Flying Blue (Air France, KLM, and Other Partners) - Vietnam Airlines and Flying Blue and Advice?

Hello all,

Long time lurker, first time poster. This community is absolutely amazing so I need some advice.

I know that Flying Blue sometimes some partners aren’t equal to others. I want to accumulate miles with Flying Blue and I’m planning to fly from Paris to Bangkok and return from HK to Paris. Kayak proposed as best price with Vietnam Airlines (200eur cheaper than AF or KLM). I just want to make sure that I would get the same amount of Miles if I take Vietnam airlines rather than AF or KLM.

PS I also have an AF Amex Gold...

PPS Any feedback on Vietnam Airlines in general? I’m rather tall and can only fly in Econ :P

Vietnam Airlines

Business Class:
150% - C, D
125% – J
Economy Class:
100% – I, K, Y, Z
75% – B, S, W
50% – H, L
25% - M, T


here is the earning rates per class you will need to know excatly in which booking class you are in AF or VN in order to compare As you have an amex flying AF would only gives you an additional 400 miles (assuming a ticket cost of about 1000€)

With regards to VN experience my wife is just coming back from a CDG-SGN-HAN-CDG trip on VN and was not impressed at all.

old looking plane with dirty seats
non existant staff doing the minimum
very limited IFE
no possibility to get correct pre assigned seat
no OCL
I

Zorga,

When calculating how many FB miles you will earn, there are at least 3 factors to consider:
a) Whether that particular flight (number) is eligible to earn miles?
b) What percentage of the actual distance flown you will in earn in that particular booking class?
c) What the actual distance of the flight is?

In your case:
a) All AF/KL coded flights are eligible to earn FB miles, regardless of the operating airline. However, flights with other Skyteam partners are only eligible if they are operated by Skyteam. So, in your case, you would need to be careful of, for example, flights HKG-SGN which are coded VN, but are in fact operated by CX, and so would not be eligible.

b) The mileage earning percentages for each fare booking sub-class of each Skyteam partner are shown on the FB partner pages on klm.com. Those for VN and KL are shown below (AF is similar to KL). (Note that the letters mean different things for different airlines, so for example, M will earn you 100% with KL, but only 25% with VN).

c) The actual mileages flown are shown on the 'Miles Finder' on klm.com, or in the Skyteam downloadable timetable (or in the TPM feature on KVSTool, etc). In your case (if earning at 100%):
CDG-BKK: 5,589
CDG-HKG: 5,966
CDG-HAN: 5,697
HAN-BKK: 611 (but minimum 750 for an international sector)
HKG-SGN: 929
SGN-CDG: 6,286

So, if for example, you booked an H-class ticket with AF (for CDG-BKK, HKG-CDG) you would earn
(0.5 * 5,589) + (0.5 * 5,966) = 5,777

Probably your biggest challenge will be working out which fare booking sub-class you are actually going to be booking into. On KL and VN's own websites, the fare sub-class can be seen during the booking process. However, on several online travel agencies (I haven't checked Kayak specifically), the fare sub-class is not shown, and you will only find it out once you've paid for the flight and received the e-ticket. By which point, it's a bit late if you decide you're not happy with the fare-class (due to mileage earning, detailed fare conditions, or whatever).

As for experience of VN, I've only done a couple of short-haul sectors with them, and they were fine. The service in their F70 was only 1 drink, but it was a very short sector, so I didn't expect much. A slightly longer sector in an A320 I thought was actually quite good - reasonable seat pitch, friendly crew, and a small meal (rather than the biscuit you get on KL short-haul...) I haven't flown long-haul with them though, so I can't comment on that.

Vietnam Airlines
125 C, D
100 J
100 I, K, Y, Z
75 B, S, W
50 H, L
25 M, T

KLM
KL 175 C, J Other
KL 150 I, D Other
KL 125 Z Other
KL 250 C, J, Z, D Europe
KL 100 Y, B, M, U Other
KL 75 K Other
KL 50 H, L, Q Other
KL 25 N, E, T, R, G Other
KL 100 Y, B Europe
KL 75 M, U Europe
KL 50 H, K, L, Q Europe
KL 25 E, G, N, T, R, X Europe

I would avoid VN if the only purpose is to save €200. Depending where you transit (SGN or HAN), it can be a painful experience. Flights can be OK, but they can also be bad and not on time. If for a little bit more you can fly direct CDG-BKK and HKG-CDG, I would not hesitate despite the horrible 10 abreast seating on AF. Other wise LX is quite a good choice (and cheap).

Vietnam Airlines

Business Class:
150% - C, D
125% – J
here is the earning rates per class you will need to know

1) In business the last booking earning class are
125% - C, D
100% – J

2) I flew in september from SIN to HAN via SGN on Vietnam airlines and service, seats and lounges were OK.
Very professional .

wow, you guys are legendary to say the least, thanks!!

Also, an alternative would be Aeroflot. Non direct flights and Skyteam for 899eur

I’m looking to fly out 15.12 form PAR to BKK and ret 15.01 from HK to PAR.

I find myself always using Kayak.fr since the others dont seem to do better and Kayak has a great interface.

Are there other tricks all you amazing folks can teach me where to look

Thanks!!!! You’re amazing!!

Is an AF/KL combo that expensive then?

SU has a generally good product. In J, they are now very good (one of the very best airlines within Europe). In Y, they are generally good too. You have to pay for alcohol but food is good, seats generally comfortable (definitely more than on 10 abreast AF 772/77W and KL 77W) although some aircrafts do show their age. I have heard some people complain about transit at SVO but in my own experience it was actually extremely easy and quite pleasant despite mediocre lounges.

wow, you guys are legendary to say the least, thanks!!

Also, an alternative would be Aeroflot. Non direct flights and Skyteam for 899eur

I’m looking to fly out 15.12 form PAR to BKK and ret 15.01 from HK to PAR.

I find myself always using Kayak.fr since the others dont seem to do better and Kayak has a great interface.

Are there other tricks all you amazing folks can teach me where to look

Thanks!!!! You’re amazing!!

i also use Kayak and Jet Cost
but you should have a look to ITA http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ ^

SU has a generally good product. In J, they are now very good (one of the very best airlines within Europe). In Y, they are generally good too. You have to pay for alcohol but food is good, seats generally comfortable (definitely more than on 10 abreast AF 772/77W and KL 77W) although some aircrafts do show their age. I have heard some people complain about transit at SVO but in my own experience it was actually extremely easy and quite pleasant despite mediocre lounges.
Yes, SU is quite decent nowadays and they've made some notable effort to improve their quality of services. Certainly different from the previous image they held / associated with Russian carriers.

Mind you though, the OP should check the aircraft type. For W11, they're operating the old 763ER instead of their newer A330 (for S11) that is installed with personal TVs.

http://airlineroute.net/2011/05/08/su-w11intl-may11/

Yes, SU is quite decent nowadays and they've made some notable effort to improve their quality of services. ... and have very competitive fares (ex-Europe) in business to some Asian destinations.