Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

[tania73]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Unlucky?

You must get some returns on your searches, e.g. via TG or AI, right?

LH tends to open up a bit closer to the date of travel. That probably doesn't help you.

Yes I can get TK or LX flights but was hoping for a Sq or LH flight

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Yes I can get TK or LX flights but was hoping for a Sq or LH flight

TK or LX would be better than LH, and on par with SQ (different service ethic to SQ, but equally as good in their own way).

 

[legroom]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Got an email reply stating that the itinerary was invalid because the CA seat had been 'an error' due to "... ticket redemption agreements between Air China and LifeMiles have been disabled....".

Further, it quoted T & C justifying the decision as 'without notice'.

Have I missed seeing this - CA removal - on this thread ? Must have missed that one.

****

Memo to self

Have to remember to call up 28 Degrees before using it on LM; it was blocked on first attempt again but Citi allowed it without prior notice.

Trying to book for a friend (SGN xPEK xIAD CLT)

Flights were all available and slider seemed to work but once the miles / USD ratio seemed OK, it failed to proceed.

Instead, an error message came up suggesting that I should try again which brought the same result - 4-5 times

The contact link in the error message surprisingly has a "Redemption Case Number 123456"

Anyone seeing such an inbuilt Redemption Case # ?

What's going on?

 

[tania73]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Did you get the impression from the email that no CA flights can be booked on LM? Would be tempted to email them to clarify if this is the case

Got an email reply stating that the itinerary was invalid because the CA seat had been 'an error' due to "... ticket redemption agreements between Air China and LifeMiles have been disabled....".

Further, it quoted T & C justifying the decision as 'without notice'.

Have I missed seeing this - CA removal - on this thread ? Must have missed that one.

****

Memo to self

Have to remember to call up 28 Degrees before using it on LM; it was blocked on first attempt again but Citi allowed it without prior notice.

 

[legroom]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

My email asking to see if this arrangement is temporary or permanent is not yet answered.

But FT did report this issue back in June 2015 so it has been there since apparently.

****

To OZ aficionados

777-300ER (7 hrs overnight)
A380 (14 hr transpacific)

Couple in J

Any advice on best / better seats

Further, how do you get OZ PRN to reserve seats: calling / emailing LM ?

Or, just calling OZ directly ?

Regards

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Did you get the impression from the email that no CA flights can be booked on LM? Would be tempted to email them to clarify if this is the case

l've had mixed success booking CA. sometimes you can use the screenshot method and sometimes you can't.

it might be down to the willingness of the agent to book it or overlook the rules... on that basis, I'd probably be tempted to avoid emailing for a formal response just in case those remaining agents willing to book stop doing so.

 

[Guvner]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

So, at this point in time CA, SA, SQ (mostly), NZ and AC are all blocking J seats out of Aus?

 

[Princess Fiona]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

My email asking to see if this arrangement is temporary or permanent is not yet answered.

But FT did report this issue back in June 2015 so it has been there since apparently.

****

To OZ aficionados

777-300ER (7 hrs overnight)
A380 (14 hr transpacific)

Couple in J

Any advice on best / better seats

Further, how do you get OZ PRN to reserve seats: calling / emailing LM ?

Or, just calling OZ directly ?

Regards

I called OZ in Australia directly to get seats, used the PNR on the LM ticket.

 

[anat0l]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

So, at this point in time CA, SA, SQ (mostly), NZ and AC are all blocking J seats out of Aus?

I thought I wouldn't go so far as "blocked". Just damn well difficult, and/or you have to use tricks.

 

[bcworld]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

If you look at the list of airlines in the drop down menu when doing a search, Air China isn't there...and it hasn't been for some time, several weeks at least.

 

[anat0l]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

If you look at the list of airlines in the drop down menu when doing a search, Air China isn't there...and it hasn't been for some time, several weeks at least.

Even if you don't drill down the search to a specific airline, there's no signs of CA?

 

[bcworld]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Even if you don't drill down the search to a specific airline, there's no signs of CA?

Well CA results appear but always cause online errors as we know, and based on a few posts seems like are rejected for manual booking methods as well.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Well CA results appear but always cause online errors as we know, and based on a few posts seems like are rejected for manual booking methods as well.

While there's always the error message, what happens after seems to depend in part on whether the availability is real or phantom. If phantom, a message to LM support comes back with 'can't help'. If the availability is real (and this can be confirmed via another source), at least some agents are willing to book it.

The question is whether they're allowed to or not - if the latter, I'd reiterate my point above that I wouldn't want to formally raise the issue with LM and have an official prohibition.

 

[legroom]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

So, at this point in time CA, SA, SQ (mostly), NZ and AC are all blocking J seats out of Aus?

To be specific, my declined itinerary request started in SGN ending in CLT (xPEK IAD), not from Oz

 

[drron]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I have been looking at HNL-BKK awards.Was great availability on OZ via ICN but the morning of the North Korean bomb test everything disappeared.Any one else noticed this?
I am waiting until this evening when my preferred date into HNL becomes available on AA before I booked the BKK award.

 

[smit0847]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

I have been looking at HNL-BKK awards.Was great availability on OZ via ICN but the morning of the North Korean bomb test everything disappeared.Any one else noticed this?
I am waiting until this evening when my preferred date into HNL becomes available on AA before I booked the BKK award.

bcworld is a big fan of OZs HNL service

 

[tania73]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Just wondering something - and whether anyone else has tried it. Would your country of residence make a difference to award searching outcomes? It shouldn't, but wondering whether with all the blocking that is going on, whether its a possibility.

 

[smit0847]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Just wondering something - and whether anyone else has tried it. Would your country of residence make a difference to award searching outcomes? It shouldn't, but wondering whether with all the blocking that is going on, whether its a possibility.

Dont think so

 

[avaction]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

Excuse my ignorance (and laziness in trying to search 600 pages of comments!) but what is the "Screenshot Method"? Does it mean searching other Star Alliance partners for flights that do not show up on the Avianca Lifemiles search? If so how do you then send the Screenshot to Avianca?

I have seen this method quoted on the Successful Avianca Lifemiles thread but do not understand it.

Thanks in advance for any information

 

[luxury-lizard]

re: Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

The ScreenShot method uses screen shots of flights from the LifeMiles web site - shown segment by segment and asking LM to book for you. e.g. if you want to fly TG SYD-BKK-FRA but this does not show up on an LM search (by entering SYD-FRA) but SYD-BKK and BKK-FRA do show up when searched separately - you can screen shot each segment and ask LM to book as a single award. This gets around what seems to be a technical issue with the LM search engine.

Some have reported that using this method LM will even book long connections - i.e. >4 hours but < 24 hours.