benberg2013

Story is as follows:

I used my Flying blue miles to book MAN - AMS - OTP - TLV on one ticket. Coated 12,500 miles and 116 euro. 3 hours in AMS and 50 mins in OTP.
Anyway a few days ago I called up to add my Alitalia Freccia Alata Club - Skyteam Elite Plus membership number to this FB award booking.
The agent said you will not earn miles so I cannot add the number to the booking. I said I know I just want the number in the booking to receive the benefits, she says no its not possible.
I called again a few nights later. Another agent answered and knew what they were talking about and added the number.
I came this morning to the check in and showed the woman by checkin the gold card but she still had to call up some place to take off the 15 pound charge the system was charging me to choose an exit seat.
And then when I put my second suitcase on, the system wanted to charge for it. The woman explained that the number was showing in the system but not as STE+.

So I went to the ticketing office, where the guy started to explain that it goes by operator, bla bla bla, and if I would be travelling via Rome on Alitalia then it would be OK, but since I'm flying only with a codeshare or a partner airline it does not help.
I started to explain that that's what skyteam is etc etc but he said yes but bla bla bla. He said he seen China southern and all these cards, but they don't work when operated by KLM. Meaning, he's refused other skyteam elite plus member their elite plus benefits.
It really annoys me when airline employees don't know their own rules.
He then said that since I was flying on Tarom he could not authorise it. Meaning he would authorise it and overide the charge if it was only KLM but they are not supposed to authorise it when it includes another airline in the itinerary.
I therefore said just check it through to Amsterdam on your KLM flight then I will recheck it in ams where hopefully tarom themselves would adhere to skyteam rules. But he said the connection is too short. I said 3.5 hours too short? MCT in AMS is 45 mins? But he says yes but to leave and collect luggage and recheck its too short. I said I'll take that responsibility on myself he said no.

After backwards and forwards politely he said OK this once he will diit but he's putting his life in the line.

WHAT IS THEIR PROBLEM????

maarten22

If I recall correct they have to add another zero to your Alitalia number, else the number won't work.

Edit:
On the other segments however I purchased Economy Class and to get the lounge access I was determined to get this resolved. The agent in Seoul said they are well aware of the problems with the Alitalia numbers and it can be resolved by adding a double zero (00) in front of the actual number.

http://loyaltylobby.com/2016/02/21/a...-extra-digits/

fifty_two

Use the advice of maarten22 and also always carry your Freccia Alata card with you when travelling , and except if the guy/lady in front of you doesnt know about skyteam rules , everything should be ok

KLflyerRalph

I always have problems with the AZ card at lounges. They insist every time on seeing the actual card so carry it with you!

irishguy28

This wouldn't have helped (and I assume that the OP had their card with them, anyway).

There are always problems putting a different card number into a booking that was made as a Flying Blue redemption. I have travelled as AZ Freccia Alata on FB award bookings now, a few times, and although the check-in and/or lounge agents at AMS have tried several times to overwrite the number, they never managed.

An agent in Zurich managed to do this without trouble, though.

I would advise you, in future, to be aware of the shortcomings of the alliance, or KLM's handling of it, and *NOT* seek additional luggage on FB award bookings or expect to buy paid seating for free.

I have never checked 2 bags on KLM in my life, but I have never had a problem having a bag checked for free by showing my AZ card when travelling on a KL ticket that otherwise wanted to charge me for it.

Ditto

I believe for STE+ the baggage allowance for such flights with KLM is only 1 bag, only FB Elites gets 2 bags.
So as free paid seat selection is not even available for FB Gold, so why would it be for AZ Gold?

irishguy28

Not according to the KLM website.


By "for free" I meant at whatever terms are offered for FB Gold.

"free paid seat selections" seems to be a similar verbal contortion

KLflyerRalph

That is new, I guess? I remember the allowance went from 2 to 1 when the surcharge went into effect. Flying last weekend every document/MMB page showed one bag for me though.

MSPeconomist

The quote of the rules posted above says two bags for a TOTAL of 23kg, so if they mean it, it's essentially one free bag for elites in coach.

irishguy28

it speaks volumes that the topic of "how many bags can I check" and now "what total weight can I check" is a continual source of debate and query on here, amongst KL's most frequent flyers....

If we can't figure it out, then how is anybody else supposed to?

KLflyerRalph

I see. The devil is in the detail.

Ditto

Hmmm, the baggage calculator indicates otherwise, if you select MAN-AMS, it will allow 1 bag for STE/STE+ and 2 bags for FB Silver/Gold/Plat.


OP seems to think he should be eligible to get a free exit row seat based on his AZ Gold, but AFAIK even the discount is not an STE+ benefit, it is an FB benefit.

irishguy28

I've never trusted the calculator. (Or the KLM website, for that matter! You will find conflicting, contradictory, or incorrect statements littered about the place).

Ditto

So what source do you trust for such matters?

The STE/STE+ "rules" is one extra checked-in bag, put that on top of 0 allowance and you get 1, not 2.
So claiming that he did not receive his STE+ benefits with KLM is not true.

irishguy28

I trust only myself

Having had Skyteam Elite Plus through AZ for the past year, I can tell you that you do have to be very insistent to get KLM to recognise the Skyteam benefits, with the "home team" at AMS being more stubborn than the staff at any of the outstations.

And you can forget about the KLM website ever recognising AZ status correctly - although it will eventually print a boarding pass with the Sky Priority logo (usually), it will never correctly give any baggage allowance.

I've never met quite the degree of inanity that theOP here has, but I did, on one of my more recent trips, have a check-in agent tell me that my AZ status must have expired - despite the fact that she was holding the card, with a clearly-visible validity date into next year, in her hands at that very moment - because she couldn't seemingly get the system to agree to a free item of baggage.

It won't do KLM any favours if other ST elites, less used to dealing with KLM, run up against this sort of stuff, and/or end up paying for things that should be granted to them for free.

But then, it seems that AFKL sometimes don't even get it right with their own elites: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-f...o-contact.html