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
Nov 28, 2014, 10:33 am
#1413
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: New York Metropolitan Area 45 km from JFK
Programs: UA,AA,AS,BA
Posts: 4,607
Nov 28, 2014, 6:01 pm
#1416
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: SYDNEY
Programs: *A Gold, HH dia,Hyatt plat,Sixt PLAT,QF , EY Gold
Posts: 1,890
Nov 29, 2014, 3:00 am
#1417
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: BTS
Posts: 611
Nov 29, 2014, 3:01 am
#1418
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: AT
Programs: *G at A3,TK;M&M,LM; IHG RA, AB Plat.
Posts: 105
Maybe positive: The callcenter seems to have much less work now (3 calls, max. 1minute waiting time) and very friendly stuff with a new "user friendly wording".
Completely different experiences than 1 year ago.
Nov 29, 2014, 3:11 am
#1419
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: CDG
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 1,611
Quote:
Originally Posted by WingedWorldExplorer View Post
Looks like they are panicking since they may be seriously missing their Q4 14 budget targets for ancillary revenue.
That didn't stop them from jacking the price up 10% :-D
Originally Posted by WingedWorldExplorer View Post
Looks like they are panicking since they may be seriously missing their Q4 14 budget targets for ancillary revenue.
That didn't stop them from jacking the price up 10% :-D
Nov 29, 2014, 3:53 am
#1421
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Programs: Flying: VA; Buying: AA, AS, AV, BA, UA!
Posts: 2,349
Not sure it's a first, well possibly would be in the implementation...but TG announced a huge devaluation this year to commence on x date, then reversed the decision entirely following the outcry.
Nov 29, 2014, 4:10 am
#1422
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Programs: BA Silver, EY Gold, HH Diamond, IHG Plat
Posts: 12,210
There are still some very good redemptions through LM. I will top up all 5 of my accounts for sure. ^
BTW - Most of my redemptions have come down this year by 20% + due to the recent devaluation ^^
Nov 29, 2014, 3:01 pm
#1423
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: EWR
Programs: Free agent flyer, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 365
Where do we stand on discussing tricked routes that are dead since the deval? I've got some screenshots of hilariously generous routings that I think folks here would enjoy (unfortunately I was never able to take advantage of them though).