear/chainsaw, they would be harder to keep quiet.
May 25, 2015, 4:30 pm
#1827
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
May 25, 2015, 4:33 pm
#1828
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Valencia, Spain
Programs: Pascal and Python, no C++
Posts: 738
May 31, 2015, 5:11 am
#1830
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: New York Metropolitan Area 45 km from JFK
Programs: UA,AA,AS,BA
Posts: 4,607
With all due respect, I think that's a bit unfair as an advice.
It's not untrue, there still are some, but these gems are so well hidden, it would take weeks of work to find them, if you haven't been in this game for long.
I would rather advise to study the award chart, look at the areas where there is a fair relatioship between required mileage and normal ticket prices (not that many anymore) and then go ahead and search for availability. This is difficult enough nowadays.
It's not untrue, there still are some, but these gems are so well hidden, it would take weeks of work to find them, if you haven't been in this game for long.
I would rather advise to study the award chart, look at the areas where there is a fair relatioship between required mileage and normal ticket prices (not that many anymore) and then go ahead and search for availability. This is difficult enough nowadays.
Primary benefit: Availability. Secondary benefit: You may save a few award miles.
While the above may sound counter intuitive and illogical, remember that is exactly the essence of LM and exactly what can benefit us. Never ever assume or apply logic to LM.
There is even case where when you search AAA to BBB specifying carrier XX, LM will not even recognize BBB as an airport served by XX. However, when you remove the XX carrier specification, then voila, AAA-BBB will show availability and with XX as the only carrier with availability to BBB. GO figure. No better not.
Last edited by WingedWorldExplorer; May 31, 2015 at 5:24 am