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
Jun 10, 2014, 12:09 pm
#301
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: ATL
Posts: 186
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.
The spreadsheet only goes up to 65k, so your best bet is to just do the calculation for your specific redemption.
Jun 10, 2014, 4:31 pm
#302
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Programs: Flying: VA; Buying: AA, AS, AV, BA, UA!
Posts: 2,349
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.
Jun 10, 2014, 5:14 pm
#303
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: TLV
Posts: 522
Code:
Total miles needed: 35000 Miles bought Cost CPM Percent bought 1000 30.00 3.00 3 2000 59.14 2.96 6 3000 83.10 2.77 9 4000 103.81 2.60 11 5000 121.67 2.43 14 6000 137.06 2.28 17 7000 150.36 2.15 20 8000 161.95 2.02 23 9000 172.21 1.91 26 10000 181.53 1.82 29 11000 190.29 1.73 31 12000 198.86 1.66 34 13000 207.64 1.60 37 14000 217.00 1.55 40 <-- first round price, high CPM 15000 227.33 1.52 43 16000 240.00 1.50 46 <-- good 17000 255.00 1.50 49 <-- good 18000 270.00 1.50 51 <-- good 19000 285.93 1.50 54 <-- not round, yet still my recommended option 20000 306.82 1.53 57 21000 330.96 1.58 60
Last edited by Maayan; Jun 10, 2014 at 5:55 pm Reason: Inaccuracy pointed out by datsuzei -- thanks!
Jun 10, 2014, 5:41 pm
#305
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: TLV
Posts: 522
In saying "best" I made the assumption that we normally would want to buy the most miles (at the lowest CPM) since these purchases don't count against the annual max that can be bought during promos, if I understand correctly.
Jun 10, 2014, 5:57 pm
#307
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: TLV
Posts: 522
Jun 14, 2014, 6:52 am
#309
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: BTS
Posts: 611
It is me or has LM started showing way less availability than *A has. For example, TG MEL-FRA/MUC shows a lot of space in September on ANA/United.com but absolutely nothing on LM, even when forcing the airline (have seen the same for LH/SN on TATL)
Jun 14, 2014, 7:31 am
#310
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ZRH
Programs: SEN
Posts: 137
Jun 14, 2014, 7:39 pm
#311
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!
Posts: 26,062
.Colombia did win 3-0 today, IT in BOG is either very drunk or very hungover now, so don't expect much anytime soon
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