Lifemiles help with award ticket and cancellation

[knightman7]

I've cancelled literally 20-25 flights with Lifemiles this year. Half the time the credit card works, the other half it doesn't. Always call the US call centre number from 9am NYC time and get to an English speaking Lifemiles team member.

The number is +1 800 284 2622 then option 2 for English, 3 for Lifemiles, 3 for changes and 1 for online tickets.

If the credit card doesn't work, they will always tell you to call back or they will ask for your details for the billing department to call you back.

At this point, INSIST on being transferred to the billing department for a manual transaction. They will say that's impossible and that the billing department will not take calls but that's not true as I've spoken to them directly every time and they manually process the credit card. Just tell the agent that the last time you did a refund, you were transferred to the billing department and they spoke to you. Be insistent. Don't be rude.

I always end up saying please let me speak to a manager as I've spoken to the billing department before and I want to get this sorted out now as I need the points back to book another flight.

 

[boomy]

I've cancelled literally 20-25 flights with Lifemiles this year. Half the time the credit card works, the other half it doesn't. Always call the US call centre number from 9am NYC time and get to an English speaking Lifemiles team member.

The number is +1 800 284 2622 then option 2 for English, 3 for Lifemiles, 3 for changes and 1 for online tickets.

If the credit card doesn't work, they will always tell you to call back or they will ask for your details for the billing department to call you back.

At this point, INSIST on being transferred to the billing department for a manual transaction. They will say that's impossible and that the billing department will not take calls but that's not true as I've spoken to them directly every time and they manually process the credit card. Just tell the agent that the last time you did a refund, you were transferred to the billing department and they spoke to you. Be insistent. Don't be rude.

I always end up saying please let me speak to a manager as I've spoken to the billing department before and I want to get this sorted out now as I need the points back to book another flight.

After I wasn't able to cancel some flights at local reasonable hours I took advantage of staying awake at odd hours to watch the World Cup and called the US call centre.
I can confirm everything you said Knightman7.
In my case the automated CC system NEVER worked and they tried to make me call back in a few hours to talk to the billing department. I said no way I'm calling back and when I told them what was the current local time here, they agreed to transfer me on the spot. After the billing department confirmed some details and processed the refund manually, the points immediately showed in my account.
Only problem was that each ticket had to be cancelled separately, which meant being transferred back and forth from billing department to refunds department.

 

[knightman7]

No, you have to tell the agent before they transfer you to billing that you want to cancel all the tickets if you have multiple tickets on the same reservation or multiple reservations. That way the billing agent will charge you USD50 for each ticket you want to cancel and them process the points back into your account in one call.

 

[boomy]

No, you have to tell the agent before they transfer you to billing that you want to cancel all the tickets if you have multiple tickets on the same reservation or multiple reservations. That way the billing agent will charge you USD50 for each ticket you want to cancel and them process the points back into your account in one call.

It all happened in 1 call but each ticket had to processed separately.
Did you manage process all your reservations before being transferred to the billing department? That would save a lot of time.

 

[knightman7]

I just make sure the Lifemiles agent knows exactly how many tickets I want to cancel, then when the billing department agent gets on the phone, I confirm with them all the reservation codes and tickets I want to cancel, and they process each USD50 one at a time and post the points back into the account one ticket at a time, without having to be transferred back to the Lifemiles agent. The billing agent does everything from that point onwards.

One important point to note though, that is if you cancel a LM ticket within 24 hrs of making the booking, then you don't pay any fee

 

[Wozz]

I just called to cancel one of my tickets following knightman7's instructions - got through to the billing department and he said that the credit card transaction has been successful (had a hard time understanding the person on the other line). Strangely he said that the miles will only be credited back to my account in the next few hours - the lifemiles site is down so I cant really check it..

I logged on to TG website with the reservation number and the ticket is still there - question I have is does the reservation on TG website get updated at the same time or is there normally a time lag?

Anyway looks like I will have to check the site tomorrow and hope for the best...

Edit: Just checked and the miles are all in the account - rebooked my 2 CDG-BKK seats from J to F

 

[Flippantflyer]

I just called to cancel one of my tickets following knightman7's instructions - got through to the billing department and he said that the credit card transaction has been successful (had a hard time understanding the person on the other line). Strangely he said that the miles will only be credited back to my account in the next few hours - the lifemiles site is down so I cant really check it..

I logged on to TG website with the reservation number and the ticket is still there - question I have is does the reservation on TG website get updated at the same time or is there normally a time lag?

Anyway looks like I will have to check the site tomorrow and hope for the best...

Edit: Just checked and the miles are all in the account - rebooked my 2 CDG-BKK seats from J to F

Thanks for all the advice on here - I just had to cancel two tickets. NY line isn't working (the system is down) so I tried the Bogota line. Got a lovely agent with good english. However, can confirm that cancelling the first ticket is easy... but the system that then stores your credit card details to make it "easier" to input the credit card details again for cancelling the second ticket doesn't work. After the agent insisted I try again (unsuccessfully) I made him let me use a whole new credit card for the second cancellation (his exact words - "ok lets try it your way then"). Worked a treat (his exact words when it went through "ok you win").

Of course I'll believe it all when I see the miles back in my account

I feel really sorry for the agents - they are being let down by a system that's not working and not being told how to work around it.

 

[tinkybelle]

[email protected]
when i could not get the cc to work after 1.5 hrs I emailed this with the details and a number they could call me back on.

 

[BobbyFlyer]

Would welcome some advice on this please. I booked a lifemiles ticket on Sunday 7th Sept and it didnt go thru as came with error message but i noticed some points were deducted, so emailed them and confirmed that the system had processed payment and only one ticket but not the other three. They said their billing dept would sort it out. Anyway 4 days later they hadnt sorted it and the booking on SQ was cancelled. Fortunately i went back in and rebooked and it went thru fine this time. I requested via email again the points and monies be refunded. Points were refunded last Friday but still not my monies (just over $2k). I emailed again and they said its still being worked on by their billing dept. What do i do? I fly out on Sunday for 3 weeks so would like it to be resolved before then. Any advice appreciated

 

[anna2103]

Would welcome some advice on this please. I booked a lifemiles ticket on Sunday 7th Sept and it didnt go thru as came with error message but i noticed some points were deducted, so emailed them and confirmed that the system had processed payment and only one ticket but not the other three. They said their billing dept would sort it out. Anyway 4 days later they hadnt sorted it and the booking on SQ was cancelled. Fortunately i went back in and rebooked and it went thru fine this time. I requested via email again the points and monies be refunded. Points were refunded last Friday but still not my monies (just over $2k). I emailed again and they said its still being worked on by their billing dept. What do i do? I fly out on Sunday for 3 weeks so would like it to be resolved before then. Any advice appreciated

It took four weeks for the money to be refunded in May when this happened to me.

 

[BobbyFlyer]

Okaaaay....so no rush then. Thanks for that. Geez they take their time.

 

[Nizar]

Okaaaay....so no rush then. Thanks for that. Geez they take their time.

Lol take their time ?
I cancelled an MH booking about two weeks ago and I wish I only had to wait two more weeks.
To my horror, they told me that the refund may take upto 12 weeks :shock:

 

[gizzard]

1. San Salvador's number is +503 2267 8222 - I have always used them.

As I have put in my previous posts, I have, after much frustration been able to cancel through the Bogota office. My partner had a cancellation to make today and I briefed her on my experiences and what to expect them to ask etc. She decided to go for the San Salvador office instead.

In the end it was just as frustrating. The phone call was an hour and the end result was the credit card wasn't accepted. In fact, even her telephone pin couldn't be recognised.
The CSR for when she first phoned just ditched her call and put her back in the queue to go through the entire process again. He did that without any warning.
The second sounded more helpful but the pin wouldn't work. She kept on insisting to be put through to the billing department but was told that it wasn't possible unless the pin was accepted. A Catch22.

In the end they both gave in and she was advised to send in an email. Needless to say, she was pretty unhappy and frustrated. An hour's learning experience with nothing accomplished.

Bottom line is that San Salvador seemed no better or different to Bogota.

 

[boomy]

Sounds like both are no better then AV USA.
Are the numbers in San Salvador and Bogota toll free?

 

[gizzard]

Not that I know of.

Sounds like both are no better then AV USA.
Are the numbers in San Salvador and Bogota toll free?

 

[tania73]

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.

Mods please delete this - in wrong thread

 

[davidjm2389]

After hearing the horror stories regarding cancelling Avianca Lifemiles bookings I took some advice from the forum and phoned the USA number around 11pm our time ( 9am New York). I got an operator who spoke quite reasonable English and actually had few problems with the cancellation. LIS - MXP - BKK - MEL J 2 pax
After providing the PNR he found the booking quickly and explained the $150 cancellation fee to recredit the points to my LifeMiles account.
I had to know my LifeMiles account PIN number to pay the fee.
i typed in my GE credit card details to the automated system and they were accepted immediately.
The points were in my account within 20 minutes.

 

[bcworld]

he found the booking quickly and explained the $150 cancellation fee to recredit the points to my LifeMiles account.

The cancellation fee is $50, so hopefully you didn't pay $150!

 

[joffaa]

I cancelled a booking yesterday which was for 2 connecting flights each for myself and my son done on the same booking reference. However each passenger was treated separately and as such 2 transactions were needed to cancel the booking .(so i was charged the cancellation fee twice. $50 x 2) This made the call almost an hour long while i went through the process of entering my credit card details via the automated system and talking to the operator. Their automated system rejected the card once so it took 3 attempts at entering my card details to cancel the entire booking for 2 pax. It was handed efficiently and my points reappeared a few hours later. However make sure you have an hour set aside for the task. The operator spoke good english. I used the +1 800 284 2622 number.

 

[bcworld]

I cancelled a booking yesterday which was for 2 connecting flights each for myself and my son done on the same booking reference. However each passenger was treated separately and as such 2 transactions were needed to cancel the booking .(so i was charged the cancellation fee twice. $50 x 2) This made the call almost an hour long while i went through the process of entering my credit card details via the automated system and talking to the operator. Their automated system rejected the card once so it took 3 attempts at entering my card details to cancel the entire booking for 2 pax. It was handed efficiently and my points reappeared a few hours later. However make sure you have an hour set aside for the task. The operator spoke good english. I used the +1 800 284 2622 number.

The cancellation fee is per ticket anyway so you always would've been charged $100. However you shouldn't have had to go through the process once per ticket, at least it hasn't been the case in the past.