Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi all, long time lurker, first time poster.

Been using LM for quite some time (buying for parents), and so far has been great.

Thinking to do some travels for the first time given a bit of free time from work, so though I'd try J travel for the first time.

I'm considering traveling alone to some locations I've always wanted to visit around Europe, I'm just wondering if there's an 'ideal' way to travel to multiple cities using LM? Should I just travel to a particular city and then use Ryanair or some other cheap carrier to fly around to all the other cities of interest?

correct. you can't do a multi-city type thing. You can arrive and depart from different cities... so for example fly in to Rome and out of London, and just make your own way in between.

I wouldn't write off the legacy carriers, their fares can be just as cheap, if not cheaper, than Ryanair and easyjet.

 

[Cynicor]

So after the hassles with the new engine, I realised I must have just been unlucky and logged in at a random bad time. It is now faster and working! No longer do i fear being unable to use all of my points, so thanks for those who replied with their thoughts that I was wrong
Have booked some Thai F and a few other flights, and will stockpile a few more at 1.32 USD cents per point!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So after the hassles with the new engine, I realised I must have just been unlucky and logged in at a random bad time. It is now faster and working! No longer do i fear being unable to use all of my points, so thanks for those who replied with their thoughts that I was wrong
Have booked some Thai F and a few other flights, and will stockpile a few more at 1.32 USD cents per point!

good news! but also a word of caution. LM has form for dramatically improving availability during sale periods, only to block again once the sale period is over (LH F availability is a good example of this). Hopefully with all the recent 'improvements' this might be different this time around. Time will tell

 

[k_sheep]

Well I've resisted LM so far, still having a few AA points rattling around. But I think this one might push me over the edge. Luckily I joined over a year ago speculatively

Now to find an "Idiots guide to LifeMiles".

 

[MEL_Traveller]

A word of caution regarding the newsletter that came out today regarding this promo. Yes it's fantastic value... but... and it's a huge 'but'... availability and booking is not necessarily straightforward. Yes Singapore airlines might be available, but more often than not, not on premium aircraft like the a380, a350, 77W. You can get Thai, but often connections don't show, and you might end up on an aircraft with angled beds.

If you are new to the game, I'd recommend taking advantage of the 40% rule.

For a basic understanding I'd read the last 10-15 pages of this thread.

 

[whiteshark]

Here's some playing around i did:

Ran searches on economy flights Mel to CHC 16 April and they route me through AKL, nothing direct. Pricing comes out as follows Air NZ Mel to CHC $305 aud vs $371 aud (Mel, AKL, CHC 21,000 points excluding fees) using LifeMiles points

Now i also noticed that if you specify air new zealand in the search criteria it costs 45,000 points! rather than 21,000 points if you allow the search engine to select the appropriate airline which results in it selecting air new zealand anyway.

Mel to BKK 14/5 - 21/5 economy Thai Air vs LMpoints worked out $837 aud vs $1143 aud (55,000 points (741usd) + 130 usd fees)

So for economy fares, it's not good for the examples above, but if flying business then its very different.

the Mel to Bkk example = Thai $3898 aud vs $1940 aud (100,000 points (1347usd) + 130 usd fees)

cheers

 

[MEL_Traveller]

with very few exceptions, buying miles for economy class is unlikely to yield positive results in terms of cost savings (plus loss of flexibility and points and status earning)

 

[RB]

Here's some playing around i did:

Ran searches on economy flights Mel to CHC 16 April and they route me through AKL, nothing direct. Pricing comes out as follows Air NZ Mel to CHC $305 aud vs $371 aud (Mel, AKL, CHC 21,000 points excluding fees) using LifeMiles points

Now i also noticed that if you specify air new zealand in the search criteria it costs 45,000 points! rather than 21,000 points if you allow the search engine to select the appropriate airline which results in it selecting air new zealand anyway.

Mel to BKK 14/5 - 21/5 economy Thai Air vs LMpoints worked out $837 aud vs $1143 aud (55,000 points (741usd) + 130 usd fees)

So for economy fares, it's not good for the examples above, but if flying business then its very different.

the Mel to Bkk example = Thai $3898 aud vs $1940 aud (100,000 points (1347usd) + 130 usd fees)

cheers

As per MEL_Traveller you are better off spending time on analysis of J not Y. I don't think anyone on this board buys miles in any scheme with the intention of redeeming in eonomy

 

[FreddyFattler]

Anyone had any issues with not being able to access their accounts?

I logged in at the start of the promo to check it out but put off purchasing miles, i just went to seal the deal and cannot log in.

It is saying my account/password is incorrect, which it is not, upon attempting a reset it is now telling me one or more of my first name,last name, DOB or account number are incorrect...which, they are not.

Database issue with LM or have i been hacked

Ive sent them an email, it could just be their system has my names around the wrong way, but thought id ask here if anyones had issues as i expect them to take an eternity to send me a bullshit reply

 

[Major]

I had a similar issue, which I assume was because I had not logged in for about a year. I clicked on "get your password" and filled in all the bits. They sent me an email to reset my password for which I used the same one.
This re established my A/c and I then bought a few thousand miles with no problem

 

[easyride]

Anyone had any issues with not being able to access their accounts?

I logged in at the start of the promo to check it out but put off purchasing miles, i just went to seal the deal and cannot log in.

It is saying my account/password is incorrect, which it is not, upon attempting a reset it is now telling me one or more of my first name,last name, DOB or account number are incorrect...which, they are not.

Database issue with LM or have i been hacked

Ive sent them an email, it could just be their system has my names around the wrong way, but thought id ask here if anyones had issues as i expect them to take an eternity to send me a bullshit reply

I am also unable to log in with either username or Lifemiles number.

 

[Stephen65]

I'm also experiencing the same issue. I've sent an email to their support address...

 

[auriga]

same thing, cannot log in

 

[whole-lotta-moxie]

same thing, cannot log in

Same thing. I just called Lifemiles and they said their systems are down and should be back up in 2-3 hours. (Hopefully)

 

[Stephen65]

Same thing. I just called Lifemiles and they said their systems are down and should be back up in 2-3 hours. (Hopefully)

That's helpful, thanks.

 

[Stephen65]

Working again for me

 

[glasszon]

New to Lifemiles, trying to book SGN-BKK-MEL on the Cyber weekend deal, I could get the route to come up on Friday but now it shows no availability even though it is still available on United, is there any way I can book it or I should cut my losses and look at another venue to book the ticket?

 

[bcworld]

New to Lifemiles, trying to book SGN-BKK-MEL on the Cyber weekend deal, I could get the route to come up on Friday but now it shows no availability even though it is still available on United, is there any way I can book it or I should cut my losses and look at another venue to book the ticket?

It's a bit of a pattern with LifeMiles. Sell cheap miles, sale ends, website search function becomes useless.

There are things you can try. Specify TG as the operating airline.

If it doesn't work you can email screenshots to support showing availability on the individual sectors and they will book for you...you should be able to find more detailed instructions somewhere on this thread.

 

[whole-lotta-moxie]

Seems like they could still be having problems with their systems. Just tried to purchase points got to put in my cc details the system then sat their for ages and I a message to call Lifemiles. Called and hey said they are very busy to call back in 30 mins.

 

[glasszon]

It's a bit of a pattern with LifeMiles. Sell cheap miles, sale ends, website search function becomes useless.

There are things you can try. Specify TG as the operating airline.

If it doesn't work you can email screenshots to support showing availability on the individual sectors and they will book for you...you should be able to find more detailed instructions somewhere on this thread.

Thanks, luckily I haven't bought Lifemiles yet, it seems to be more trouble than it's worth. I will transfer VA points to Krisflyer and book it via Singapore Airline instead. Not the best use of miles as it works out under 1 cent per mile if I buy on Lifemiles, but rather not deal with the headache of not being able to book the ticket.