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 130265 times)

Offline Yr18

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #460 on: February 07, 2023, 12:42:30 PM »
fyi cancelling an award flight costs 200 not 50 as wiki says could be only for business class though

Offline Jeremiah

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #461 on: March 01, 2023, 08:39:06 PM »

Offline nanach09

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #462 on: March 17, 2023, 06:25:00 PM »
 Newark-To LHR Lifemiles is charging Taxes of $26.70 vs united $5.60 for the same flight, Makes sense ? 

Offline yochai

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #463 on: March 18, 2023, 10:00:15 PM »
Newark-To LHR Lifemiles is charging Taxes of $26.70 vs united $5.60 for the same flight, Makes sense ?
Taxes or booking fee?

Offline nanach09

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #464 on: March 20, 2023, 11:00:47 AM »
Taxes

Offline DealGuru

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #465 on: March 24, 2023, 02:09:56 PM »
can i cancel a lifemiles ticket within 24 hours of booking?

Offline yochai

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #466 on: April 23, 2023, 02:30:14 PM »
I’m seeing EWR-JAX on UA for 10K, but YUL-EWR-JAX for 6.5K. Is this a thing or a glitch and won’t ticket? I don’t want to have to transfer points to find out.

Offline mlardi

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #467 on: April 27, 2023, 02:19:42 AM »
Tlv-Ewr via Fra business class. May 15 does not show up on Life miles tried all the search engine (smart, star alliance etc) shows up on United and AC anything I can do to book this via LifeMiles?
It will show up on Lifemiles if I do them as separate legs but then it's more.
« Last Edit: April 27, 2023, 02:24:39 AM by mlardi »

Offline bznt

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #468 on: April 27, 2023, 10:23:23 AM »
Tlv-Ewr via Fra business class. May 15 does not show up on Life miles tried all the search engine (smart, star alliance etc) shows up on United and AC anything I can do to book this via LifeMiles?
It will show up on Lifemiles if I do them as separate legs but then it's more.
Make screenshots of both legs available, email to support@lifemiles.com
Ask them to combine them for you.
They will call you back for payment

Offline mlardi

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #469 on: April 27, 2023, 12:21:33 PM »
Make screenshots of both legs available, email to support@lifemiles.com
Ask them to combine them for you.
They will call you back for payment
How long is their response time? by the time they respond it might not be avail anymore

Offline e-Lawyer

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #470 on: April 28, 2023, 11:51:28 AM »
Is lifemiles intentionally buggy? Transferred points in to book. availability that shows keeps on disappearing when I try to put the booking through. Lm site also won't let me complete the purchase for some reason. Not sure whats wrong. Miles seemed to transfer from amex instantly, but MAYBE thats the issue?
How do you get a group of lawyers to smile for a picture?

A: Just say "Fees!"

Online yelped

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #471 on: April 28, 2023, 12:25:40 PM »
Is lifemiles intentionally buggy? Transferred points in to book. availability that shows keeps on disappearing when I try to put the booking through. Lm site also won't let me complete the purchase for some reason. Not sure whats wrong. Miles seemed to transfer from amex instantly, but MAYBE thats the issue?
Tried switching between different search types (Star alliance/specific airline)?

Also try a different browser, incognito, mobile, desktop, etc.

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #472 on: May 01, 2023, 12:02:17 PM »
@Dan 15% bonus when transferring from Amex to LM. Now through May 31st.

Offline Yehudaa

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #474 on: May 01, 2023, 12:55:06 PM »
Let him enjoy his vacation :)

Let’s page @jj1000 instead.
Sorry, forgot about that, although I did remember Dan saying he doesn't necessarily see posts in master threads, so I pinged him for that.

Offline cgr

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #475 on: May 01, 2023, 07:35:00 PM »
@Dan 15% bonus when transferring from Amex to LM. Now through May 31st.
Thanks!
The bonus wasn't showing on my Amex account (only 25% FlyingBlue bonus) so I transferred 30k... Bonus showed up in my Lifemiles account after the transfer was complete.

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #476 on: May 01, 2023, 07:51:30 PM »
Thanks!
The bonus wasn't showing on my Amex account (only 25% FlyingBlue bonus) so I transferred 30k... Bonus showed up in my Lifemiles account after the transfer was complete.
Nice. I'm just waiting for availability to open on my dates. Hopefully soon. :)

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #477 on: May 05, 2023, 01:51:49 PM »
I'm trying to book LUZ-JFK with a stop in WAW using Lifemiles.
The itinerary is available as Saver Award on United, but Lifemiles returns an error- the issue seems to be the LUZ-WAW leg, as they do show the WAW-JFK leg. I spoke to customer service and they were unable to help.
Any workarounds on getting Lifemiles to show Star Alliance availability?

Offline Dan

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #478 on: May 05, 2023, 04:07:32 PM »
I'm trying to book LUZ-JFK with a stop in WAW using Lifemiles.
The itinerary is available as Saver Award on United, but Lifemiles returns an error- the issue seems to be the LUZ-WAW leg, as they do show the WAW-JFK leg. I spoke to customer service and they were unable to help.
Any workarounds on getting Lifemiles to show Star Alliance availability?
Tried searching for *A and LO?
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Re: Lifemiles Master Thread
« Reply #479 on: May 05, 2023, 07:25:44 PM »
Tried searching for *A and LO?
Yes. Tried that as well as smart search. No results.