Further changes: Origin and destination pricing as of June 2018
Mar 11, 2018, 10:29 am
#1
Moderator: Flying Blue (Air France & KLM)
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Rotterdam, NL
Programs: Flying Blue (AF/KL)
Posts: 4,711
Further changes: Origin and destination pricing as of June 2018
Introduction
Further to the earning schedule as per 1 April 2018, the number of miles required will also change for tickets booked after 1 June 2018, as FB will be moving to dynamic pricing. More information will be available on the Flying Blue website as from 10 AM (CET) on Monday 12 March. This is post is to give a recap of the changes.
Should you have any changes to make, please update the Wiki as more information is made available.
Best,
JOUY31 & Gajan
Change 1: Every ticket can be booked using miles
All revenue tickets will be available for purchase with award miles. There is a link between fare in cash and the number of miles required, but this can change as the ticket price increases (i.e. the conversion rate is not fixed).
Please note that by moving to the new system, there should be no difference in the award availability.
Change 2: Destination dependent
As of 1 June 2018, Flying Blue will move to origin & destination pricing. This means that the current zones will be abolished.
This means that you will see a difference compared to the current pricing depending on your destination within the current zone. In general, the following applies:
- East coast USA: decrease compared to current pricing;
- West coast USA: increase compared to current pricing;
- Asia: decrease compared to current pricing;
- Africa: depending on destination;
- South-America: depending on destination.
Furthermore, due to O/D pricing per cabin, it is also possible that the number of miles for an Economy ticket could increase and the number of miles for a Business ticket could decrease (e.g. Paramaribo).
Change 3: Changes per class of travel
Depending on your class of travel you can see the following differences in the number of miles required (for departure from Amsterdam and Paris):
- Economy: an increase/decrease of 4,000 miles;
- Premium Economy: an increase/decrease of 8,000 miles;
- Business: an increase/decrease of 10,000 miles;
- La Premiere: no changes.
For connecting long-haul flights (e.g. SIN-AMS-JFK) it is likely that this will see a decrease in the number of miles required.
Change 4: no more Flex awards
As all revenue tickets can now be booked as award tickets, there will no longer be Flex awards.
Change 5: Reduction of miles required for certain European flights
As of 1 June 2018, the number of miles required for certain European destinations has been reduced from 8,500 miles to 6,000 miles.
Change 6: Cash and miles option
As of 1 June 2018 you have the option to pay up to 25% of ticket in Cash for a reward ticket.
Further to the earning schedule as per 1 April 2018, the number of miles required will also change for tickets booked after 1 June 2018, as FB will be moving to dynamic pricing. More information will be available on the Flying Blue website as from 10 AM (CET) on Monday 12 March. This is post is to give a recap of the changes.
Should you have any changes to make, please update the Wiki as more information is made available.
Best,
JOUY31 & Gajan
Change 1: Every ticket can be booked using miles
All revenue tickets will be available for purchase with award miles. There is a link between fare in cash and the number of miles required, but this can change as the ticket price increases (i.e. the conversion rate is not fixed).
Please note that by moving to the new system, there should be no difference in the award availability.
Change 2: Destination dependent
As of 1 June 2018, Flying Blue will move to origin & destination pricing. This means that the current zones will be abolished.
This means that you will see a difference compared to the current pricing depending on your destination within the current zone. In general, the following applies:
- East coast USA: decrease compared to current pricing;
- West coast USA: increase compared to current pricing;
- Asia: decrease compared to current pricing;
- Africa: depending on destination;
- South-America: depending on destination.
Furthermore, due to O/D pricing per cabin, it is also possible that the number of miles for an Economy ticket could increase and the number of miles for a Business ticket could decrease (e.g. Paramaribo).
Change 3: Changes per class of travel
Depending on your class of travel you can see the following differences in the number of miles required (for departure from Amsterdam and Paris):
- Economy: an increase/decrease of 4,000 miles;
- Premium Economy: an increase/decrease of 8,000 miles;
- Business: an increase/decrease of 10,000 miles;
- La Premiere: no changes.
For connecting long-haul flights (e.g. SIN-AMS-JFK) it is likely that this will see a decrease in the number of miles required.
Change 4: no more Flex awards
As all revenue tickets can now be booked as award tickets, there will no longer be Flex awards.
Change 5: Reduction of miles required for certain European flights
As of 1 June 2018, the number of miles required for certain European destinations has been reduced from 8,500 miles to 6,000 miles.
Change 6: Cash and miles option
As of 1 June 2018 you have the option to pay up to 25% of ticket in Cash for a reward ticket.
Last edited by Gajan; Mar 12, 2018 at 6:54 am Reason: Add information, amend Q6
Mar 12, 2018, 3:38 am
#2
Moderator: Flying Blue (Air France & KLM)
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Rotterdam, NL
Programs: Flying Blue (AF/KL)
Posts: 4,711
And a good article by Ralph, see link (https://insideflyer.nl/nieuwe-award-...n-flying-blue/)
Mar 12, 2018, 4:13 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Hong Kong, France
Programs: FB , BA Gold
Posts: 15,556
An interesting change seems to be "change 6".
Will it be a la BAEC where awards can be paid in part with cash? If so, it seems strange that you could "pay" up to only 25% in miles, and therefore 75% in cash. This will be more like a straight purchase with a sprinkle of miles.
I find this option cash+miles quite attractive, especially when you have a smallish amount of miles with no opportunity to use them.
Will it be a la BAEC where awards can be paid in part with cash? If so, it seems strange that you could "pay" up to only 25% in miles, and therefore 75% in cash. This will be more like a straight purchase with a sprinkle of miles.
I find this option cash+miles quite attractive, especially when you have a smallish amount of miles with no opportunity to use them.
Mar 12, 2018, 4:16 am
#4
Join Date: May 2010
Programs: Delta Silver, HH Gold, Accor Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 5,340
And a good article by Ralph, see link (https://insideflyer.nl/nieuwe-award-...n-flying-blue/)
Mar 12, 2018, 4:17 am
#5
Join Date: May 2010
Programs: Delta Silver, HH Gold, Accor Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 5,340
An interesting change seems to be "change 6".
Will it be a la BAEC where awards can be paid in part with cash? If so, it seems strange that you could "pay" up to only 25% in miles, and therefore 75% in cash. This will be more like a straight purchase with a sprinkle of miles.
I find this option cash+miles quite attractive, especially when you have a smallish amount of miles with no opportunity to use them.
Will it be a la BAEC where awards can be paid in part with cash? If so, it seems strange that you could "pay" up to only 25% in miles, and therefore 75% in cash. This will be more like a straight purchase with a sprinkle of miles.
I find this option cash+miles quite attractive, especially when you have a smallish amount of miles with no opportunity to use them.
Mar 12, 2018, 5:15 am
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold
Posts: 28,729
Is it that the "normal" mileage booking will continue, unchanged, while this "dynamic pricing" is built on top (so that once "normal" award seats are gone, you can consider paying more for the "dynamic" pricing?
Mar 12, 2018, 6:55 am
#8
Moderator: Flying Blue (Air France & KLM)
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Rotterdam, NL
Programs: Flying Blue (AF/KL)
Posts: 4,711
Mar 12, 2018, 7:04 am
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Paris, France
Programs: AF/KL Flying Blue Platinum for life/Club2000 Ultimate, Accor ALL Diamond
Posts: 21,922
It doesn't look too bad but what worries me is the part I have bolded in your post.
Mar 12, 2018, 7:32 am
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Montreux CH
Programs: FB Platinum, M&M FTL, BA Blue
Posts: 11,621
It’s all looks pretty bad to me. If the miles prices really reflect the cash prices for the same flight, then the whole program is destroyed. It will be like the Flybe one (Rewards4All, and look what happened to it). On the other hand, I stand by my earlier theory that business class miles prices could reduce, relative to economy.
Mar 12, 2018, 8:24 am
#11
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: 🇸🇬 🇭🇰 🇫🇷
Programs: Many
Posts: 4,749
Thanks KLflyerRalph for the article!
Looks pretty bad also to me: while some prices in miles seem to be attractive compared to the current scheme, they are the starting ones i.e. minimum! To be then compared with lowest X, R, V or N fares when it comes to long haul economy for instance (and Z for business). Meaning also we do not know (yet) the highest ones!
Also the fact the zones no longer exist will kill the opportunity to fly award tickets on the most expensive routes (ex-CDG or AMS comes to mind for instance).
DUS-JFK in J starts at 53,000 while CDG-JFK starts 57,500.
The pricing for CDG-SIN is weird: Y starts at 36,000, W is the double at 72,000
while J is only 90,000 i.e. 18,000 more than W and 5 times Y.
Looks pretty bad also to me: while some prices in miles seem to be attractive compared to the current scheme, they are the starting ones i.e. minimum! To be then compared with lowest X, R, V or N fares when it comes to long haul economy for instance (and Z for business). Meaning also we do not know (yet) the highest ones!
Also the fact the zones no longer exist will kill the opportunity to fly award tickets on the most expensive routes (ex-CDG or AMS comes to mind for instance).
DUS-JFK in J starts at 53,000 while CDG-JFK starts 57,500.
The pricing for CDG-SIN is weird: Y starts at 36,000, W is the double at 72,000
while J is only 90,000 i.e. 18,000 more than W and 5 times Y.
Last edited by bodory; Mar 12, 2018 at 8:41 am
Mar 12, 2018, 9:36 am
#13
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 19
Thanks KLflyerRalph for the article!
Looks pretty bad also to me: while some prices in miles seem to be attractive compared to the current scheme, they are the starting ones i.e. minimum! [...] Meaning also we do not know (yet) the highest ones!
Looks pretty bad also to me: while some prices in miles seem to be attractive compared to the current scheme, they are the starting ones i.e. minimum! [...] Meaning also we do not know (yet) the highest ones!
Even if the new quotation seems interesting they are well mentioned as a minimum by the calculator, let's see what will be the maximum and at which frequency we find the minimum.
Warm regards
Mar 12, 2018, 9:51 am
#14
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: HAG
Programs: Der 5* FTL
Posts: 8,047
Wonder how do typical money fares compare. It could be that W is relatively expensive on the market with a high comparative demand for W for whatever reason (travel policies of the big customers?)
