Flying Blue (Air France, KLM, and Other Partners) - Promoawards Sep/Oct 12 (also in Europe)

Here are the new promo's. A lot North America but only in Coach.

http://flyingbluenews.com/promo-awards.html

Well spotted.

At the moment the list is:

Europe

from AMS: LHR, CDG, FRA, ARN, WAW, all in Economy and "World Business Class" for varying amounts
from CDG: Venice, Athens, Affaires only
from ORY: Biarritz, Brest, Montpellier, Voyageur only
from MAD: AMS, LIS, Econ & Business

North America

on KL: JFK, Chicago, Toronto, economy only
on AF: Miami, Houston, Montreal, voyageur only

South America

on KL: Paramaribo, WBC only
on UX: Salvador, econ & business

COI

on KL: Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba, WBC only
on AF: Sint Maarten, Havana, Fort de France, Pointe à Pitre, voyageur only

Africa/Middle East

on KL: Luanda, Cairo, economy only
on KL: Lusaka, Tehran, Almaty, econ and WBC
on AF: Conakry, Port Harcourt, Dubai, Riyadh, voyageur only
on AF: Malabo, prem. voyag and Affaires

Asia Pacific

on KL: Kuala Lumpur, Xiamen, econ only
on KL: Bangkok, econ & WBC
on AF: Beijing, Shanghai, prem voyag & affaires
on AF: Wuhan, voyageur, prem voyag & affaires

...At the moment the list is...
Do you thing it will be extended?
(nothing to Japan but many seats available at "normal" price)

Do you thing it will be extended?


It sometimes changes between what is first posted and what ends up going on offer.


For the first time ever (that I can recall) they have noted that only certain flight numbers are available at the Promo Rate for some destinations. This applies to the AF flights from ORY. I don't remember seeing these restrictions when I transcribed the offer this morning - so there has already possibly been one small change!

I am surprised nobody is jumping up & down about the European awards?

When the lower taxes plan was introduced we assumed that European promo awards would cease to exist. But now they seem to have re-appeared. Which is absolutely great news!

I mean AMS-LHR one-way for 5K miles and 30E taxes is quite a good deal. Even roundtrip that comes close to 1 cent/mile, which I consider to be pretty much the highest value one can get out of FB miles.

Does the announcement of promo awards even matter? Last time, several destinations were announced but there was little to no availability. I recall that SFO had one day available during the entire window.

I am surprised nobody is jumping up & down about the European awards?

When the lower taxes plan was introduced we assumed that European promo awards would cease to exist. But now they seem to have re-appeared. Which is absolutely great news!

I mean AMS-LHR one-way for 5K miles and 30E taxes is quite a good deal. Even roundtrip that comes close to 1 cent/mile, which I consider to be pretty much the highest value one can get out of FB miles.

Quite true ^

Yeah, it's good - strange to see that shorthaul can now be a good use of FB miles!!!

Yeah, it's good - strange to see that shorthaul can now be a good use of FB miles!!!

Finally a good use for FB miles. Too bad it took them so long to make it happen

I wonder if this is prompted in part by BA's new Reward Flight Saver (RFS) - which operate on a similar model. 4.5k Avios each way in econ, or 9k each way in biz, within Europe, taxes at 17GBP and 27GBP respectively.

It's a great use of Avios after years of them being only really useful for LH upgrades or binge splurges. I used to have 100s of 1000s of Avioss around and now with the RFS I can book last minute and go SH within Europe for next to nothing.

So I'm happy if AFKL are following the same pattern. I don't understand why they only release dates at the last minute for the specials but will have to get used to watching the web for the offers.

I wonder if this is prompted in part by BA's new Reward Flight Saver (RFS) - which operate on a similar model. 4.5k Avios each way in econ, or 9k each way in biz, within Europe, taxes at 17GBP and 27GBP respectively.

Yes, this has been discussed in a few threads here - including this one:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/flying-blue-air-france-klm-other-partners/1350975-flying-blue-requests-your-assistance-possible-new-long-haul-award-scheme.html

And yes, the Avios Reward Flight Saver is better given that you don't need to wait for your destination to appear in a "promo award" as is the case here in Flying Blue, and as Avios are (typically) easier to earn than FB miles - moreso on cheap economy tickets.

And for members in a Eurozone country, the equivalent fee in pounds for the RFS is not converted - they just charge the same numerical amount, but in Euros. Even if your booking begins in LHR. ^

I mean AMS-LHR one-way for 5K miles and 30E taxes is quite a good deal.

If you want to spend miles then sure, but when SuperFly was around you could get to LHR for EUR79 return and earn miles if you knew what you were doing. RIP SuperFly.

At what time do the new promos become available, 00.01 CET?? Thanks

At what time do the new promos become available, 00.01 CET?? Thanks

There does not appear to be any fixed, automatic time.

In some instances, it has seemingly taken a few days before flights on all advertised routes have been made available at the Promo rate.

Yup, still not available for PEK-AMS :(

Yup, still not available for PEK-AMS :(

hmm. It seems that nothing has reached the booking engine (yet ?) :rolleyes:

Checked at 01:10 UK and again this AM - not one C seat ex UK (MAN,LHR), or AMS to BKK to be had. What is the point?

Checked at 01:10 UK and again this AM - not one C seat ex UK (MAN,LHR), or AMS to BKK to be had. What is the point?

They rarely seem to go online before the late afternoon. And in some cases, it can take several days for certain routes to be loaded.

It seems like at least some of them are up now! Just found roud trip Europe - Aruba for 50k total :)

Checked at 01:10 UK and again this AM - not one C seat ex UK (MAN,LHR), or AMS to BKK to be had. What is the point?

Why not check AMSBKK, and do the MANAMS as a separate booking for dep tax savings?

Why not check AMSBKK, and do the MANAMS as a separate booking for dep tax savings?

The savings in tax might not make that worthwhile (extra miles required, inconvenience of not having a single ticket, etc).

Also, just to point it out, the bmi thread has reported that check-in agents at Manchester Airport - at least for TK flights - are attempting to charge the full APD when similar "workarounds" come to light at check in (when a passenger asks for the bags to be through-checked on a second ticket, the ticket being booked in this manner to ostensibly avoid the APD). It also seems that they may be within their legal rights to do this.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/bmi-diamond-club/1376993-new-apd-regulation-tk-scam.html

(Of course, were you intending to have a stopover in AMS on the outbound, then this issue disappears. Requesting bags to be through-checked on the return should be no issue and should not lead to an APD recalculation).

It seems like at least some of them are up now! Just found roud trip Europe - Aruba for 50k total :)

All of them are up now :) GOGOGOGo!

They rarely seem to go online before the late afternoon.

All of them are up now :) GOGOGOGo!

So no need to stay up late to book on the stroke of midnight ;)

I wasn't up at the stroke of Midnight - I am a night owl..... :p

Anyhow - snagged a seat MAN-CDG-AMS-BKK-AMS in C for 80K in October. Cash is painful €829, but a lot cheaper than buying a C seat on the same route.

Crazy routing out via CDG, but the alternative was a normal award. I don't see the logic that forces them to fly me more for less miles......

Excellent, I have been waiting for this, all booked now, thanks to all of you

worked well also for me :):):)

Finally... I was able to get a decent promo award :-)

One question though: I am flying into AMS in the evening and getting the flight to Curacao the next morning in WBC. Any advice on where to stay / what do at Schiphol airport?

And how is WBC in the MD 11... compared to the 747-400?

I managed to find award availability for AMS-AUA in biz. At least on the dates page. When I clicked to book, I was informed that there were no AF flights on this route. :mad:

Yes, I know. It's a KL route @:-) and I wanted to book KL.

A quick e-mail suggesting my route and asking whether I could exceptionally book offline was met with a (standard?) reponse to call the ripoff UK phone number, or rather '(+ 44) 0870 24 29 242'. (I didn't try but suspect that +44 0870 ... wouldn't connect without deleting the leading zero ...)

Anyway, availability on our dates has now gone. Back to the drawing board ...

Finally... I was able to get a decent promo award :-)

One question though: I am flying into AMS in the evening and getting the flight to Curacao the next morning in WBC. Any advice on where to stay / what do at Schiphol airport?

And how is WBC in the MD 11... compared to the 747-400?

I've had a couple of nights in the Yotel - fine for a cheapish night in AMS. Looking a little more weary now it's been open a while, but still a good place to stay.

Finally... I was able to get a decent promo award :-)

One question though: I am flying into AMS in the evening and getting the flight to Curacao the next morning in WBC. Any advice on where to stay / what do at Schiphol airport?

And how is WBC in the MD 11... compared to the 747-400?

I would stay in the city center and not the airport unless you have a very early flight. The train goes straight from schiphol in central station in about 15 minutes. Lots more to do downtown :))