Flying Blue Removes Stopovers on Awards
Caroline Lupini August 21, 2017
Flying Blue is one of my favorite airline programs for a couple of different reasons including that they are a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, and Chase Ultimate Rewards and also because of their amazing Promo Awards where they offer up to 50% off economy and business class redemptions when flying to/from specific city pairs from time to time.
Unfortunately, they have just made a pretty major program devaluation. Stopovers, one of my favorite ways to see an additional city on a trip for no extra cost, are no longer allowed.
Apparently, the announcement was made in the last quarterly statement to Flying Blue members, but no one has seen evidence of this as far as I have been able to determine.
On the Flying Blue website, the Classic Award section now reads:
“Possible to combine several flights and airline partners on the same ticket provided that the transfer time between the flights is shorter than 24 hours.”
Basically meaning that stopovers are no longer allowed.
The good news is that Flying Blue does still offer great value for certain awards and incredible flexibility considering all of the bank points that can be transferred into the program, but it is unfortunately that stopovers are no longer allowed AND that the devaluation was yet another example of a no-notice devaluation from airline programs.
HT: Award Travel 101
