Flying Blue (Air France, KLM, and Other Partners) - Bluebiz? Anyon tried it

Hello,

We're wondering if it's worth subscribing to the bluebiz program in my company... any feedback on it?

Thanks

Hello,

We're wondering if it's worth subscribing to the bluebiz program in my company... any feedback on it?

Thanks

Well first of all its free...so why not! ;)

Basically you get BlueBiz points on tickets with certain booking codes. Cheap tickets mostly Q, L will earn you 20 points for intercontinental flights. Wereld Dealweken tickets are code R and will earn nothing! Europe flights earn as low as 4 points for a return, more flexible tickets 16, 24.....but real interesting are the intercon. biz tickets, which earn 200 points ( I could happily book such ticket for a colleague and earn the points)

BlueBiz is not personal so either you have a big company and buy a lot of tickets, or you are freelance like me :) So all my friends or colleague fill in my BlueBiz number, next to there own FB number.

I've been a member for almost 2 years now and have earn around 750 points, so thats € 750,- worth of a ticket or upgrade now-a-days. But you have to really try and call/mail a lot, since a lot of points didn't add automatically :S

But in the end its something you get extra for just filling in your company number so I would always do it.

BlueBiz is not personal so either you have a big company and buy a lot of tickets, or you are freelance like me :) So all my friends or colleague fill in my BlueBiz number, next to there own FB number.

I've been a member for almost 2 years now and have earn around 750 points, so thats € 750,- worth of a ticket or upgrade now-a-days. But you have to really try and call/mail a lot, since a lot of points didn't add automatically :S

But in the end its something you get extra for just filling in your company number so I would always do it.

Yes, but as small user you have to bear in mind that Bluebiz points are valid for just 2 years. Your points are valid until end next year and then vanish when you didn't use them. So that's different from FB, on which you can extend the lifetime of your miles with simply flying once every 20 months, in case of BlueBiz that doesn't work!

Yes, but as small user you have to bear in mind that Bluebiz points are valid for just 2 years. Your points are valid until end next year and then vanish when you didn't use them. So that's different from FB, on which you can extend the lifetime of your miles with simply flying once every 20 months, in case of BlueBiz that doesn't work!

Hmm....your comment made me wonder. I just checked my balance again and it says my points are valid until 1st of january 2014. Last points were credited on the 28th of december 2011.

The terms however do mention the 2 year valid point.

Maybe its a glitch because of the transfer to the 'new' BlueBiz program, but still

Other points were credited in november?!

Hmm....your comment made me wonder. I just checked my balance again and it says my points are valid until 1st of january 2014. Last points were credited on the 28th of december 2011.

The terms however do mention the 2 year valid point.

Maybe its a glitch because of the transfer to the 'new' BlueBiz program, but still

Other points were credited in november?!

Under the new "enhanced" system your points are only valid 2 calender years. The points earned under the old program remain valid up to 31-12-2013. Points earned in November or December are also valid 2 calender years (2012 and 2013), so they will remain valid up to 31-12-2013 also. Points earned this year will stay valid up to 31-12-2014.

But you have to really try and call/mail a lot, since a lot of points didn't add automatically :S


And even if they do, they post after 3 months. That's really horrible.

And even if they do, they post after 3 months. That's really horrible.

I agree it is not great but it is for free! :)

In the last 15 months I have managed to book 3 return tickets in Y within Europe. Unfortunately my plans changed and I lost one of the tickets but still and I am happy with the balance and I even got FB Miles for the 2 tickets I used. ^

(...) I've been a member for almost 2 years now and have earn around 750 points, so thats € 750,- worth of a ticket or upgrade now-a-days. (...)

The last few simulations I made showed around 1 point = € 0.50, not € 1.

I called them to get their advice on use of points, trying to figure out if use of points was more efficient for some tickets than for others (when comparing with FB for example).

Answer was no.

And she confirmed that rule of thumb for point value was around 0.50 / point.

In which occasions did you find € 1 equivalent for one point? There could be a pattern I did not identify and which would be useful for us all to know about.

The last few simulations I made showed around 1 point = € 0.50, not € 1.

I called them to get their advice on use of points, trying to figure out if use of points was more efficient for some tickets than for others (when comparing with FB for example).

Answer was no.

And she confirmed that rule of thumb for point value was around 0.50 / point.

In which occasions did you find € 1 equivalent for one point? There could be a pattern I did not identify and which would be useful for us all to know about.

Maybe there is a difference between Bluebiz France and Bluebiz Netherlands.
http://f.chtah.com/i/37/276565485/Bluebiz_brochure.pdf
In this brochure (sorry, in Dutch) it is clearly marked that 1 point is 1 euro.


From Q&A on the French KLM site:
What are Blue Credits?
Blue Credits are the currency of the Blue Biz programme.
A Blue Credit represents the value of one unit of the local currency (i.e. in Euro countries, one Blue Credit equals one Euro). In some countries Blue Credits represent the currency in which airline tickets are sold, e.g. in Turkey and Israel.

Maybe there is a difference between Bluebiz France and Bluebiz Netherlands.
http://f.chtah.com/i/37/276565485/Bluebiz_brochure.pdf
In this brochure (sorry, in Dutch) it is clearly marked that 1 point is 1 euro.


Well, the brochure is wrong then.

I had a look at a few example and will give you one here CDG/TXL/CDG 16-19 Feb.

AF 2034/AF1135 : € 174 or 350 points
AF 1434/AF1735: € 261 or 575 points.

More examples abound.

As I said, if someone is aware of a better exchange rate for BlueBiz points, it would be great to know.

Well, the brochure is wrong then.

It's not just the brochure, it is the website also.

It's not just the brochure, it is the website also.

What are you trying to say? :confused:

That the website is as wrong as the brochure?

In that case, this is well noted.

Now remains the question : have you or anyone else in this forum ever found better conversion rates than +/- € 0.50 / point?

I am talking actual flights, not AF/KLM's info, since it appears to be misleading, at least in the simulations I made . :)

What are you trying to say? :confused:

That the website is as wrong as the brochure?

In that case, this is well noted.

Now remains the question : have you or anyone else in this forum ever found better conversion rates than +/- € 0.50 / point?

I am talking actual flights, not AF/KLM's info, since it appears to be misleading, at least in the simulations I made . :)

What I was trying to say was that the website has the same information as the brochure. I just looked and at the page "What is Bluebiz" in Dutch also states "Elke Blue Credit is € 1 waard. " (every Blue credit is worth € 1)

For award booking I have no recent experience, for gifts at their webshop the Credits are worth about € 1 (except for the Ipad2, which costs 550 Credits instead of € 479,00). I just called them, and they also stated that 1 Credit is 1 €. Unfortunately when trying to make a fakebooking the system only shows the € amount, no credits, until the page I have to give personal information. Because I don't want to make a booking right now I stopped at that point.

But then again: I'm talking about the Dutch program. I do not know if the same applies for the French program, although I guess it should be the same.

(...) For award booking I have no recent experience, for gifts at their webshop the Credits are worth about € 1 (except for the Ipad2, which costs 550 Credits instead of € 479,00). I just called them, and they also stated that 1 Credit is 1 €. Unfortunately when trying to make a fakebooking the system only shows the € amount, no credits, until the page I have to give personal information. Because I don't want to make a booking right now I stopped at that point. (...)

Yes it should be the same for France and NL...

I do not understand what you are trying to do for fake bookings.

You should first log onto your bluebiz account by selecting "book an award ticket", then you are prompted to account number and password.

Once this is done, the page looks similar to the one for bookings for paying tickets, with summary on top of number of points, account number etc,.

You choose the destinations, then the flight list is the same as when in €, but the "prices" are in points. All this before you have to confirm anything.

You can compare with the same flight combinations paid with in €.

Now remains the question : have you or anyone else in this forum ever found better conversion rates than +/- € 0.50 / point?

I have a BlueBiz FR account and it is indeed the rate I find.

Yes it should be the same for France and NL...

I do not understand what you are trying to do for fake bookings.

You should first log onto your bluebiz account by selecting "book an award ticket", then you are prompted to account number and password.

Once this is done, the page looks similar to the one for bookings for paying tickets, with summary on top of number of points, account number etc,.

You choose the destinations, then the flight list is the same as when in €, but the "prices" are in points. All this before you have to confirm anything.

You can compare with the same flight combinations paid with in €.

I just tried on the Dutch Bluebiz site. I looked at AMS-LON for € 217,01
At all pages only € was mentioned, they did not mention points and/or credits.
After entering my personal data I came to the payment page. Here I was able to select to pay with Bluebiz -> I needed 217 credits. So for the Dutch it is still 1 credit = 1 Euro.

Strange there is a difference between France and Holland...

(...) Strange there is a difference between France and Holland...

Yes indeed. Means the programme is not unified as they say it is.

Strange there is a difference between France and Holland...

Hello Brobbel,

To me it looks like the difference between France and rest of the World for FB Elite thresholds.

Earning points is quite easy for French SME because there are the domestic flights. On full or Abonné fare, a r/t earns 30 points. Mutliply this by the number of employees commuting each week between NCE/MRS/TLS/BOD to and from PAR plus a couple of European and long haul flights and the accounts can quickly get several thousands points.

Yes indeed. Means the programme is not unified as they say it is.

Not only the spending scheme varies from a country to another but the earning one does.

IME, for French BlueBiz accounts, the strategy the get the best value of the points is the same as the one used to get lower fares on paying tickets : fly from abroad.

For example I would like to use my points to go to Africa in June :
- from CDG I have enough points for a R/T in PV
- from GVA I can fly Affaires

The BE/LU BlueBiz program is also 1 point = €1. So when I want to purchase a ticket for €300 EUR I need to use 300 BlueBiz points.

Next mid 2012, one can buy upgrade with Blue credits.

I don't understand why they need so long time to credit accounts after flight.
Flying Blue credit miles after few days but Blue biz after 60 days!!!:td::td::td:

I just tried to use my BBiz points to secure an upgrade. It's easy to use.
You simply type your flight number and booking code into the website and they email you back. However I elicited the following familiar response:

Dear xxxxxx,
Herewith, we would like to inform you that it is not possible to process your upgrade request for the booking with the code xxxxxx . This as due the fact that the original booking (L-R) classes of your ticket are not eligible for upgrade.

Blue Credits may be exchanged for tickets being offered to the general public via a CRS, with the exception of reduced-rate tickets, such as non-revenue tickets, military or government tickets, free tickets or award tickets, as well as any other tickets to which the regular retail price does not apply. Air France and KLM shall be entitled to exclude booking classes, which shall be notified to Members.

Please see below what type of classes you will need for requesting future upgrade KLM-AF. They are subject to changes at any time.
For European and medium short haul flights (Y/B/M/W/S/A/U) For Intercontinental and long haul flights (Y/B/M/W/S/A) - (D/C/J)

We hope we have informed you sufficiently.

For European and medium short haul flights (Y/B/M/W/S/A/U) For Intercontinental and long haul flights (Y/B/M/W/S/A) - (D/C/J)

It will be interesting to know the price for these upgrades.
If someone use it, please let us know.

It will be interesting to know the price for these upgrades.
If someone use it, please let us know.

I've heard it's the actual price between the ticket you bought (full flexible tickets) and that of a PE or Biz seat. So fairly a lot of points. (for instance: difference between AMS-MEX in M and Business is around € 1400,- round trip)

After my first trips in 2012, I look at what "cost" in blue bonus credits for a trip to Tokyo.
I naively thought, as written on Belgian and Luxembourg site, that € 1 = 1 Blue credit
Not at all, in France! and the conversion factor compared to the cost of a revenue ticket on the web site varies from 1.21 to 2.
Paris-Tokyo (return)
First € 9506 = 19015 BC - Blue Credit (x2)
Business € 4012 = 6550 BC (x1,63)
Premium € 1879 = 3775 BC (x2)
Eco Flex € 3605 = 4385 BC (x1,21)
Eco € 1104 = 1925 BC (x1,74)

Finally, knowing that I spent over € 11000 to win 1500 BC, calculate the ratio ...

Answer: to qualify for a ticket in eco I need to spend over € 14000.
In First .... € 140000

Bravo Air France.

I hold a multi-airlines ticket, which includes AF flights, that is not on AF stock (057). Will I get my BB points?

Hey guys,

Do you know if it's possible to book a ticket leaving from an airport outside the Bluebiz country, let say my Bluebiz account is based in Japan but I would like to book a ticket ex France?

When I am using the online tool I can only book a ticket ex Japan, and it seems I cant change the country of domiciliation of the Bluebiz account to France? Am I right?

One more question, do you earn personal miles when a ticket is purchased with bluebiz points?

One more question, do you earn personal miles when a ticket is purchased with bluebiz points?

Interesting topic.

T&C used to state that you do earn miles.

New T&C don't say it any more, but do not say you don't earn miles neither.

If you ask Bluebiz personnel, they say you don't get miles.

When you say you have experienced that miles were accrued, they answer that it was a mistake.

BUT: 2 weeks ago, ticket bought with Blubiz points generated miles and segment on FB.

Hey guys,

Do you know if it's possible to book a ticket leaving from an airport outside the Bluebiz country, let say my Bluebiz account is based in Japan but I would like to book a ticket ex France?

When I am using the online tool I can only book a ticket ex Japan, and it seems I cant change the country of domiciliation of the Bluebiz account to France? Am I right?

I tried and it was possible to enter any departure airport (the "from" and "to fields" were actually empty, so I could type anything I wanted). Got the cost in blubiz points.

I suggest you try using the airfrance.fr website.

Interesting information carnarvon,

Unfortunately when I try to log in outside the country of bluebiz account, I got a "Please log in on your origin market" :(

Interesting information carnarvon,

Unfortunately when I try to log in outside the country of bluebiz account, I got a "Please log in on your origin market" :(

True that I logged on from France where Bluebiz account is located...

But I could elect whichever city of departure I wanted...

I'd send a message to Bluebiz then. @:-) (sorry for being so uncreative)

Can you claim points retroactively?

Can you claim points retroactively?

T&C say no, unless it is their mistake.

So they CAN retro-credit.

This leaves some room for creative arguing and I leave it to your imagination. :)

You cannot submit retroactive claims if the flight has already taken place. You can, however, have the BB# added to your pnr after purchase though.

I was able to "retro claim" on a flight, but this was because the Air France Luxembourg sales phone number transfers to France while the KLM transfers to Belgium. I bought a C TATL ticket and since they issued it from France (how was I supposed to know since I rang my local number) it was rejected. I complained and they credited it to the account.

You cannot submit retroactive claims if the flight has already taken place. (...)

As I wrote above, you CAN.

But only if it is their fault (BB number in the booking, but no points showing).

As I wrote above, you CAN.

But only if it is their fault (BB number in the booking, but no points showing).

No. That is not a retro claim, that is a correction. If your number is not on the ticket before you fly, you cannot get points.

No. That is not a retro claim, that is a correction. If your number is not on the ticket before you fly, you cannot get points.

Come on.... Call a retroclaim a correction and you nave your points.

Mr Flyer: "I can assure you that the BB was in the booking. It was lost in the process of blablabla"

Mr BB : "sorry sir, it was not"

Mr Flyer : "yes it was. How can you prove it was not. I know what I did. I have booked 55 flights in the past 6 months, I know what I do".

Escalate the case and depending on your profile, they will credit or not, irrespective of your BB number being in the booking or not.

They need customers. Such stupid rules are meant to be bypassed.

Come on.... Call a retroclaim a correction and you nave your points.

Mr Flyer: "I can assure you that the BB was in the booking. It was lost in the process of blablabla"

Mr BB : "sorry sir, it was not"

Mr Flyer : "yes it was. How can you prove it was not. I know what I did. I have booked 55 flights in the past 6 months, I know what I do".

Escalate the case and depending on your profile, they will credit or not, irrespective of your BB number being in the booking or not.

They need customers. Such stupid rules are meant to be bypassed.

I sometimes do the exact same thing :D had some friends that booked tickets and didn't put in the number. I did it 3 days later, lets see what happens.

So far I've already collected 1000 points over the last 2 years. Sometimes the BB department do some crazy corrections and in the end give me far to much points :D

Is there any way to keep BB points valid like it is done ith FB? I have several thousands points in my French BB account, of which some of them (a significant amount) expire by the end of the year.

edit..

Is there any way to keep BB points valid like it is done ith FB? I have several thousands points in my French BB account, of which some of them (a significant amount) expire by the end of the year.

AFAIK : no. That's why I started using them this year, while only collecting them in the years before.

Some recent experience about awards with BlueBiz :
- you can only them book online, not by phone ;
- they have to be booked one by one, i.e. you cannot book an award for 2 pax at the same time ;
- only awards for adult pax can be booked ;
- if stricltly sticking with the T&Cs, the award should be for one of the company's employee.

I used some Bluebiz points to go to Brussels some weeks ago. It was interesting to see that I even got miles and legs for the trip! It was also very easy to book.

Xxx.

But why took it so long to receive the BB points? Sometimes more than 2 months?

I used some Bluebiz points to go to Brussels some weeks ago. It was interesting to see that I even got miles and legs for the trip! It was also very easy to book.

Xxx.

BB people tell you you don't, but the fact is you do.

Interesting to know that an older version of T&C I found on the net were mentioning the fact that you did.

The latest T&C say nothing about it.

But why took it so long to receive the BB points? Sometimes more than 2 months?

I asked them and the answer was "yes, it takes some time". :D

LH also has a similar program. BlueBiz and LH both take months to post.

I think this has to do with monthly revenue reports per market and the accounting cycle. You travel in Month 1, they get the report mid-month 2 and post it mid-month 3.

This is really electronic money, so they book it 1-for-1 against income in a semi-manual process, whereas miles get booked at the internal rate (x miles = y cents) in a completely automated run.

BB people tell you you don't, but the fact is you do.

Interesting to know that an older version of T&C I found on the net were mentioning the fact that you did.

The latest T&C say nothing about it.

With BB you pay the tickets with points(in Spain 1 point = 1 euro) but according to the fare available in the moment of booking. As the corresponding booking class accrues some miles, you get them regardless of how the ticket has been paid.
It is good to get miles and that the taxes... are included but it is bad because the tickets do not have a fix cost and in some occasions can be expensive.

In PPB(Lufthansa and some other *A airlines) you book in the same class as an award ticket, that accrues no miles, but it is always a fix number of points. The problem is that taxes, fuel charges,...are on top, and currently are quite high.

(...) but it is bad because the tickets do not have a fix cost and in some occasions can be expensive.(...).

So you would want the tickets to be both available all the time (as long as the plane is not full) AND at the same low cost as an award.

Aren't you asking too much?

BB points are like money. AF gives you money back on your purchases. The only string attached is that it has to be spent with them.

If you want expensive seats for cheap, use your miles!

So you would want the tickets to be both available all the time (as long as the plane is not full) AND at the same low cost as an award.

Aren't you asking too much?

BB points are like money. AF gives you money back on your purchases. The only string attached is that it has to be spent with them.

If you want expensive seats for cheap, use your miles!

Hi,

I was just trying to participate in this forum by pointing out what I consider the good and bad things of the program, but personally I do not really care much because I only fly with any of the companies belonging to BlueBiz(or Skyteam) to try that the aprox 300k that are seating on my FB account do not expire

In any case BB points are is not exactly like money because expire after a certain period.

(...)In any case BB points are is not exactly like money because expire after a certain period.

Bank notes do though ;)

I work for a company of about 50 people, with 2 FB plats and a dozen FB golds. The rest of the people use AF/KL regularly, so we tend to accumulate a large mass of BlueBiz points. In general, the accumulation of points and booking of awards works quite well, but there are few factors which means that BlueBiz does not get the utilisation it could potentially have.

Our travel is outsourced to a TA, they will put the BlueBiz number in any booking for the company but refuse to book awards since they do not get commission. Since we have not been able to resolve this by setting up a fee structure with our TA we would need to dedicate a resource, or at least part of resource, to handling this internally and we are not sure the amount we save is worth the cost. Some of our nerdy flyers will book awards through BlueBiz, but most have more important things to do with their time.

The uncertainty over accumulation of individual points on FB means those employees who are willing to book BlueBiz awards generally avoid booking awards until they are certain that they 1. achieve the status on FB they are after, typically gold, and 2. are certain they will not reach plat. This generally means awards only get booked towards year end, to give you some idea, we have 17k points expiring at the end of this year :eek:

BlueBiz awards book into normal fare buckets to my knowledge, not award classes. I saw a ticket yesterday that was booked through KLM with points, booked in Q and U buckets.

Conclusion, system for us works fine, but we underutilise the system.

(Note - I don't actually use the system since I am one of thew few in my company who sit loyally in the *A camp, but many of my colleagues use the system)

Any current valid promotion codes to register for BlueBiz? Doing a search for Blue Biz promo codes, I can find a smattering of older expired ones for a few hundred bonus points, but none current. Anyone know of one, or a place to watch for them to arise? Thanks.

BB people tell you you don't, but the fact is you do.

Interesting to know that an older version of T&C I found on the net were mentioning the fact that you did.

The latest T&C say nothing about it.

From my last experience, you actually don't. I will try to retro-claim the miles to FB and see.

From my last experience, you actually don't. I will try to retro-claim the miles to FB and see.

I did; even a few days ago!

But.... there are differences between the countries programs, maybe the French program doesn't allow it, while the Dutch program does?

I did; even a few days ago!

But.... there are differences between the countries programs, maybe the French program doesn't allow it, while the Dutch program does?

I use French BB and have always had miles credited on FB, without having to retro-claim.

I did retroclaim and was just denied miles, despite booked in full fare.

I did retroclaim and was just denied miles, despite booked in full fare.

What do you mean by booking in full fare?