Programs: CSA OK+ Gold, BMI DC Gold, LH SEN, SAS EBS
Posts: 2,879
Message to travel agents
You usually release bad news on Fridays, don't you? This message from AF was in the booking systems Friday afternoon (my highlightnings):
************************************************** **************
09JAN09-CM.MY *EVOLUTION IN THE FLYING BLUE PROGRAMME RULES
AS FROM 01/04/2009 *AS*
************************************************** **************
SOME PRINCIPAL CHANGES ARE HIGLIGHTED HEREUNDER :
.
- VALIDITY OF MILES : THE BASIC PRINCIPAL OF MILES BEING VALID
FOR LIFE REMAINES UNCHANGED.
.
- YOU HAVE NOW AN EXTENDED TIME LIMIT THAT IS 20 MONTHS INSTEAD
OF 36, TO TRAVEL AND TO AVAIL THE MILES YOU HAVE ACCUMULATED.
IN OTHER TERNS, YOU HAVE TO FLY AT LEAST ONCE EVERY 20 MONTHS ON
AIR FRANCE AND KLM OR ONE OF THE SKY TEAM MEMBER OR ASSOCIATE
AIRLINES, WITH A PAID TICKET ALLOWING MILES ACCUMULATION,
(INSTEAD OF 36 MONTHS BEFORE).
A MILE EARNED TODAY CAN BE SPENT TOMORROW, IN ONE YEAR, 2 YEARS
OR EVEN 20 YEARS.
.
- ACCURAL AND REDEMPTION ARE REVISED TO REFLECT THE PRICES PAID
FOR THE TICKET IN AS FAIR A WAY POSSIBLE.
.
FOR INFORMATION, ALL FLIGHTS WITH A PAID TICKET, ON AIR FRANCE
AND KLM ALLOW TO EARN AWARD MILES.
.
THE FLYING BLUE MEMBERS HAVING EARNED AWARD MILES AND WHO HAVE
NOT HAD ANY FLIGHT ACTIVITY SINCE AUGUST 07 MAY, UNFORTUNATELY
LOSE THEIR MILES AS THEY WILL EXPIRE IN APRIL 2009 AND THEIR
ACCOUNT WILL BE CANCELLED IF THEY DO NOT TAKE A FLIGHT BEFORE
THAT DATE.
.
THIS APPLIES ALSO FOR OUR CLIENTS WHO HAVE NOT FLOWN AFTER APRIL
09 AT LEAST ONCE EVERY 20 MONTHS.
.
.
THE FLYING BLUE ELITE MEMBERS DO NOT LOSE THEIR AWARD MILES AS
LONG AS THEY MAINTAIN THEIR ELITE STATUS.
.
.
- MORE MILES EARNED:
THE NUMBER OF MILES OFFERED WILL BE MORE IN ADEQUATION WITH THE
FARES ACQUITTED AND THE PERKS THAT ARE LINKED WITH.
.
THE MORE THE TICKET CONDITIONS ARE FLEXIBLE OR MORE THE
TRAVELING CLASSES ARE HIGHER, CLIENTS WILL GAIN MORE MILES.
.
CONSEQUENTLY, CERTAIN RESERVATION CLASSES ( BUSINESS CLASS ON
LONG-HAULS) WILL FETCH YOU MORE MILES WHEREAS THE OTHER
INTERMEDIARY CLASSES IN THE TEMPO CABIN) MAY OFFER LESSER MILES
THAN BEFORE.
.
- USEING THE MILES:
.
THE BASIC PRINCIPAL IS CONSERVED AND EVEN OPTIMISED: THE CABIN
CHOISE AND THE FLEXIBILITY IN THE CHOICE OF TRAVEL DATES
DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF MILES NEEDED.
.
IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT THE ACCURAL OF MILES IN THE
ECONOMY CLASS REAMINS UNCHANGED. ON THE OTHER AVARD MILES IN THE
BUSINESS
AND FIRST CLASS AND ALSO THE UPGRADE FETCHES MORE MILES THAN
BEFORE.
.
How on earth can 20 months instead of 26 be an extended limit? This is pure lying.
As a business travel agent I will make sure to advise people not to fly AFKL after April 1st, also I will let our AFKL account manager know how poor idea this is...
As I'm considering my options, I just wanted to see if anyone has seen/heard anything with regards to qualifying for elite through segments.
Will any fare class be excluded from earning qualifying segments? Or is the option to qualify through segments disappearing too?
Thanks for your collective input.
Cheers,
GenevaFlyer
I'm on the same bus … considering some BHX runs on KL but I'm also worried, that the cheapest class is not an eligible segment. But so far, I didn't see anything in the new T & C.
Not sure if this has been mentioned, but I received an email from KLM about my miles that will expire in April if i don't take a flight.
<< This 20 months period is approaching for you: as of 14/12/08,
you have 122283 Award Miles.
All or part of your Miles could expire on April 2009, if you don't make a flight (1) before this date.
In case you do not have the opportunity to fly during this period, Flying Blue exceptionally gives you the chance to get your expired Miles back: just make a flight (1) on AIR FRANCE, KLM, Air Europa,
Kenya Airways, Aircalin or one of the SkyTeam partner airlines before 30 September 2009.
Your Miles will then be re-credited to your account some time after your flight. >>
What exactly do they mean by exceptionally ? Are you guaranteed to get your expired miles back if you make a flight before 30 September or they may make an exception.
EndlosLuft, I find the economy class on long haul flights quite good, compared to most, with reasonably presented and palatable food. Cabin crew is usually not so bad, either, unlike CDG ground staff.
Back on topic, the missive issued to travel agents above is unbelievable. It is full of utter lies, which state, among others, that more miles are earned in business class, and economy class accrual remains unchanged.. Honestly, how can they do that? If they send me that rubbish, they will really get a tart reply. I'm not really into all this lawyer stuff for what is just a loyalty programme (that I believe they have the right to terminate at any time), but a case could definitely be made for the rubbish written in that travel agent missive. Probably a nonsense translation from French to English.
Sorry that as usual I'm late into the game, haven't been on FT for a few days, and was both stunned and disappointed to read through this thread today. I'm speechless at the changes that AFKL are imposing at a time when one would have thought they'd want to keep their most loyal, frequent flying customers rather than totally alienating them.
I won't go into a long rant, I think many others far better qualified than I have already said it all over the preceding 14 pages. I'm a frequent flyer, mostly with KL, and have 9 years continuous Platinum behind me. One year from PE "for Life" (whether that counts for anything any more...), but its going to both much more expensive to earn 70K pts this year, and even if I did, are the benefits/rewards worthwhile with the depreciation of miles for redemption (I've got 600K banked at present)?? I fly frequently for personal reasons, so buy my tickets myself and (like many others) usually opting for "T" class in order to earn 100% FB miles.
I now seriously need to consider switching to *A or sticking it out for one more year with AFKL. But it really sucks to be looking at having to pay more for the continuously eroding economy product on KL (and AF). Whatever, I'm sure AFKL will be losing a lot of my business, whether straight away or in a years time. I'm just a tiny fish compared to most, but around 10 round trips a year from Europe to the USA (many to visit my g/f in Chicago) costs me at least £6K annually on a "T" (or higher) ticket. I'm sure lots of little fish like me will add up, will AFKL get enough new premium business to cover losing people like me? AFKL obviously don't care, so I guess I shouldn't either. Hmmph.
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Join Date: Jan 2005
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AF is aware of this thread
I sent a link of this thread to my contacts in AF HQ.
they're all reading it now and I will get an official
answer from marketing devision and flying blue
to post here in the thread.
__________________
In my opinion, we don't devote nearly enough scientific research to finding a cure for jerks.
Programs: AF/KL FB Platinum, BD diamond club blue+, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 464
I won't paraphrase the many interesting points in this thread, but I'd like to know a few things :
1) What becomes of DL/OK/AZ/SU/UXetc... earnings ?
2) Shall segment requalification stay the same ?
3) Are there any airlines which will do a intra-ST status match ?
Thanks
UTA
__________________
Best seat in the house ? 0B of course !
Well, soon Skyteam will consist of (AFKL), (DLNW) and some small airlines, so having in mind the lack of global coverage, I'd go with Continental
Please please don't forget AZ (which is probably joining the AFKL bandwagon)! AF has some markets where they are literally the only game in town- need to fly from VCE to Paris, Lyon, or Nice? Fly AF or the 3X weekly myair.com flight. 800-900 EUR Y class R/T for one hour flight for a same day return. 1200-1300 J. No discounts. Makes you glad to get the FB miles
Programs: AF/KLM Platinum; LH Senator, AA; Goldpoints+, MaS
Posts: 36
Well, well, well... A piece of news suited for a Monday (luckily enough I did not read this on Friday)... I am a PE FT, working for a SME, with travel options/restrictions much like Hawkhunter (free to choose the airline within reason; in economy only). I fly 4-5 return flights a year mainly to South America + a little bit in Europe, totalling approx 45 segments / 80.000 miles per year. I did much the same as many people here - paying a little extra in order to get from 25%-earning L class to V class; but I am strongly reconsidering my travel preferences; with *A options available on most of my destinations (and no 2009 flights booked yet, except for a "spring break" in the Caribbean - award in C. 150.000 miles left to burn + an outlook to at least 3 return trips to S.Am. in the first semester = defection to *A?
I sent a link of this thread to my contacts in AF HQ.
they're all reading it now and I will get an official
answer from marketing devision and flying blue
to post here in the thread. [/b]
Thanks a lot for that. I did the same with my contact within RM who said he would relay it to whomever might "help". However, the only answer that would really help is "we screwed up, let us take that back and give you all 20k miles for letting us know". So I think we're in for further disappointment.
Back on topic, please be reminded of my my post from quite a while ago. The 115% Y award are going to be just as easy to grab as... X award before! What a great perk indeed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gate45
Although I will not be able to tell you more than rcs85551 as to who my source is, I also have it on good authority that this is indeed true...
The new booking class structure will be as follows:
PF JCDIZM*O* YBKHTVR*LQNX*UG
(the stared classes being the award ones)
The new position of the Y award classes in this structure is meant to significantly lower award availibility...
I sent a link of this thread to my contacts in AF HQ.
they're all reading it now and I will get an official
answer from marketing devision and flying blue
to post here in the thread.
Maybe they reconsider…? I don't think so, they can't step back without losing their face. Nevertheless, I'm very interested in their official answer.
![The new rule book is here! The new rule book is here! [merged]](/forum/iconimages/flying-blue-air-france-klm/new-rule-book-here-new-rule-book-here-merged_ltr.gif)
AF is aware of this thread
