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 31, 2014, 3:12 am
#182
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SXE
Programs: QF LTG, VA Gold, BA Gold, HH, SFSC
Posts: 502
May 31, 2014, 8:07 am
#183
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: SAT
Programs: AA EXP BA Gold, TK Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, AS 100K, QR PLT, SAS Gold, IHG Spire, AMR
Posts: 5,898
This program has become a lot less valuable. All it took was one bad apple.
At least we can still get to C6 at a fair price
At least we can still get to C6 at a fair price
May 31, 2014, 8:20 am
#184
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Canada
Programs: UA*1K MM SK EBG LATAM BL
Posts: 23,309
May 31, 2014, 9:05 am
#186
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
.Like I said, today is unsubscribe day. The value won't be here to bother spending the time on it, other than to use up whatever miles you already have. There's only so many hours in a day, and they can frequently be better spent.
May 31, 2014, 9:42 am
#187
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Toronto (YYZ)
Posts: 6,279
There are other "by invitation only" forums where these are discussed & shared.
Similar to mistake fares, before they appear if ever on FT they have been discussed, shared and booked many times over in these "secret" forums.
On a personal note, I've received many "nasty" PM's when I've publicly shared info, most recently the SQ F Suites route. Seems like a lot of people want to keep things hush hush.
Last edited by imverge; May 31, 2014 at 9:51 am Reason: Added routing example & personal note
May 31, 2014, 10:57 am
#188
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 302
May 31, 2014, 2:50 pm
#189
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 286
Yes it was possible a long time ago, but not now.
At the moment ALL flights of OS are operated by tyrolean so I have really no clue what you mean. Just look at your boarding pass. (They have transfered the whole aircrew (pilots and flight attendants) to tyrolean)
At the moment ALL flights of OS are operated by tyrolean so I have really no clue what you mean. Just look at your boarding pass. (They have transfered the whole aircrew (pilots and flight attendants) to tyrolean)
Last edited by MultiFlyer; May 31, 2014 at 3:14 pm
May 31, 2014, 3:08 pm
#190
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 286
But it is a start.
Would be great for the wood tool to get another possible connection to C1.
Last edited by MultiFlyer; May 31, 2014 at 3:20 pm
May 31, 2014, 3:39 pm
#191
Join Date: Jun 2013
Programs: SPG Plat 100, A3*G
Posts: 678
Don't tell anyone but I heard you can sometimes book FRA-JFK in LH F.
May 31, 2014, 4:31 pm
#192
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton GLD, Marriott Plat, NEXUS/GE
Posts: 2,872
I thought all but one plane had been transfered. The one remaining Austrian long-haul aircraft is used to keep the route authorities alive.
May 31, 2014, 4:38 pm
#193
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: BTS
Posts: 611
That may be so, but some routes are still showing as available on OS in LM. I see at least three.
May 31, 2014, 4:58 pm
#195
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Germany
Programs: AV,ST,OW Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 209