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
Sep 23, 2017, 6:28 am
#2761
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: NH, JL, SQ
Posts: 164
Sep 24, 2017, 10:02 am
#2762
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: NH, JL, SQ
Posts: 164
managed to call in and finish my booking. there was quite a bit of back and forth because the payment department busy/not open. i must say, i was a bit worried reading some of the complaints about their call center on this forum, but everyone i spoke to was rather friendly and seemed to know what they were doing
Sep 24, 2017, 1:49 pm
#2765
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 478
hurry up, book and empty all your accounts if you're up to these 'deductable fares'
Oct 24, 2017, 6:53 pm
#2771
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
Aside from digging into firefly on Firefox on old interface, you could try specifying departure time.
Oct 25, 2017, 1:25 am
#2772
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SCQ
Programs: tk gold, lh ftl, ab gold
Posts: 352
The DUS-NRT flight does show up in the general search, but i wanted to do the DUS-NRT-IAH, for example, and for that i need to select the airline first. That's where the DUS disappears from the airport list.
Oct 25, 2017, 3:07 am
#2773
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
Does specifying departure time without specifying the airport help?
The DUS-NRT flight does show up in the general search, but i wanted to do the DUS-NRT-IAH, for example, and for that i need to select the airline first. That's where the DUS disappears from the airport list.
The DUS-NRT flight does show up in the general search, but i wanted to do the DUS-NRT-IAH, for example, and for that i need to select the airline first. That's where the DUS disappears from the airport list.
For just DUS-NRT, you could select "star alliance" and set the departure time to 6pm, to increase your chances of NH210 (8pm departure) showing up.
FYI, NH210 is one of very few non-stop or one-stop DUS-NRT flights that leave past 6pm, so your chances of the direct flight showing up are good (of course, if there is availability)
For DUS-IAH via NRT (NH210 then NH174), you would of course need other things to work in your favor for you to even get a result. Obviously you know that NH210 arrives at 3:25 pm next day after departure, and NH174 departs 10:50am the next day after that (a 19 hour + layover at NRT, meaning it wont show on LM website)
This is all based on the old website interface.
Forget about getting something on the new web interface.
You could try screen-shots, but you have a very low chance of getting it priced as one one-way award.
Firebug on firefox tricks to manipulate departure airport and time inputs are not for the faint-hearted, but you wouldnt get a result because of the layover noted above.
Why not go the Atlantic route?
Last edited by Tokyoite; Oct 26, 2017 at 4:00 am
Oct 25, 2017, 8:10 am
#2775
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SCQ
Programs: tk gold, lh ftl, ab gold
Posts: 352
The problem is that DUS doesn't appear as departure/arrival city AT ALL, when forcing the search engine to NH.
There is no issue with BRU, for example. But i just don't see availability ex-BRU, while it does exist ex-DUS when i search by segment.
Atlantic route is too short
I want two NH long hauls for the price of one