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
Apr 21, 2016, 7:09 am
#2283
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
Blighty to Boston
Aust(ria) to Aust(in)
Vienna to Veracruz
Taranto to Toronto
La Marseillaise to La La Land
Manchester to Manchester (MAN and MHT, respectively)
Lisbon to Liberia (Costa Rica)
El Puerto de Santa María to Puerto Vallarta
These are but a few of the possibilities if one wishes to fly from Europe to North America
.
(Before anyone goes looking, none of these price out as anything special. Do you really think I would plain text them if they did? Just having a little fun on a Thursday morning
)
Aust(ria) to Aust(in)
Vienna to Veracruz
Taranto to Toronto
La Marseillaise to La La Land
Manchester to Manchester (MAN and MHT, respectively)
Lisbon to Liberia (Costa Rica)
El Puerto de Santa María to Puerto Vallarta
These are but a few of the possibilities if one wishes to fly from Europe to North America
.(Before anyone goes looking, none of these price out as anything special. Do you really think I would plain text them if they did? Just having a little fun on a Thursday morning
)
Apr 21, 2016, 9:44 am
#2284
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
York to New York?
Amsterdam to New Amsterdam?
this is fun. In other news, seems TG connections outside south east asia zone are still blocked. All SQ longhaul (Non A380/77W) too...
C2 to C1 special pricing would need a very very long throwaway 3X
Amsterdam to New Amsterdam?
this is fun. In other news, seems TG connections outside south east asia zone are still blocked. All SQ longhaul (Non A380/77W) too...
C2 to C1 special pricing would need a very very long throwaway 3X
Apr 22, 2016, 9:55 am
#2285
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 394
I've gone from Venezia to Venice (LAX) -- from gelato to ice cream on both boardwalks in the same week.
And from San Jose (SJC) to San Jose (SJO).
But the worst story I've heard was of the aunt who went to the SJO airport to pick up a visiting child, and on non-arrival, found that the airline had sent him/her to SJU (San Juan).
And from San Jose (SJC) to San Jose (SJO).
But the worst story I've heard was of the aunt who went to the SJO airport to pick up a visiting child, and on non-arrival, found that the airline had sent him/her to SJU (San Juan).
Apr 25, 2016, 6:57 am
#2286
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: SIN
Posts: 352
Isnt it well known now after that blogger bragged about it?
Apr 26, 2016, 4:01 pm
#2287
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: WAS (IAD, DCA, BWI)
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Platinum, WN CP
Posts: 245
TPAC possible to India via mixed Star Alliance carriers?
Hello,
My apologies if this is in the wrong thread. I was wondering how to be able to find itineraries from IAD to BOM/DEM/HYD/BLR/MAA, by mixed *A carriers (a combination of ANA, SQ, TG, etc etc).
My searches yield only TATL routing. When I specify an airline (eg ANA), and if ANA does not have a legal connection, it does not show me other airlines (OZ, TG, SQ etc) even if they are valid segments.
Would appreciate any help in this regard.
My apologies if this is in the wrong thread. I was wondering how to be able to find itineraries from IAD to BOM/DEM/HYD/BLR/MAA, by mixed *A carriers (a combination of ANA, SQ, TG, etc etc).
My searches yield only TATL routing. When I specify an airline (eg ANA), and if ANA does not have a legal connection, it does not show me other airlines (OZ, TG, SQ etc) even if they are valid segments.
Would appreciate any help in this regard.
Apr 26, 2016, 4:43 pm
#2288
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Programs: Flying: VA; Buying: AA, AS, AV, BA, UA!
Posts: 2,349
Hello,
My apologies if this is in the wrong thread. I was wondering how to be able to find itineraries from IAD to BOM/DEM/HYD/BLR/MAA, by mixed *A carriers (a combination of ANA, SQ, TG, etc etc).
My searches yield only TATL routing. When I specify an airline (eg ANA), and if ANA does not have a legal connection, it does not show me other airlines (OZ, TG, SQ etc) even if they are valid segments.
Would appreciate any help in this regard.
My apologies if this is in the wrong thread. I was wondering how to be able to find itineraries from IAD to BOM/DEM/HYD/BLR/MAA, by mixed *A carriers (a combination of ANA, SQ, TG, etc etc).
My searches yield only TATL routing. When I specify an airline (eg ANA), and if ANA does not have a legal connection, it does not show me other airlines (OZ, TG, SQ etc) even if they are valid segments.
Would appreciate any help in this regard.
Apr 27, 2016, 3:39 am
#2290
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
If you find individual sectors which would constitute a valid connection but they don't show online as a single itinerary, send screenshots of the individual sectors to [email protected] and request them to book the complete trip. You must include your lifemiles number and passenger details (name, DOB etc.). They may, if you are lucky, make the booking then call you for payment. This method works fine for many of the perfectly valid itineraries that no longer show on the website.
Apr 27, 2016, 3:42 am
#2291
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,408
If you email however they have the ability to create an itinerary combining segments.
Apr 28, 2016, 3:14 am
#2293
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210