Macaron54

A few years back, the Spiegel published an interesting article about how we perceive things, illustrating their point with concrete examples in our everyday life, e.g., what we think of the car that we own. While one customer would squawk about his car because after eight years of service he had to replace the windshield wipers (the nostalgia for car equipment built to last forever), another would praise his car because he only has to go to the dealership twice a year to get it maintained. It is all a matter of perception (and of expectation). Being accustomed to the plebeian conditions of long hauls, the additional attention, the possibility to get upgraded regularly with miles, the safety net of the Travel Assistant team, all by virtue of the Ultimate program, have clearly made my flying experience more pleasant. Conversely, anyone used to a more lavish service, either on the ground or in the air (or both), will, I suppose, have a different perception.

San Gottardo, while I do understand the point that you are trying to get across, I must also emphasize that, inasmuch as I am concerned, the level of stress associated to flying has diminished significantly since I became Ultimate. Although I do agree that the service is far from flawless, I must also acknowledge that my stress has been assuaged, as I rely on the Travel Assistant team to anticipate irregularities and find reasonable options to address them. Barring one very unfortunate circumstance, they never failed me. I have come to be content with the offer, even though every now and again I inveigh not so much against the program per se, but against how it is implemented at the different stages of my travels, from check-in to in-flight service. There is evidently ample room for improvement.

If I understand you correctly, the real stumbling block is whatever causes stress to the traveler. I wholeheartedly agree with you. I note, however, that irrespective of the efforts of the Ultimate program management to alleviate the stress induced by long waits at passport control and security check, or by the noisy environment of the lounge (or even by the class of service on board), these efforts can be thwarted hands down by external obstacles over which the airline has no leverage. For instance, it would be so easy to introduce a fast track at CDG 2G to expedite entry in the international zone, were the airport administration a tad more cooperative.

In stark contrast with KLM at AMS, AF has really improved the lounge experience for its Ultimate clients at CDG in recent months (especially at 2E/L and M). The private space, away from the rumble of the jungle, offers a quiet, stress-free environment, conducive to get some work done. It is admittedly not the P lounge, but accessing the latter has proven a lost battle, even though the number of Ultimates transiting daily through CDG is rather limited (over a year period, I only met two in total at the AF lounges, but my statistics is just as limited).

Still, I am confident that there is a machine-learning component in the process, and that the overall Ultimate experience will progressively correct itself towards more consistency and improved adaptation to the needs of the ultra-frequent-flier. It may just take longer than we anticipated.