I am leaving FB too! I have asked BMI for a status match. Either way, if I don't get it I will start collecting for Gold on either Aeroplan, Diamond Club or Miles&Smiles. Skyteam is falling apart anyway, and Star Alliance offers me more routes and better airlines and better earning options. FB is not acceptable anymore! I will spend all my FB miles, and close the account, and open a OK+ account instead, which I will use when flying Skyteam in the future (even though Star Alliance will get most of my business from now on).
As a LTPE I'm free to decide, what I want. I fly enough to get Gold status on both, Star and OW.
I fly mainly TATL in discounted J. For the future I will definetly look only for the best deals. This seems for short time bookings BA, for bookings more than 4 weeks in advance DL ex LHR ( connection to LHR is fairly cheap ). Might be some Star carrier will come out with good deals, too so I will use them.
But the times, where I stayed loyal with KL/AF are definetly gone. Might be there will be some more KL/AF but only if the deal is good for me. And the deal is only good, if AF/KL are cheaper then OW, because they give me less miles.
My father as LPE has decided to fly on LH more, as 5 years more there will give him lifetime Senator.
In his opinion he seems to be rewarded there more than a PE on AF/KLM.
The rest of the family (elite through Amex) will keep on flying KLM for the short trips just to enjoy the perks of lounge access, business class check-in and extra bagage allowance.
I've decided to burn the remaining 40someK miles in my account and favor *A with which I already have top tier.
Now for the 'orphan' AF miles I'm thinking of Alaska Mileage Plan. Apparently service is great, it covers both OW and ST with which I'm not really keen on chasing status on and I'd still get bonus miles if I fly more that 25K miles on a combination of AFKL and AA and others..
I've decided to burn the remaining 40someK miles in my account ...
I think for 40K you can just get an AF bus award to Marne la Vallée - if you are FB Gold or Plat, they will throw in one entry to Disneyland Paris. Enjoy!
Due to these changes, I am now booking my travel with the cheapest ticket I can find where before I was booking the cheapest FB level miles earning fare I could.
I've been royal wing, platinum or gold for the last 10 years but now I'm made my decision I can see I've been wasting money chasing status that wasn't worth much. I've already saved €500 on my 1st booking.
I wrote this in the other thread. I might just put in here as well;
"I'm just glad I didn't spend the extra money to qualify for Gold this year as well. I've only 1K reward points left in my account, and AF/KLM can now forget about getting my money. From now on, our travel money will end up in CX pockets instead. It will be a little bit trickier to get back to the EU (since my final destination isn't one of the big ones), but I rather take an extra stop over, then continue giving these clowns any money!"
If qualification for FB Gold/Skyteam Elite Plus remains 30 segments then I might stay just for the worldwide lounge access. I long ago gave up any hope of actually earning FB miles for flights!
What other Skyteam programs allow qualification for SKyTeam Elite Plus by segment? Especially 30 segments!
I will wait if Skyteam gives any advantages to Platinum members after this mileage robbery. If they don't, I will have a one-by-one approach with all future tickets, i.e. comparing every single Skyteam flight with a *A alternative. Whichever is cheaper and/or gives me more miles will be the one I will take. Last year I got 25,000 miles with *A, because I used them as a residual trying to keep loyal to Skyteam. This year will be very different. I will surely qualify at least for Silver for *A now as I will be taking fewer Skyteam flights. If I realise that I will be MOSTLY taking *A flights from now on, I will slowly migrate to *A. Let competition run its game and that the best wins!
If qualification for FB Gold/Skyteam Elite Plus remains 30 segments then I might stay just for the worldwide lounge access. I long ago gave up any hope of actually earning FB miles for flights!
What other Skyteam programs allow qualification for SKyTeam Elite Plus by segment? Especially 30 segments!
That's the only thin thread left that stops me from leaving immediately -- that, and waiting to see to what extent exactly FB earnings with other ST partners will be gutted exactly.
Mind you, if I remember right, DL Skymiles requires 60 segments for Gold qualifiaction, so it's an open question as to how long -- monkey see, monkey do -- it will take FB to adopt that "enhancement" to their programme.
Programs: OK+ Gold, AMB PC Gold, FB Silver, Hertz 5*, Flavours Gold,Hyatt Gold, SPG, HHon Gold
Posts: 107
Quote:
Originally Posted by ajamieson
I will wait and see what happens to SkyMiles.
If qualification for FB Gold/Skyteam Elite Plus remains 30 segments then I might stay just for the worldwide lounge access. I long ago gave up any hope of actually earning FB miles for flights!
What other Skyteam programs allow qualification for SKyTeam Elite Plus by segment? Especially 30 segments!
For quite some time I´ve booked the cheapest alternative on every trip. I don´t fly with other people´s money, so the choice was obvious. Sometimes if a good promo to earn double miles comes up, I might pay a little extra. I´m quite happy that KLM is offering great fares from Finland and don´t cry for the miles lost. Surcharges make using them almost useless.
![changes on 4/1/09: Who is leaving and when [merged]](/forum/iconimages/flying-blue-air-france-klm/changes-4-1-09-who-leaving-when-merged_ltr.gif)
au revoir Flying Blue...
