Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > Avianca | LifeMiles and Amigo
Reload this Page >

Lifemiles serious booking problems - Beware (from January 2022 onwards)

Community
Wiki Posts
Search
Old Jan 17, 2022, 5:12 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: italdesign
Please do your homework before buying Lifemiles. It is what it is... for some that's useful, for others it's not.

Biggest complaints are about
- mixed class bookings are available but now many of the suitable connections dont show
- not being able to book anything that isn't available online (there are work-arounds, see screenshot method below)
- the quality of the call center (English speaking agents are scarce, you might get thrown in a loop with call transfers within their call center)
- no stopovers (>24H) or open jaws, but you can book one way awards
- no reservations on Certain subsidiaries of Star Alliance carriers (Lufthansa Cityline, Germanwings)
- no availability showing at all on the website (try logging out and logging back in)

Problems with ticketing / lack of confirmation screen or email
- write down the confirmation number shown on the screen after confirming your purchase.
check here: http://serviciosenlinea.avianca.com/...doReserva.aspx

Sometimes, even if you cannot see the PNR, the record may have been created, so better to call them and give them flight details you were trying to book. They can find the PNR from those details.
- ticketing usually takes place within 10-15 min of booking
- but it may also take up to 2 days
- if miles have been deducted from your account and a temporary authorization has been placed on your CC, you're probably fine even if you did not see a confirmation screen
- if no e-ticket number is visible on checkmytrip.com after two days, you should contact LifeMiles. You can expedite the ticketing by emailing with your booking reference to: [email protected] after you have booked, especially if you have booked last minute flights, and need ticketing straight away

Screenshot method.
So, on a date you are looking for in the future, there is availability for LAX-NRT and NRT-BKK. But not LAX-NRT-BKK.
It may be a case of the LM system not offering the through connection.

Take three screen shots - two 'available' screen shots for LAX-NRT and NRT-BKK and the 'not available' screen for LAX-BKK.
Send them all off with a scan of your passport page (PDF) and LM will make the booking manually for you.

You need to have 40% of the miles in your account for them to make the booking. On some occasions, credit card points do not transfer over immediately. In such cases also send screenshots of the points being debited from your credit card. In some cases the LM account will immediately show the points transferred in the account activity section. Send a screenshot of that as well.

After a day or two, you will get a reply via email saying the matter has been escalated to an internal area. The next day someone will call you from 305 447 2819 and will process the payment over the phone. You will need to set a PIN which you can do in your online LM account (under the account access section of your online profile).

Send to these two email addresses, and CC yourself (just for your records)
[email protected] (invalid as of July 2022)
[email protected]

Sample email:
====
Email topic: Urgent request for booking Lifemiles Award
====
Dear Sirs,

I have tried several times, over several days, but the following itinerary does not show on the website.
Please see the attached screenshots I took just now.
Please do the manual booking First Class/Business class for xx,000 miles. (*Know how many miles the whole award should cost-here, to avoid surprises once ticketed)

The availability is only 1 seat for this date, so please process this request urgently before it is gone.

Los Angeles (LAX) - Bangkok (BKK)
Saturday August 11th 2018
NH 175 connecting to NH 807
(*Provide the specific flight numbers you want, to avoid surprises once ticketed)

My passport copy (Number xxxx, expiry 20xx/xx/xx, Nationality xxx) is attached in this email.

LifeMiles Number: xxx
First Name: xxx
Last name: xxx
Date of Birth: Month, date, year
Gender: Male/Female
Email: xxxx
Phone Number: +1-xxxx

Regards,
XXX
========



Print Wikipost

Lifemiles serious booking problems - Beware (from January 2022 onwards)

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Apr 11, 2022, 10:11 pm
  #151  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,403
Originally Posted by NHarmonia
Has anyone found a way to book J/F on TG using lifemiles? Aeroplan/Krisflyer show availability on certain days in F but Lifemiles only shows it in economy. I read other people had similar issues in the past, was there a solution?
No… they can only book flights that appear on line.
Tokyoite likes this.
LHR/MEL/Europe FF is offline  
Old Apr 14, 2022, 1:03 am
  #152  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 7
I've been trying to book a return trip from Colombia to USA in Copa Airlines, and everything looks fine. I'm even able to click in Details and see the flight details (CUC-PTY, PTY-LAX, LAX-SFO, first two trips in Copa Airlines and last one in United Airlines)

However, when I try to expand the details (down arrow next to the miles & price). I get the error message below:


Has anybody ever had the same issue? I have been trying for about a week to no avail.

Last edited by Lauren Gadner; Apr 14, 2022 at 1:07 am Reason: Add more details
Lauren Gadner is offline  
Old Apr 14, 2022, 4:07 am
  #153  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,403
If you can see it on line the call centre will also be able to see it and should be able to book it… or possibly tell you why it’s not possible.
LHR/MEL/Europe FF is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2022, 7:08 pm
  #154  
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 261
Finally back on the travel bandwagon after an over 2 year hiatus, LM was such a great option for international business.

It does appear however that it no longer has access to the same *Alliance award seats as other carriers.

I can see a TG Business seat on United, but nothing shows up on LM
baggyred is offline  
Old Apr 18, 2022, 8:07 am
  #155  
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Hong Kong SAR
Programs: OZ & BA Gold, HHonors Diamond, Marriott & Accor Plat
Posts: 295
Tips for Preventing Booking Error or doing Payment via Chat

Two important things if you encounter errors during booking:

1) Make sure you have your emergency contact filled out on your Lifemiles profile to prevent the booking error - this helps as someone else posted in the pre-2022 thread

2) I just tried a booking and unfortunately still got an error and a Booking Reference but via their chat managed to pay (in Colombian Pesos via credit card) by payment link without needing to contact their dreaded call center with one english-speaking agent doing payment otherwise. Got eTicket a few hours later!
progapanda and dhimmel like this.
Bobdh13 is offline  
Old Apr 19, 2022, 7:29 am
  #156  
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,720
LM showing "More Fare Options" instead of award availability. Just a few weeks ago it was fine.
iluvdoco is offline  
Old Apr 20, 2022, 9:12 pm
  #157  
 
Join Date: Mar 2021
Posts: 163
Originally Posted by iluvdoco
LM showing "More Fare Options" instead of award availability. Just a few weeks ago it was fine.
To be fair, a few weeks ago countries like Singapore were still restricting arrivals to VTL flights, and most of these flights had no award inventory. Other countries had not yet announced reopening plans. Thailand reopening was still a mess. In February, I booked the one available business class seat on ANA to SE Asia for Chinese New Year 2023. Economy was available for about a month longer. I even saw EVA availability but was uneasy about Taiwan allowing transit pax anytime soon so went with ANA.

I think what seats were available were snatched up early, and those that weren’t were zeroed out assuming demand is going to continue building, which I think it will, especially for Asia.
Beetles is offline  
Old Apr 21, 2022, 6:07 pm
  #158  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 7
Smile

Originally Posted by Lauren Gadner
I've been trying to book a return trip from Colombia to USA in Copa Airlines, and everything looks fine. I'm even able to click in Details and see the flight details (CUC-PTY, PTY-LAX, LAX-SFO, first two trips in Copa Airlines and last one in United Airlines)

However, when I try to expand the details (down arrow next to the miles & price). I get the error message below:


Has anybody ever had the same issue? I have been trying for about a week to no avail.
Found a solution! if I switch from Smart Search to Star Alliance on the search page, everything goes through. It looks like the smart search is not that smart after all.
skimthetrees likes this.
Lauren Gadner is offline  
Old Apr 23, 2022, 1:21 pm
  #159  
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 127
seems that the error persists with Air Canada.
jason1991 is offline  
Old Apr 28, 2022, 8:33 am
  #160  
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Canton, SD
Posts: 109
Hello, trying to book routes I see on United's website for Swiss Air (LAX-ZRH), routes that I have booked using lifemiles before, and getting no availability on everything. The only availability I am able to find is Avianca direct flights from LAX - Central and South America, everything else using star alliance shows no availability. Is anyone else having this issue?
keno0000000 is offline  
Old Apr 28, 2022, 10:28 am
  #161  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Programs: UA, AS
Posts: 2,393
Originally Posted by keno0000000
Hello, trying to book routes I see on United's website for Swiss Air (LAX-ZRH), routes that I have booked using lifemiles before, and getting no availability on everything. The only availability I am able to find is Avianca direct flights from LAX - Central and South America, everything else using star alliance shows no availability. Is anyone else having this issue?
You must be searching for Economy? When I search on United.com for non-stop Business LAX->ZRH I only see 4 days in the next year on LX with availability, all in Feb, 2023, and all those 4 dates show availability via LifeMiles. At least for Business Class it looks like Swiss is restricting availability, not LifeMiles.

What dates are you seeing the issue?
skimthetrees is offline  
Old Apr 28, 2022, 1:59 pm
  #162  
pjs
 
Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: Alpharetta, GA, USA
Posts: 948
Originally Posted by keno0000000
Hello, trying to book routes I see on United's website for Swiss Air (LAX-ZRH), routes that I have booked using lifemiles before, and getting no availability on everything. The only availability I am able to find is Avianca direct flights from LAX - Central and South America, everything else using star alliance shows no availability. Is anyone else having this issue?
If I log out and log back in each time I go to the site, I am able to see Europe-US econ or biz (or F within 14 days) availability on LH, econ or biz on UA as well, depending on route. Search using Star Alliance not Smartsearch.
pjs is online now  
Old Apr 30, 2022, 5:13 pm
  #163  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Southern Cal
Programs: UA, AA, Delta, Marriott
Posts: 113
Is Lifemiles worth it? Does Avianca have good Business Class service and comfort? I have been working so hard to find Business Class tickets to Rio without success, but today found that if I fly into Sao Paolo I can get Business Class, but I could not get that on a return from Rio. So if go for it, will it be worth the trouble?
Scott Kiwi is offline  
Old Apr 30, 2022, 7:20 pm
  #164  
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,483
You might be the first person in the world to fly Lifemiles into South America 😂. I’ve never even considered that I could fly on avianca with them
mildfrequence likes this.
Cynicor is offline  
Old Apr 30, 2022, 9:18 pm
  #165  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: AU
Programs: former Olympic Airways Gold (yeah - still proud of that!)
Posts: 14,403
Originally Posted by Scott Kiwi
Is Lifemiles worth it? Does Avianca have good Business Class service and comfort? I have been working so hard to find Business Class tickets to Rio without success, but today found that if I fly into Sao Paolo I can get Business Class, but I could not get that on a return from Rio. So if go for it, will it be worth the trouble?
LM is very niche (to put it politely). They have some sweet spots but reward availability on partners is woeful, the website, IT and booking process is woeful, and while the manual workarounds are reasonably straightforward, there are difficulties in completing those manual workarounds with getting payment through.

I would not recommend transferring miles, accruing miles or buying miles in LM unless you were fully confident in how the programme works and its [many] limitations.
soy likes this.

Last edited by LHR/MEL/Europe FF; May 1, 2022 at 5:41 am Reason: fixin gramer an spelin
LHR/MEL/Europe FF is offline  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.