franklinsternberg

Sirs,
As a Brazilian & Dutch citizen, living in Brazil and as a regular user of TAM Brazilian airlines, I would appreciate that you could advise your customers about the terrible service TAM offers to their most valuable customers – the Fidelidade Red clients (top category). Fidelidade is TAM loyalty programme.
I always have to “fight” to have my miles credited into my account, and apart of sending all the documents of the flight, I can only manage to have the miles credited into my account by suing the airline in court.
Besides the terrible ground service, mainly in Sao Paulo airport (GRU) with uneducated, unqualified and not trained personnel, I am addressing to you to warn all your loyal passengers to avoid your new Star Alliance member. TAM has no structure, no infrastructure and is not prepared to be part of a global alliance.
I was a former Varig Diamond client, I do know very well the Star Alliance programme and structure. I have flown over 3 million miles with Varig, and I do regret every day the passing away of a truly international carrier as Varig was. TAM cannot even reach the very top bottom of Varig.
So, if your customers want and deserve a true service up to Star Alliance standards, please warn and advise them that their miles will not be credited into their accounts and that the service is beyond standards, expectations and above all, courtesy.
Many thanks,
Franklin Sternberg
Porto Alegre – Brazil
Mobile: (55)(51) 9123-9361
Red Fidelidade 0003016392

hardiwv

Oh dear...it seems you share the same experience I have as a regular Platinum flyer of KLM...I am just fighting to get my recent trip uploaded on my account without success, if only the Dutch courts were as fast as the Brazilian (small cases). Since you are half Dutch, pls ask KLM to put some Portuguese speaking crew on its flight to Sao Paulo as the flight seems complete chaos as normally KL has no Portuguese speaking crew to Sao Paulo although 50% load is Brazilian pax... I will not even mention the extremely rude KL ground staff at Schiphol...

Rgs,

AAEXP

I agree and I have stated this in another forum before: There is a big problem getting miles/points credit to the TAM Fidelidade program. Not only to other FF programs, but even to Fidelidade itself. I have several colleagues with the same problem. It is almost getting to the point of consumer fraud. Whatever IT people TAM employs to make their point credit work should be fired. I am considering a complaint to ANAC.

jbcarioca

We all agree, it seems. I have had farily good experience having my TAM miles credited to another *A program, but credit to Fidelidade has been a constant battle, not that it mattered much anyway since the miles expire after 18 months anyway. I, too, flew millions on the old Varig, but the old Varig had a few issues also. I keep hoping TAM will fix the ground service issues, but that hope is probably futile.

qfrodo

I've often had difficulty getting the credit appropriately applied as well. Although I will say that since TAM joined *A, if I want credit on UA's MP, it has gone quite smoothly. It is when I want to credit it to Fidelidade that the difficulties arise. Don't know if the Black level would be an improvement over the Red, but I won't ever find out.

AAEXP

So it looks like there is a BIG problem here and I hope someone from TAM is seeing this thread. Perhaps we should get a news reporter on this. TAM never does anything without a complaint. Can´t wait for LAN to get order in this mess.

jbcarioca

AAEXP often has good ideas. Anybody know a proper reporter? Their press hasn't been too stellar lately anyway but I wonder if anybody will care what a gang of 'front-of-the'cabin' types like us think? Anyway, what makes the optimism that LAN will do anything to fix TAM? I hope it's true but doubt they'll waste too much effort on it until they can actually have control, if that ever happens.

qfrodo

Would be surprised if they even know about Flyertalk.

hardiwv

LAN? Are you joking? All my flights with CX have been a struggle to get credited on LANPASS to the point that I have abandoned it altogether.

What I can share is that AF/KL Flying Blue is no easy ride regarding crediting miles, although G3 miles now always get credited in 3 working days. But sometimes KL miles do not credit and AZ flights never credit (this means very time consuming process i.e. sending letters with documentation attached... and you can hope your miles will be credited after 12 weeks or so...).

Rgs,

AAEXP

So, what you are implying is that it will only get worse, right? So much more reason for some action to be taken.

I do appreciate your posts on this and other airline forums, but I have a hard time understanding why you are trying to defend the blatant problems with miles postings in the Fidelidade program by pointing out problems with other programs. Benchmarking down is hardly a good thing

pb9997

Brazilian based sites and some reporters have kept on complaining of these TAM issues; Because they have been going on for so long one can easily assume it is just Standard Operating Procedures.

Adding these miles not posting issue to the Black 150k no additional perk level TAM has recently developed it becomes clear that TAM has somehow lost their strategy on what loyalty is.

But then TAM is known to be harsh on letting their most valued customers redeem miles on their flights to the US/Europe and, because they are very customer oriented, TAM decided to allow passengers to redeem miles on flights, any Tuesday/Wednesday without any capacity controls in place for the low cost of 200k/coach up to 680k/first - Additional miles required between Brazil and Europe.

TAM - You can fly any day, as long as it is Tuesday/Wednesday for additional miles - no capacity controls

So... does anyone really believe this Program to be a serious one ?!

PS - TAM being now associated with LAN is not so good news - LAN ground service is known to be far from excellent and LAN programme is harsh, requiring additional miles between business class on narrow or wide body aircrafts; no one way awards and so on.

joia

I have been a Black member for a few months and the best benefits are not on their website actually...but I agree with the others that it is not a sensible new offer. And the program as a whole is going down the drain...

Seat 1F

I lived in South America from 2002 to 2007 and have continued to travel there from the US since 2007. I am a member of LanPass and Fidelidade although now I usually use AA and CO to gather my miles from respective LA and JJ flights.

Anyway, in my experience, Tam Fidelidade sucks. Mileage expires after a period of time (18 months) and frankly I never managed to use the points I had accumulated. Complete waste of time IMO. As a US resident now, I would never think of applying TAM flights to Fidelidade now. They all go into CO Onepass.

LANPASS, whilst not perfect, is streets ahead of TAM Fidelidade in terms of being customer/user friendly. From the US, I actually redeemed points for 2 x J class tickets from MIA to EZE one year ago doing the entire transaction online. Never had to speak with a single person. Try doing that with Fidelidade.

I truly hope LAN is the controlling partner in the JJ/LA merger and they teach Tam a thing or two about managing a frequent flyer program,

jbcarioca

That is why some of us use other *A and OW programs for these two airlines rather than their mown poor substitutes.

rathin100

How does one retain gold? Calendar year or what? website silent!