KLM Flying Dutchman - same flight for many weeks

Hi,

My work will force me to take the same return flight for 70-80 times witihn the next 24 months (direct 2H flight between two EU cities). Are there any arrangements possible with KLM/AF for 80 economy flights, if paid upfront? Anybody has experience with optimizing the flightcosts with such a regular flight pattern :) ?

Thanks in advance.

Not that I'm aware of on AF/KL, I'm afraid.

I presume your employer doesn't have a corporate contract?

If you are going to buy high priced tickets (e.g. fully flexible), AF have been thinking of possibly creating European 'abonne' systems at some point in the future for a while. This may or may not come soon but you could keep an eye for it (if it works like the French one, you pay a flat fee and then get a significant discount - 30% I think - on high fare tickets). However, if you are going to buy cheap discounted tickets, there will be no further discount. In that case, your best shot is to wait for promotions and then bulk buy.

This being said, no harm in going to your local airport AF ticket desk (or ticket office if there is one in town) and tell them about your situation. They might be able to propose something commercially (e.g. wave ticket office fee if you book everything through them or something else).

You can contact KLM direct about this but check what the current prices would be on average before. You can get a good deal but it could be cheaper to buy the cheapest fares online.

See this recent post (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/18770442-post108.html) which suggests AF may be considering introducing something along the lines of what you enquired about. (No idea about timescales at all, though.)

- Domestic season card (Abonnement) extended to Europe

My work will force me to take the same return flight for 70-80 times witihn the next 24 months (direct 2H flight between two EU cities).

What days of the week are they? If it's Mon-Fri, it might be worth while booking them in the reverse direction Fri-Mon if it's cheaper to book with a Saturday night stay.

Welcome to my world. There is no existing product outside of using BlueBiz to claw some back (drip by drip, but better than 0).

I often buy one direction on one airline and the other direction on another airline, just to avoid any confusion when buying nested tickets. For some destinations I will even switch alliances to keep status somewhere else too.

PM me your route. Maybe I have done it and can give you some pointers.

What days of the week are they? If it's Mon-Fri, it might be worth while booking them in the reverse direction Fri-Mon if it's cheaper to book with a Saturday night stay.

I believe the minimum stay for the cheaper fares is a Saturday night or 3N. Flying Monday and Friday should be no problem.

Gajan