Lifemiles help with award ticket and cancellation

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flyerboy66

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Hi I was hoping for some assistance with a lifemiles booking I have made. I have used lifemiles a bit in the past and have found the program to be excellent.

I had a booking which was made around 10 months ago (one way Australia to Europe) for a first class trip and due to work issues I had to cancel it. I cancelled the trip 3 months before the due date and the points were refunded but not the taxes.

Since then I have been contacted twice by the partner airline who I was suppose to be flying with and they are insistent that the ticket has not been cancelled and they are expecting me to take the flight.

I called the lifemiles team again and asked them to cancel the ticket which they said they would do but I received another call from the partner airline saying that my flight has been confirmed.

I was just wondering what I should do - I suppose I could be a no-show but I don't want to be placed on a blacklist for doing this.

Also a friend mentioned that if I am a no show and the ticket is not cancelled then I can always have the ticket rebooked for another time by paying a $150 fee. Is this correct? If so, it seems that despite my continued efforts to cancel the booking I may be able to use this flight another time - if so woudl it have to be the same route or could I use the points to rebook another trip?

Any thoughts would be apprecaited.
 
My only advise is to email lifemiles, i had huge issues with a cancellatiin, they wouldnt let me talk to a manager, but an email fixed the problem promptly. also had to be really assertive as they will offer to ring you back and i was very direct about times to call etc. include all phone details including 0061 etc to make it easy for them in your email
 
Why would you think a black list exists for people who do not take award flights, the operating airline will still get their money. It's a Lm problem and I feel you have done your duty.
 
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I have cancelled many tickets with Lifemiles. The trick is to call the US number between 9am and 5pm NY time. I have sometimes had issues with their credit card system not working but if you are persistent on the phone you will be put through the billing department.

Just make sure you speak to the Lifemiles department using the menu option on phone. So 2 for English, 3 for Lifemiles, 3 for changes and 1 for online tickets from memory.

And if all else fails, HUACA :)
 
I have had a few experiences calling and cancelling lifemiles tickets. As someone mentioned, the credit card system did not work sometimes - but i realised that this was because they were trying use previously stored information. Trick is to input credit card details afresh.

Signs of a succesfully cancelled ticket - i) miles redeposited (around 1-2 days max), and ii) credit card charged.
 
When you say the airline contacted you, can you please outline the circumstances of their contact? It is unusual for the operating carrier to proactively contact a passenger to ask them if they are flying.
 
I've always had my miles re deposited immediately apart from one instance which took them 24 hrs due to an unknown IT glitch. Taxes always back within a week
 
I have had a few experiences calling and cancelling lifemiles tickets. As someone mentioned, the credit card system did not work sometimes - but i realised that this was because they were trying use previously stored information. Trick is to input credit card details afresh.

I tried to cancel a booking last night and couldn't get the credit card system to accept my card details. When you say "Trick is to input credit card details afresh." do you mean to use an entirely different credit card from the original booking? The operator had no solution for me and told me just to try back in an hour.

Any help on getting around this credit card input issue would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Spent 45 minutes to cancel a few flights last week, the CC system accepted my Amex every time and the agent told me it's all good and the points will be credited back to my account shortly.
Almost 7 days pass. No points, no charge to my Amex and no email to explain what is the problem.
Can't believe I have to do it all over again, Soooo frustrating!
 
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An update on my cancellation efforts.

The booking has finally been cancelled. It took several phone calls over 3 days and a total of 2 hours of calls to Bogota.

I spoke to at least 3 different operators and tried 2 different credit cards. One got to the point of requesting the validity month but the other times it bombed out with just the credit card number entry. Unfortunately after 3 attempts you are locked out and have to try again later (the next day in my case) when it had cleared.

My final effort with the auto credit card verification resulted in the CSR organising for me to be called back at a time and on a number that suited me. Unfortunately they didn't make the call as agreed.

When I called again there was a note in my file that when I phoned again I should speak to the "back office". It was now around 6:30pm in Bogota so they had trouble locating someone in that section that spoke english. When they did he simply processed the payment manually and it took a couple of minutes before being approved.

My points were returned immediately and I can see a pending transaction for the US$50 cancellation fee. There is also a spurious fee of about $1.50 which I can't account for but will wait for it appear as a final transaction and probably won't bother following it up but just count it as a cost.

It looks like I will have to cancel another booking soon on behalf of my partner and this time I will explain that I want to speak to the "back office" staff if the credit card auto verification system fails. I will also phone at a time that staff iin that area should be available. Anyone else having the problem might want to take that advice too.

(I notice through checkmytrip that the booking itself has not been cancelled and I'm off over to Flyertalk now to see what the consequences of that are - thanks for the link Happy Trails.)
 
1. When I meant try new credit card / input afresh it was in reference to the previously saved credit card details. Once you have cancelled a tix once, the system stores the details and in futures gives u the option to use the saved details. It never worked. So the solution is to reenter the number everytime u want to cancel.

2. Fwiw, i have always called salvador instead of bogota. No problem with english speakers there.
 
1. When I meant try new credit card / input afresh it was in reference to the previously saved credit card details. Once you have cancelled a tix once, the system stores the details and in futures gives u the option to use the saved details. It never worked. So the solution is to reenter the number everytime u want to cancel.

2. Fwiw, i have always called salvador instead of bogota. No problem with english speakers there.

I've been trying to no avail to cancel a SQ booking for August for last 2 nights and last night re-entered credit card details, but still accepted card but couldnt process cancellation.

What number do you use for Bogota (as i've been calling 10am NY time and still cant get it to work)?
 
There is also a spurious fee of about $1.50 which I can't account for but will wait for it appear as a final transaction and probably won't bother following it up but just count it as a cost.

I've seen this too before, i believe its them putting a dummy dollar trade through to see if the bank approves it, before they do the $50.
 
I've seen this too before, i believe its them putting a dummy dollar trade through to see if the bank approves it, before they do the $50.
T'm sure that you are right having had another look at the statement. After cancelling the first booking I made another for a different date and it too came with a $1.06 transaction just like the cancellation earlier.
 
After trying (unsuccessfully) again to cancel some flights using a different CC, I was told to expect a call from the service team who will try to solve the problem for me.
The agent asked me for a convenient time and then I asked what should I give, US time or AU time, she asked me to give AU time.
Off course the idiots called me back according to US time and I missed the calls.
 
After trying (unsuccessfully) again to cancel some flights using a different CC, I was told to expect a call from the service team who will try to solve the problem for me.
The agent asked me for a convenient time and then I asked what should I give, US time or AU time, she asked me to give AU time.
Off course the idiots called me back according to US time and I missed the calls.
See my post above. http://www.australianfrequentflyer....rd-ticket-cancellation-61010.html#post1076470
 
When I read this I too thought you should be asking for the Salvador phone details!

1. San Salvador's number is +503 2267 8222 - I have always used them. And I normally call ~11pm Perth time.
2. Also, are you using skype or some sort of internet service? I use my local telco's reduced rate IDD service.
3. Finally, does the agent know what they are doing at the beginning? If not, hang up and call again

Also, have you seen this?
Cancelling Avianca Award Flights - Not flying is cheaper than buying miles - FlyerTalk Forums

Sorry I can't help more - it had been a very frustrating process or me too before!
 
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