Cancel A LifeMiles Award Ticket

Avianca LifeMiles are a favorite currency of mine for booking star alliance space for partner airlines. Their award ticket prices are usually pretty decent, and they have transfer bonuses often, which makes them even more affordable. The site is a little buggy but has improved over the years. One thing that hasn't improved is how you cancel a LifeMiles award ticket. Yes, it still requires calling in – like we are living in the 90's! The number listed on the website isn't the best to call either, but don't worry, you know I got you there. Let's dive into my experience cancelling my LifeMiles partner award flight and show you how to get through this process worry free.

Avianca LifeMiles Cancellation Costs & Fees

Unlike the US carriers, many international carriers still charge fees for changes and cancelations. The LifeMiles program is no different in that respect. Here are the fees they charge:

• $50 – $200 to cancel an award (depending on routing)
  • You will receive a credit for the taxes separately, but you do lose the $25 fee LifeMiles charges for booking partner airlines.
    • So if you paid $100 for taxes and fees your credit card would be refunded $75.
• $150 to change your flight

I personally would just pay the higher fee to cancel, since rebooking your flight would require you to feed the new booking over the phone. With the call center's terrible phone connections and occasional language barrier I would just pay the higher fee and book it myself online.

Step By Step Instructions On How To Cancel A LifeMiles Award Ticket

After recently going through the process of cancelling an Avianca LifeMiles award ticket I figured I would share the steps I went through with you.

• I called 866-919-0081 which gives you the option of Spanish or English and seems to work better than their listed number online.
• After the phone connected I pushed #2 for English
• Next I had to enter my LifeMiles frequent flyer number so have that handy
• After that I selected prompt #3 for LifeMiles services
• Then I punched in #3 again for Transactions made with my LifeMiles account

Once an agent got on the line I had to give them flight details that included:

• My booking code
• Departure airport code
• Destination airport code

I was then asked if I was the passenger and the account holder, both of which I was.

Processing The Cancellation

After you give the agent all of the pertinent details they will ask you for your account pin. You will want to make sure you have this set up online in your LifeMiles account before calling in. I did, but changed mine anyway just to be safe.

After confirming the pin, and the cancellation, he told me my cost would be $200 for canceling this particular LifeMiles award booking. As I stated above, you will taxes and fees refunded minus the $25 booking fee though. They do not subtract them from the cancellation fee, which would be so much better. He then sent me an email to make a payment. It looks a bit scammy as you can see above (it just says thank you for your purchase)

Once you click through you will end up on a LifeMiles landing page though. The agent disconnected right after I confirmed that I had received the payment email, and before I actually made the payment. I went ahead and completed the process and paid the $200.

My Timeline For Canceling A LifeMiles Award Ticket

Here is my timeline for the entire process of my LifeMiles award ticket cancellation

• I made the phone call and payment in the evening of Monday 3/11/24
• I noticed the miles posted to my account on Wednesday morning of 3/13/24
  • They say it will take 24 – 72 hours
• The refund of the taxes and fees posted to my credit card on 4/15/24
  • Although this seems like it can vary from a few weeks to several months

How To Cancel A LifeMiles Booking: ToP Thoughts

While canceling a LifeMiles award ticket is far from the easiest, or cheapest for that matter, I hope this how to guide helps you on your journey. It can be a semi frustrating process at times, especially when waiting on your taxes refund to post. I wish they would just deduct the taxes refund from the cancellation fee, maybe one day. The process