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
Jan 20, 2016, 8:35 pm
#1996
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
Jan 20, 2016, 11:38 pm
#1997
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SIN (LEJ once a year)
Programs: SQ, LH, BA, IHG Diamond AMB, HH Gold, SLH Indulged, Accor Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,741
Definitely can see Mixed Cabins which will be a interesting option. However, seems LM will be pricing based on highest cabin even if only one segment of the trip is in that cabin.
For example, say you are offered a routing like SFO-LAX(UA F)-NRT(NH Y)-SIN(NH Y) you will be charged for a OW F class redemption for 99K mls because SFO-LAX is in (domestic) First. What a joke
.
One better be aware and check all the details before booking. I can already see people not catching this though in all fairness a message does pop-up before proceeding.
For example, say you are offered a routing like SFO-LAX(UA F)-NRT(NH Y)-SIN(NH Y) you will be charged for a OW F class redemption for 99K mls because SFO-LAX is in (domestic) First. What a joke
. One better be aware and check all the details before booking. I can already see people not catching this though in all fairness a message does pop-up before proceeding.
Last edited by demue; Jan 21, 2016 at 12:42 am
Jan 21, 2016, 12:48 am
#1999
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
Jan 21, 2016, 2:25 am
#2000
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Valencia, Spain
Programs: Pascal and Python, no C++
Posts: 738
Jan 21, 2016, 3:02 am
#2002
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: London, UK
Programs: Ronin - churn and burn
Posts: 701
Jan 21, 2016, 3:27 am
#2003
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,439
Jan 21, 2016, 11:36 am
#2009
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
Website down for anyone else?
NVM it is back up. More reliable than UA.bomb which hasn't worked for award searches for days
.
NVM it is back up. More reliable than UA.bomb which hasn't worked for award searches for days
.
Last edited by TheBOSman; Jan 21, 2016 at 11:43 am
Jan 21, 2016, 1:00 pm
#2010
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,725
Can someone explain why the new mixed cabin scheme is superior to the previous system?
Sure, it gives additional flexibility and a greater range of destinations, but it also prevents booking C3-C2-C1 F fares because the C2-C1 leg will be in J or Y.
Sure, it gives additional flexibility and a greater range of destinations, but it also prevents booking C3-C2-C1 F fares because the C2-C1 leg will be in J or Y.
Last edited by iluvdoco; Jan 21, 2016 at 2:50 pm