FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,502
A few additional points.
(1) some benefits will relate to the metal you fly and not the marketing airline. So extra bags will be valid on a KLM-operated flight regardless of whether you bought the flight as KL coded or AZ coded. By contrast, if you book a KL-coded AZ-operated flight, you will get the same benefits as if you booked it as AZ coded and operated.
(2) Most benefits available on AZ are available to their own elite and other ST E+ members alike. The main exception (apart from complimentary upgrades) is to do with access to preferred seating such as exit rows on the A321. Those are only free for the AZ elite plus people and not for us.