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
Mar 31, 2016, 3:35 am
#2254
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
Got to say the new system can be so annoying sometimes. Was searching for some business seats and had to click through 15-20 dates which were showing as available for it to show the long haul in Economy.
Mar 31, 2016, 4:16 am
#2255
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,408
If you know the specific route, can't you check for actual availability on say UA before confirming via LM?
Mar 31, 2016, 4:26 am
#2256
formerly mattking2000
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: DXB
Programs: BA|AC|AZ|SPG|H|FPC
Posts: 1,187
Some of the routes are still there, although the carrier have changed and are now much less lucrative (in terms of product). However, if you need to get from A to B, itčs still a good (cheap) way of doing so.
On another note, the booking system now finally accepts Canadian postal codes in the correct format! ^^
On another note, the booking system now finally accepts Canadian postal codes in the correct format! ^^
Mar 31, 2016, 7:59 am
#2257
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,839
Mar 31, 2016, 7:49 pm
#2258
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: TLV
Posts: 522
AA and UA (and probably others) also make you sift through mixed cabins. It's not at all an LM-specific annoyance, it seems to be the norm. I wish they all would have a checkbox on their search pages where you could allow/disallow mixed cabins.
Mixed cabins help boomies. Not just with LM.
Mixed cabins help boomies. Not just with LM.
Apr 1, 2016, 4:50 am
#2261
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
Apr 2, 2016, 3:14 am
#2262
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
Apr 2, 2016, 7:49 am
#2263
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
gents (and ladies), without being too open, does anyone know how the "system tweaking" is actually done? maybe a search parameter that says "X" to connections in bkk, or a routing query result that filters out "connection via X". Reason i am asking (wondering aloud) is that MPM hasn't really kicked in, implying either its implicitly overlooked, or IT incompetence, or not technically possible at the moment....just thinking of what could be un-improved, and why it hasnt happended to boomies that happily keep popping up. not looking in the horses mouth, but just wondering how easy or hard it actually is...
Apr 3, 2016, 8:00 pm
#2264
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: London / Los Angeles
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt Globalist, BA Silver
Posts: 1,631
This has gotten so heavily coded...
I know a few tricks that still work, e.g. C2-C1 boomies for price of C2-C2 and C2-West Coast C1 in F with excellent availability(not actually a discount in miles but you get to go a VERY long route on a top 5 star product).
Message me if you have anything to swap
I know a few tricks that still work, e.g. C2-C1 boomies for price of C2-C2 and C2-West Coast C1 in F with excellent availability(not actually a discount in miles but you get to go a VERY long route on a top 5 star product).
Message me if you have anything to swap
Last edited by Enigma368; Apr 6, 2016 at 8:49 am