Topic Wiki

Lifemiles Basics

Buying miles:

Lifemiles runs frequent promotions for buying miles, usually for 1.5 cents per mile. Given that Lifemiles has one of the most reasonable Star Alliance award charts, linked here, and doesn't charge fuel surcharges for any partners, buying miles can make a lot of sense.

The promos are usually run in one of two ways.

1. A straight up buy miles promo at 1.5cpm. In all previous buy miles promos, you needed to have an account before the promo starts in order to buy miles. Buying miles though the promo is limited to 75k per year. Be sure to use a credit card that does not charge foreign transaction fees.

2. A share miles promo. You can share miles from one account to another with a 100% bonus on each transaction. The cost is again 1.5cpm. Although in the past you needed to have a Lifemiles account in order to take advantage of the promo, the current promo (7/3-13) does not require a previously open account to participate. In order to maximize the promo on accounts not previously open, open 2 accounts, buy 1k miles at 3cpm, then share back and forth between both account at 1.5cpm. You can share back and forth between 2 accounts an unlimited amount of times provided you stay under the 75k cap. Doing this will most likely trigger a fraud alert with your CC, so it may be a good idea to call them beforehand and give them a heads up.

Lifemiles will also allow you to buy up to 60% of the miles required for booking a flight. The cost starts at 3cpm but is nonlinear. There are sweet spots that allows you to buy a large quantity of miles for 1.5cpm, usually in the 25-35k range. The 1.5cpm sweetspot varies depending on the amount required for the award. Full CPM spreadsheet linked here. (HT: Some dude on FT.)

Lifemiles is known to devalue without warning so hoarding miles is not advised. Buying miles at booking allows to hedge against sudden devaluations.

There is also a Lifemiles credit card  that occasionally offers a 40k bonus. Linked here.

Redeeming Lifemiles:
You can only redeem flights which are shown online. The Lifemiles call center has a horrible reputation and is usually useless. Emailing them usually yields better results if you can wait a day or two.

Lifemiles does not allow mixed cabin redemptions. If you want to book a first class flight with connections, you will need to book all legs in first class or book separate tickets.

Lifemiles is known to have better access to Miles & More and Singapore premium cabins than the rest of Star Alliance.

Lifemiles does not charge any fuel surcharges.

Lifemiles does not allow stopovers or open jaws on awards.

The max layover time that the booking engine will usually show is 8 hours, although people have had success forcing much longer layover times.

Lifemiles does not issue any lap infant award tickets.

Lifemiles cannot book any Austrian flights operated by Tyrolean Airways.

You can access partner confirmation numbers and eticket numbers with your Lifemiles PNR at checkmytrip.com

Lifemiles will occasionally show boomerang routings, which are routings that go from A-B, via C.  ;)

There are many mispriced cities and quirks in the Lifemiles booking engine, allowing for really cheap international awards.  ;)

Canceling a Lifemiles award: (HT, FT)

Lifemiles charges $150 to change an award and $50 to cancel.

Canceling:

1. This will take 20-30 minutes and costs $50
2. You have to pay the $50 up front and will need to have your credit card handy
3. You will need a PIN number for the call center. You set up the PIN online by changing your "information and preferences". Note that this has 3 pages but you only need to change the "Manage the Basics" page and hit "Save". The progress-bar at the top never seems to reach 100% but it doesn't matter. There are two places to press "Save and continue" when you give the PIN. The top button doesn't work. You have to click on the one on the bottom of the screen
4. Call the USA reservations number preferably during business hours +1 800 284 2622
5. Key 2 for English (or 1 for Spanish), 3 for Lifemiles/Corporate, then 1 for Lifemiles
6. If you have got a noisy phone line, hang up and go back to step 4. It is possible to get a good line even from overseas.
7. With luck, someone coherent will answer. If not, don't waste your time, HUCA
8. Give them the PNR to be cancelled
9. You will be asked "do you have a PIN". say yes. You will be put on hold
10. You will be connected to an automated system to key in your PIN. Don't press # afterwards.
11. You will be asked to pay the $50 via an automated system. You'll be asked for your CC number, then you must repeat it. Don't press # afterwards. Then the expiry month, then year, then the id number. Be ready to rattle through the keys as any hesitation causes the system to think you've finished. So, typically you will need 2-3 attempts. [The operator listens in on the automated process and helps you along if you don’t key in the right numbers]
13. You will be put on hold for 5-10 minutes while the card is checked. It may fail the first time, for no reason. Go back to step 12.
14. Once the CC is confirmed the operator will ask you for the full billing address, then your name as it appears on the card, then the name of the bank which issued the card.
15. You will be put on hold for 5-10 minutes
16. The operator will confirm the cancellation, or rather confirm it will be put in the queue for manual cancellation.
17. After 24 hours or so, you should receive an E Mail receipt for the $50 (could be in Spanish)
18. Miles will be refunded within 2-3 days, as if you had paid using the maximum miles with no cash to refund all the cash and the miles to what you had before making the booking. The miles sometimes reappear immediately. [Most often, the miles are available within 24 hours.]
19. The taxes - fairly modest - will be refunded in full since you already paid the cancellation fee up front. The refund should hit the CC within a week or so. No refund for the $25 booking fee.
20. The refund will be refunded to the original card.



« Last edited by username on March 11, 2019, 02:37:39 PM »

Author Topic: Lifemiles Master Thread  (Read 130284 times)

Online yelped

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #320 on: September 19, 2021, 11:13:15 PM »
offer is still up on the website. What’s going on?
https://www.lifemiles.com/deals/detail-page/0921US01
They mean the Amex 15%.

Offline pointer

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #321 on: September 19, 2021, 11:24:04 PM »
They mean the Amex 15%.
This is the link that Dan posted.
So it was a mistake all along?

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #322 on: September 20, 2021, 12:16:19 AM »
This is the link that Dan posted.
So it was a mistake all along?
Yes.

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #323 on: September 20, 2021, 12:25:26 AM »
Yes.
ugh. Agreed on a price with someone based on receiving additional 15%. :(

Offline Lou Bob

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #324 on: September 20, 2021, 12:59:28 AM »
Makes sense that 3 different reps (so far) want to charge different amounts in taxes for the same itinerary?
Always use an Amex, you'll thank me one day.

Offline HoKo

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #325 on: September 20, 2021, 03:08:42 PM »
Makes sense that 3 different reps (so far) want to charge different amounts in taxes for the same itinerary?

Lol, certainly doesn't make sense, but nothing surprises me with Lifemiles. You can use ITA Matrix to get a sense of what the taxes should be:

https://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Offline hvaces42

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #326 on: September 23, 2021, 03:04:07 PM »
Any idea why I can find LX J award availability on UA and AC but cant find the entire itinerary on LM? I can book the EWR-ZRH portion but the LM search doesnt find the connection.
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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #327 on: September 23, 2021, 04:45:38 PM »
Any idea why I can find LX J award availability on UA and AC but cant find the entire itinerary on LM? I can book the EWR-ZRH portion but the LM search doesnt find the connection.

LM is known to have access to less/different availability than other Star Alliance carriers...so that's likely the cause.

That being said, I haven't played around with their booking engine in a while, but IIRC there are filters you can select to only search specific carriers...so you could play around with those and see if you get any different results.

Offline hvaces42

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #328 on: September 23, 2021, 04:57:49 PM »
LM is known to have access to less/different availability than other Star Alliance carriers...so that's likely the cause.

That being said, I haven't played around with their booking engine in a while, but IIRC there are filters you can select to only search specific carriers...so you could play around with those and see if you get any different results.
THANK YOU!!! Worked perfectly. Now if only the points would transfer.
« Last Edit: September 23, 2021, 05:08:09 PM by hvaces42 »
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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #329 on: September 23, 2021, 05:11:33 PM »
Or if you find the segments available separately, you can make a screenshot and email them to  support@lifemiles.com, they will put it together for you and call you for a credit card to finish the booking, they respond quite fast in my experience

Offline HoKo

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #330 on: September 23, 2021, 05:17:07 PM »
THANK YOU!!! Worked perfectly. Now if only the points would transfer.

Awesome, I love that feeling. Glad it worked out for you

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #331 on: September 30, 2021, 10:37:53 AM »
https://www.lifemiles.com/deals/detail-page/0921WRA03

Discount on select routes, some pretty useful (@Dan CLE-EWR, ahem ;) ). Can also stack with Amex transfer bonus.

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #333 on: October 11, 2021, 10:33:35 PM »
is lifemiles not working just for me, or is anyone else having trouble booking as well?

i can find the flights but after i choose my travelers it just loads and loads till it gives me an error.

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #334 on: November 02, 2021, 07:51:44 PM »
Anyone else not able to even find TLV as an airport on Avianca's site?

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #335 on: November 03, 2021, 08:49:54 AM »
I have had many times when looking for lifemiles star alliance award flight, after choosing the flight (and transferring the miles...) it adds a whole sum to the price.

Is there something wrong on my end or is that how they work? And if so is there anyway to know what the extra fee will be b4 transferring miles to my lm account?

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #336 on: November 04, 2021, 01:14:15 PM »
I have had many times when looking for lifemiles star alliance award flight, after choosing the flight (and transferring the miles...) it adds a whole sum to the price.

Is there something wrong on my end or is that how they work? And if so is there anyway to know what the extra fee will be b4 transferring miles to my lm account?
I have had this. It does not calculate the taxes for international bookings until a later stage of the booking. You can check United if you'd like to get an accurate estimate. I believe Lifemiles has an extra booking fee on top. Thought for some reason they don't collect these taxes til I got to the end.

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #337 on: November 16, 2021, 09:07:29 PM »
Just discovered that you bget 25% bonus points when transferring in from capt1. Doesn't say anything about this on Capt 1 website or on lifemile but when I transfered in I got 25% more points.

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #338 on: November 16, 2021, 09:09:52 PM »
Just discovered that you bget 25% bonus points when transferring in from capt1. Doesn't say anything about this on Capt 1 website or on lifemile but when I transfered in I got 25% more points.
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/milespoints/transfer-citi-capital-one-points-avianca-lifemiles-get-25-bonus-redeem-united-award-flights-5-2k-points/

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #339 on: November 16, 2021, 09:10:47 PM »
Nice, missed that .