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
Dec 4, 2019, 8:40 pm
#2941
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: DXB
Programs: Marriott Titanium Elite, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, BA Silver, A3 Gold, Sixt Diamond
Posts: 2,811
Also try checking the Lufthansa search!
I was looking for MEX-MUC-OSL (LH has 2 daily flights, MEX-MUC and MEX-FRA), but the Smart Search only showed availability for MEX-FRA-OSL.
The Smart Search didn't even show availability for the direct flight MEX-MUC (without MUC-OSL).
In the end, I was able to find and book the MEX-MUC-OSL flight by choosing "Lufthansa" instead of "Smart Search".
So keep playing around with the options. But if it's not visible on the Lifemiles website, then your chances of getting it booked via customer service are basically zero.
I was looking for MEX-MUC-OSL (LH has 2 daily flights, MEX-MUC and MEX-FRA), but the Smart Search only showed availability for MEX-FRA-OSL.
The Smart Search didn't even show availability for the direct flight MEX-MUC (without MUC-OSL).
In the end, I was able to find and book the MEX-MUC-OSL flight by choosing "Lufthansa" instead of "Smart Search".
So keep playing around with the options. But if it's not visible on the Lifemiles website, then your chances of getting it booked via customer service are basically zero.
Dec 13, 2019, 9:15 pm
#2950
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 123
Okay, I ran across this. but unsure how to do it. Can anyone please help here or in Private? I am trying to book a couple of tickets for my parents. Thanks
You can book exactly the same flights that you see on UA and AC but you just need to inject the correct cookie to be able to see them
Dec 14, 2019, 6:06 am
#2951
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: DXB
Programs: Marriott Titanium Elite, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, BA Silver, A3 Gold, Sixt Diamond
Posts: 2,811
I call ......... It would imply there’s some sort of “secret mode” on Lifemiles, as if certain users would have better access to award tickets. I doubt that.
Dec 14, 2019, 10:02 pm
#2952
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Programs: Flying: VA; Buying: AA, AS, AV, BA, UA!
Posts: 2,349
In the older version it was very easy to use developer tools in the browser to manipulate the front end.
That may still be the case, but in the current version it's beyond me.
Dec 15, 2019, 9:53 am
#2954
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 123
Okay, I think there is a way to show more flights than just a regular search for US to Europe. I was doing different searches with different airlines and once you use a certain airline for certain routing, then click on Star alliance, others show up that did not before. Number of seats on those flights still seem to be dictated by the partner airline though.
Dec 15, 2019, 10:08 am
#2955
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: DXB
Programs: Marriott Titanium Elite, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, BA Silver, A3 Gold, Sixt Diamond
Posts: 2,811
There was this one suggestion up thread to search for train stations like QKL.
Lufthansa sells tickets there (with a train ticket included). I don’t know if that turns up any other results though.
Lufthansa sells tickets there (with a train ticket included). I don’t know if that turns up any other results though.