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
#286
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
#287
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: ZRH/SFO
Programs: A3*G - AZ CFP- HH DIA
Posts: 3,666
#288
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: PAR
Posts: 24
They ended up letting me through after I patiently waited half an hour for them to clear me. Claimed my passport was fake.
#289
Ambassador: LATAM
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: PNA
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 4,648
For someone that lists their location as PAR, what constitutes a reverse chainsaw? What country's fake passport were you travelling on?
#290
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: SIN
Programs: SQ, UA, Delta, BMI(RIP), Marriott Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Diamond (Thanks Amex) Hyatt Discov
Posts: 1,942
"arrested" sounds like too strong a word here!
#291
Join Date: May 2013
Location: GVA, BSL, ZRH
Programs: A3*, HH, club carlson: all gold and bonvoy plat
Posts: 466
Since the chainsaw is the entry/exit point for jihad training camp. Like this article, quiet some young europeans fly there and then take the bus to syria.
Once well trained they could buy a one way ticket to terror the US for example.
#292
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: PAR
Posts: 24
I was traveling on a legit French passport.
Yes !! I'm sorry I was not arrested. I wasn't trying to sound sensational.
The officer looked at my boarding pass, called someone, took my passport and told me to wait. I waited a little over 30minutes without being told anything. I got angry and demanded explanations. They ended up giving back the passport + boarding pass a few minutes before departure time. I did take my flight.
#293
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Valencia, Spain
Programs: Pascal and Python, no C++
Posts: 738
The officer looked at my boarding pass, called someone, took my passport and told me to wait. I waited a little over 30minutes without being told anything. I got angry and demanded explanations. They ended up giving back the passport + boarding pass a few minutes before departure time. I did take my flight.
Where was that, in the woodcutting tool's start city or somewhere en route?
#294
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: AT
Programs: *G at A3,TK;M&M,LM; IHG RA, AB Plat.
Posts: 105
But in fact, it seems that most of immigr. officers do really belive this.
#295
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: PAR
Posts: 24
#296
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 91
Sorry to be that person, but I can't get the cpm document to open on my tablet. Could anyone tell me the best combo of miles plus cash for an itinerary that prices ar 415000 for 2 pax? As far as I know this is just a straight forward multicity booking, only asking here as it's where I saw the document mentioned.
#297
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
It is actually pretty random to get selected or not. There are a couple of believed risk factors: booking one-ways, paying cash, booking close to departure. But I got SSSS once departing Costa Rica on the return of an AA RT ticket paid for months in advance with a credit card. Haven't had it since, wouldn't want it either as I basically got violated even worse than a normal TSA massage (of which I've had at least a dozen, so I'm no newbie to that process either ).
#299
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
#300
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,838