Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

[markis10]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

Just a heads up guys (and gals)...

Cancelled a Lifemiles booking last month for flights in North America and got points back so thought all was fine. Accidentally typed the booking reference into the Check my Trip website today and found the booking there for March for Avianca flight Medellin to Bogota with our names on it........hmmmmmm....

Waiting for reply from Avianca, will let you know what eventuates. Think i'm going to check my cancellations in future and suggest others do so as well.

Thats probably how their GDS works, I would not be worried about it.

 

[Alanslegal]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

Just a heads up guys (and gals)...

Cancelled a Lifemiles booking last month for flights in North America and got points back so thought all was fine. Accidentally typed the booking reference into the Check my Trip website today and found the booking there for March for Avianca flight Medellin to Bogota with our names on it........hmmmmmm....

Waiting for reply from Avianca, will let you know what eventuates. Think i'm going to check my cancellations in future and suggest others do so as well.

Nothing to worry about. You got your points back and the taxes will appear sooner or later - they can be awfully slow.

The residual booking on CMT etc is just that, a residual booking. You can turn up at the airport and I guarantee you will not get a boarding pass. LM would have cancelled the "ticket" (number) already and the remaining PNR is just the airlines own information/reference.

 

[smit0847]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

Got word back from my parents about their TG J trip and it didn't go too well. Apparently on 2 of the 4 flights one of the two seats had a broken chair which made it quite uncomfortable when sitting (you couldn't recline properly) and one piece of luggage was lost on the way back home (but was promptly sent out the next day by courier). Staff were nice but not really helpful regarding the chair and essentially it was a matter of just 'deal with it'. Made the flight very uncomfortable. Luckily it was LM rates, they would have been infuriated paying normal rates and having broken chairs...

I can't imagine anyone pays the full price for TG J!

 

[bcworld]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

FYI because of TGs schedule change to TG472 in the summer timetable it seems TG/TG itins to some Europe destinations e.g. LHR are no longer possible ex SYD - all layovers are too long for LM. There goes your F class option!

 

[anat0l]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

FYI because of TGs schedule change to TG472 in the summer timetable it seems TG/TG itins to some Europe destinations e.g. LHR are no longer possible ex SYD - all layovers are too long for LM. There goes your F class option!

You said "some"...so there are still F options somewhere? CDG? ZRH? FCO?

(Just guessing - I don't have a timetable handy...)

 

[Aussie_flyer]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

I can't imagine anyone pays the full price for TG J!

plenty of people do just because most here can't afford it doesn't mean plenty of people aren't doing it

 

[Nizar]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

plenty of people do just because most here can't afford it doesn't mean plenty of people aren't doing it

I think the comment was more geared towards the relatively poor TG J product not being worth full cash fare

 

[anat0l]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

plenty of people do just because most here can't afford it doesn't mean plenty of people aren't doing it

TG J tends to be one of the cheapest J cash options for Australia to Europe. Those who pay J in cash may select TG for this very reason.

 

[Nizar]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

plenty of people do just because most here can't afford it doesn't mean plenty of people aren't doing it

And I think being on here has nothing to do with what you can or can't afford. Look at BossReggie for example !

 

[Aussie_flyer]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

TG J tends to be one of the cheapest J cash options for Australia to Europe. Those who pay J in cash may select TG for this very reason.

actually the cheapest options are KL/AF/AY fares with almost any carrier AUS- Asia then Kl/af/ay onto europe.

TG is the only carrier with J direct to Thailand out of Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth and many Thai people and Australians use their paid J products to get from Aus to Thailand. I sell a lot of it and I don't think it's a relatively poor product. It is better than Qantas, as good as MH and the new 77W is competitive with most J hardware. As for soft product they serve a hot breakfast on all overnight flights to Australia so most here should be pleased. I just think its a bit naive to think people are not paying full price for it. Yes they are very generous with award seats but that doesn't mean they can't sell the product either.

 

[bcworld]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

You said "some"...so there are still F options somewhere? CDG? ZRH? FCO?

(Just guessing - I don't have a timetable handy...)

CDG, FRA and FCO still work connecting to the morning SYD departure...I think by the skin of their teeth though in terms of connection time and there is LOTS of F Lounge time - all connections are basically 8 hours.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

I can't imagine anyone pays the full price for TG J!

I agree with this. the 'going price' is around 120K USDM miles to Europe or whatever it is for LM. Why would you pay $6k? (unless you were leaving tomorrow and there was no award availability on TG... but then LH F would open up ).

if i was spending $6k there are better overall products.

 

[anat0l]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

I agree with this. the 'going price' is around 120K USDM miles to Europe or whatever it is for LM. Why would you pay $6k? (unless you were leaving tomorrow and there was no award availability on TG... but then LH F would open up ).

if i was spending $6k there are better overall products.

I think TG J comes around at less than $6k return at times.

Award availability is an issue (particularly with multiple passengers), you can't book LH F on USDM, and without handing over more mileage. If you're trying to book US DM or AV redemptions, you need the miles, and you'd be hard pressed if you don't have any, let alone an account. If you purchase miles off sales, the difference to the cash price is line ball in cases.

I'd like to see what corporate policy will allow you to cover a mileage purchase for premium travel. Especially if you must book corporate travel through a travel agent.

There are valid reasons why people hand over cash for premium travel without taking advantage of these schemes.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

I think TG J comes around at less than $6k return at times.

Award availability is an issue (particularly with multiple passengers), you can't book LH F on USDM, and without handing over more mileage. If you're trying to book US DM or AV redemptions, you need the miles, and you'd be hard pressed if you don't have any, let alone an account. If you purchase miles off sales, the difference to the cash price is line ball in cases.

I'd like to see what corporate policy will allow you to cover a mileage purchase for premium travel. Especially if you must book corporate travel through a travel agent.

There are valid reasons why people hand over cash for premium travel without taking advantage of these schemes.

fair point but i wasn't considering corporate flyers... if i was a corporate flyer i wouldn't be relying on angled beds to get me refreshed to where i need to be.

for leisure travellers - $6k (even sub $6k) is not worth it for angled beds and a mid-range product. You can get full flat for around the same, or even cheaper if you consider a mixed-class. if you do have the time to plan in advance... then the going rate is still 120K USDM or LM equiv. No way I'd pay full asking.

 

[kpc]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

Took 11 mins and 8 seconds on Skype (free call) including dialling time and hold time:mrgreen:.

Follow the advice in the FT thread below to the letter! Need to ring from 2300 AEDST. I was informed that miles (and if you part paid in cash, you will get it back as the total miles amount, and no cash) will be deposited back within 72 hrs, and taxes (not much really, and you won't get the $25 redemption fee refunded) within 30-60 business days:shock:
Quite painless actually...

Edit: less than an hour, the miles are already back in my account

After 3 months wait, no taxes reappeared in my credit card account so I emailed [email protected] They asked for a copy of my passport and the last 4 digits of the credit card used, and 1.5 weeks later I got back about $80 worth of taxes. Whilst the taxes took a long time to reappear after the cancellation, most importantly, the miles reappeared almost immediately so I could use them to book something else!

 

[hossein_au]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

I think TG J comes around at less than $6k return at times.

Award availability is an issue (particularly with multiple passengers), you can't book LH F on USDM, and without handing over more mileage. If you're trying to book US DM or AV redemptions, you need the miles, and you'd be hard pressed if you don't have any, let alone an account. If you purchase miles off sales, the difference to the cash price is line ball in cases.

I'd like to see what corporate policy will allow you to cover a mileage purchase for premium travel. Especially if you must book corporate travel through a travel agent.

There are valid reasons why people hand over cash for premium travel without taking advantage of these schemes.

I have flown TG J for less than what QF Y was at the time; and yep, it was a corporate account. After seeing the quotes, my manager happily agreed to pay for TG J even though the corporate rule was to only fund travel in Y for us mere mortals.

 

[luxury-lizard]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

Hello Australian LM members - late last year I took the plunge and bought LM points for the first time with a view to using them for 2 business class awards to Canada (YVR). When I bought the points it would not accept my AmEX card (can't remember the error message) so I tired again with VISA which went through (followed closely by a call from my bank's fraud department). Anyway - I am about to try an book the 2 tickets over in the next couple of weeks (the minute the booking window opens) and I would really like to use AmEx (so the trip qualifies for coverage under the travel insurance offered by my particular AmEx product) but I am concerned that my card will be rejected. (I did call AmEx after the initial rejection last year and they claim they did not see the transaction so it was rejected before it even got to OZ).

Can anyone here offer any insight into getting LM to accept AmEx cards - since this will be my first ever booking I am hoping to avoid using the call centre.

 

[drron]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

I had the same problem.So before buying or redeeming awards I ring amex to have the charge authorised before the purchase and then it goes through.

 

[luxury-lizard]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

I had the same problem.So before buying or redeeming awards I ring amex to have the charge authorised before the purchase and then it goes through.

Thanks for the quick response - I will try that but AmEx in Sydney claimed they never saw (or rejected) my transaction late last year but maybe this will help.

 

[prozac]

re: Avianca "Life Miles" - New FF program in *A

Thanks for the quick response - I will try that but AmEx in Sydney claimed they never saw (or rejected) my transaction late last year but maybe this will help.

Please let us know how you get on?