Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

[NDiddy]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Just a data point for those interested. Took a Syd to bkk flight in f today (on our way to Rome) and the diddys were the only pax in first.

Great to have the whole cabin to ourselves and very attentive staff. Waiting in the lounge for our next flight to fco and hoping for the same

Y was full apparently and J had 4 seats spare.

 

[sergeyvzn]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

How long does it normally take for Lifemiles support people to get back to you after you sent them an email? Sent a couple more than 24 hours ago and haven't heard back, is it normal?

also, is it still [email protected] or has it changed?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Guys just as a further query to my questions last night..

Would it be possible/help my chances if I call the TG office in Sydney before I travel so they can "link" the separate PNRs so that the person checking us in at MEL will already know that our final destination is USM ?

Can they refuse to interline to USM ?

Because I just realised that the BKK-USM flight departs at 07:25 and the flight from MEL is scheduled to arrive at 05:40. I thought it was 2 hours now it seem that it's 1h 45m, which doesn't leave much room for delays.

It really makes no difference. All the 'linking' does is provide a note, which if searched for, will turn up the reference to another booking. But they're not going to read through the whole booking looking for the link unless you tell them to.

The important thing is that you present both bookings/tickets at check-in.

When you approach check-in in Australia and they ask where you are flying to, you say 'Bangkok and Koh Samui', and present your passports and the second ticket, and ask your bags to be tagged accordingly. You should also be able to be issued with a boarding pass for the USM flight (ie be checked in).

As I mentioned above, MCT for TGi->TGusm is 55 minutes (which is slightly less than other TGi->TGd connections). So you'd have almost an hour's worth of delay before it started to get tight. If you are delayed while in the air, you can ask the cabin crew to send a message to the ground in BKK to make sure they know you're coming.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

How long does it normally take for Lifemiles support people to get back to you after you sent them an email? Sent a couple more than 24 hours ago and haven't heard back, is it normal?

also, is it still [email protected] or has it changed?

Normally it's overnight our time. But I can't recall if I've ever done it over a weekend?

 

[anat0l]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

How long does it normally take for Lifemiles support people to get back to you after you sent them an email? Sent a couple more than 24 hours ago and haven't heard back, is it normal?

also, is it still [email protected] or has it changed?

I sent my first ever support email some time ago, but this was on a business day. Plus, since I was residing in Europe, which is a mere 6 or so hours ahead of New York time, the time difference was not too bad, which changes your perception of how fast they were going (I'm presuming wherever LM is answering the emails, the timezone is either New York time or at most a few hours behind; FWIW the support call which followed up the email exchange was marked as coming from Miami).

The response time appeared to be the next business day, within business hours corresponding approximately to the Americas time zones.

For what it is worth, and again I am unsure of the time zone that they do business, but a New Yorker working a 9am - 5pm workday corresponds to an Australian eastern seaboard period between 11pm and 7am the next day.

It might be quite conceivable that things slow down a bit during the weekend.

 

[Alanslegal]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Just a data point for those interested. Took a Syd to bkk flight in f today (on our way to Rome) and the diddys were the only pax in first.

Great to have the whole cabin to ourselves and very attentive staff. Waiting in the lounge for our next flight to fco and hoping for the same

Y was full apparently and J had 4 seats spare.

Lucky Ducks or I meant Lucky Diddys, hope you all enjoyed the Royal Touch Oil Massage too during your transit!

 

[NDiddy]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Lucky Ducks or I meant Lucky Diddys, hope you all enjoyed the Royal Touch Oil Massage too during your transit!

Thanks Alan. Very lucky indeed. Just finished the massage and was fantastic despite feeling like the exon Valdez

Dinner in the dining room or the suite is the current challenge facing us

 

[ozmouse]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Just wondering if there was an update here.... i purchased miles this morning, instance update of miles to account. my partner purchased miles, 10 minutes later and nothing appearring yet. We have confirmed with AMEX purchase has gone thru. we have sent email to support@.... the wait game start now....

 

[cleaver]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

How long does it normally take for Lifemiles support people to get back to you after you sent them an email? Sent a couple more than 24 hours ago and haven't heard back, is it normal?

also, is it still [email protected] or has it changed?

Sent n email request for etickets to be sent through for 2x redemptions for 2x pax to [email protected] at 8:30pm on Thurs (10/9/15) - WST. Got a response and all tickets at 12:30am today (13/9/15). So a bit over 24 hours...

 

[sergeyvzn]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Sent n email request for etickets to be sent through for 2x redemptions for 2x pax to [email protected] at 8:30pm on Thurs (10/9/15) - WST. Got a response and all tickets at 12:30am today (13/9/15). So a bit over 24 hours...

Same. Sent two emails on Friday morning and got a response to one this morning, the other one is still to come

 

[Gogo65]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

It is a pain. They will have trouble finding the right department to reissue the ticket. It takes more than 30 minutes.

You will get used to it if you have a booking with TG. They change schedule all the time.

Just as an update, I called life miles and had a very good experience!
i was originally calling the USA number but after trying on 3 different phones I couldn't press 2 for English. Eventually I found another number on this thread, called and got straight through to someone who spoke excellent English. I was off the phone in less than 5 minutes and the updated email itinerary was delivered immediately!
Beginners luck maybe??
anyway thanks for the advice, glad I called and got it sorted. Now I just have to put up with economy, after learning all my lessons here I almost always fly business now due to advice from AFF!

 

[Nizar]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

To follow up on the what's happening in the SUCCESSFUL bookings thread as did not want to clog up that thread with off topic discussion.

Just did a search CGK-MEL for 30th October in J nothing came up (in any class).
When I repeated the search but replaced 'MEL' with 'PER' I was offered SQ J for both legs.

Seems like PER is a goer then ?

Mind you I did not proceed further so it may well error out at the payment stage etc

 

[Buzzard]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I think if you find a fare that you want, grab it whilst you can. Maybe take some screen shots so if it fails at payment you could always try contacting support for help.

 

[robd]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Is TG still doing the buggy at BKK for F pax?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

To follow up on the what's happening in the SUCCESSFUL bookings thread as did not want to clog up that thread with off topic discussion.

Just did a search CGK-MEL for 30th October in J nothing came up (in any class).
When I repeated the search but replaced 'MEL' with 'PER' I was offered SQ J for both legs.

Seems like PER is a goer then ?

Mind you I did not proceed further so it may well error out at the payment stage etc

Per seems to be the exception exAU. Can get pretty good availability to show on line (whereas from other AU ports it comes back 'not available'). But I haven't tried booking it.

Is TG still doing the buggy at BKK for F pax?

Arrival yes - should be met by buggy (doesn't always happen, but usually does). Departure - no. They'll walk with you to the gate.

 

[robd]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Arrival yes - should be met by buggy (doesn't always happen, but usually does). Departure - no. They'll walk with you to the gate.

That was my experience in 2013. Fingers crossed we get it again. Wish they'd do it on departure too. After enjoying a few coughtails & nibbles in the lounge, the walk to the departure gate seemed bloody long. Although, probably best to walk the indulgence off

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

That was my experience in 2013.

If it's not there where you arrive you can just ask a member of ground staff and they will find out if it's on its way or request one for you.

 

[Nizar]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I'm sure others have already noticed this but I wanted to share something I've come across.

With the ability to top up at 1.576c per mile using the co-pay function and also considering that the current offer can yield >100% for certain higher priced awards (say J/F return to Europe) it actually works out cheaper to just pay the full mileage amount in miles and just pay the taxes and booking fee with cash rather than increase the cash component.

 

[VAG newbie]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I'm sure others have already noticed this but I wanted to share something I've come across.

With the ability to top up at 1.576c per mile using the co-pay function and also considering that the current offer can yield >100% for certain higher priced awards (say J/F return to Europe) it actually works out cheaper to just pay the full mileage amount in miles and just pay the taxes and booking fee with cash rather than increase the cash component.

Yes, certainly with the current promotion. The previous promotions has never gotten cheaper than 1.5 cents so it made sense to to cash copayments.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I'm sure others have already noticed this but I wanted to share something I've come across.

With the ability to top up at 1.576c per mile using the co-pay function and also considering that the current offer can yield >100% for certain higher priced awards (say J/F return to Europe) it actually works out cheaper to just pay the full mileage amount in miles and just pay the taxes and booking fee with cash rather than increase the cash component.

Is it 1.576 or bang on 1.5c for the co-pay? The price varies to the sweet spot, and I was pretty sure (until now) that 1.5c was possible?