FB Silver and Gold benefits "evolving" from 28 March
 

According to the FB website, the following changes are happening later this month (28 March 2023):Explorer members:

• Enjoy a fixed 10% discount on your first extra bag

Silver members:

• Get complimentary seat options the day before departure (DBD), instead of a discounted fare.
• Enjoy a guaranteed 25% discount on lounge access up until the day before departure.

Gold members:

• Benefit from complimentary seat options 3 days before departure (DBD), instead of a discounted fare
• Economy Comfort cabin becomes free when requesting it 3 days before departure, instead of a discounted fare.

And other changes can be deducted from the FAQ:

• No more discount for lounge access unless you buy it 25h in advance;
• Gold members cannot bring their children in the lounge (it's mentioned as "As a Gold member, my children are no longer automatically allowed");
• "As an Elite Plus member", keeping the seat next to you free only guaranteed if you pay for it --> So they will probably soon announce this possibility, which someone already saw used and mentioned in "The Platinum Effect" thread;

It's interesting that they didn't announce yet any changes for Platinum, so we can probably expect an announcement soon? Especially as Comfort+ seats were free for Platinum members, now they will be free for everyone, so I'm not sure that simply allowing the free options to be chosen after booking qualifies as such a big benefit in comparison versus what was before. Plus that giving away the C+ seats and paid seats will probably mean they will be full most of the time, so an even less benefit for Platinum members.

Indeed. A few thoughts - a) on B738s usually there is only one row of EC initially, once they know the number of J pax more rows are made available for EC. That usually happens a few (3?!) days before the flight -> much more competition for these seats (btw they are not free for everyone, but Gold at 3 days in advance and Plat all the time only). b) chances that as a plat you will have a middle seat free will be lowered to 0, unless you pay for it.

So if there are no changes in the platinum benefits, I think the gold tier became suddenly way more attractive.

Indeed, the only differences would be the Platinum Service Line and the extra miles. 🤪 And a few other minor ones that can be situational (eg. children in the lounge, which is only useful when and if you travel with your children, if you have children etc.).

Blocking the seat next to you would have been a great benefit for Platinum, but only if offered for free. With these changes they are reducing the monetization of the paid seats for all elites (who would pay for a seat when they can get it for free later on, especially Gold members who have a 3 day window), but let’s hope they won’t monetize Platinum by asking to pay to block the seat next to you (as someone just did, as discussed on another thread).

So fingers crossed for real upgrades. :)

Link to source: https://www.flyingblue.us/en/news/new-benefit-models

While I'd hope for Platinum improvements too (Especially something regarding the new seat blocking mechanism); it would be a little odd to announce those separately? Absolutely a possibility but why would they not include those changes in the same update..

The only thing that we do know at this time is that everything announced in the linked article already applies to Platinum. So I would not estimate the chance of them not mentioning Platinum specifically at 0% simply because..nothing will change.

That is a high possibility. However it would be a sad one, as they already had a problem with the Gold/Platinum differentiation, now it will be virtually the same. A weird way to reward your most loyal flyers. 🤷‍♂️ However I remember there were some posts from a few months ago around here that were mentioning that FB is looking into improving the platinum and ultimate benefits?

EDIT: Here is the above-mentioned thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-...ue-2022-a.html

The seat selection benefits do bring AFKL in line with how DL does upgrades to Comfort+. I wonder if this means that the next step is extending the benefits on AFKL to DL elites and DL treating AFKL elites as DL elites with respect to Comfort+. DL upgrades AM elites as part of a reciprocity arrangement where DL elites are eligible for upgrades on AM.

Does it mean that Elites are no longer able to select regular seats free of charge?

And, there will no longer be an option to purchase a comfort seat for a reduced fee?

Wasn’t there a video a few months ago in which Ben Lipsey said that they are aware that the Platinum status isn’t distinct enough and that they are working on some new perks that they are not ready to announce.

Surely with these changes to Gold they must be planning to announce something for Platinum?

Nothing says this is changing so I would expect it to remain as-is.

It seems as if the discount is indeed gone, replaced with it being free 72 or 24 hours before departure. Meaning if you want to be *sure* of a good seat, esp. as Silver, you must now pay full price.

On short-haul flights, for Gold the seats become free at around the same time they're even made available at all so this shouldn't be too much of a problem but for long-haul flights with fixed comfort sections I don't know. Silver might find themselves out of luck a lot.

This is my fear, too. I've emailed Flying Blue this morning to ask for more clarity, will report back once I hear from them.

I fear they may be giving with one hand while taking away with the other. If nothing is free before the "3 day before departure" window opens, it's a massive devaluation of the programme and forces elites to pay in order to have some certainty regarding seating - just like non-elites! The opening up of Economy Comfort is a nice benefit for me as a Gold member, but I would want to be sure I have my regular "front section" seat confirmed at the time of booking just in case I can't get one of these spots 3 days before departure!

Maybe they'll finally be upgrading Platinum members to Business as a matter of routine if there is space available, like Delta do for STE/E+ (at least that's what DL often do for domestic flights, I was upgraded many times even as Flying Blue Silver!)

My partner has been Platinum for 4 years now and has only had 1 upgrade (on a short-haul flight) in this time.

Empty seat next to Plat pax was never a given, more of an unpublished perk that was actually a double-edge sword. While you would often end up with an empty seat, full cabin meant you'd often end up with your worst run-off-the-mill, last-minute neighbour.

Data point from 2h ago: 13h long haul in Y where the seat next to mine was empty until T-1h. My fellow PAX was obviously not a FF as he asked twice where he should sit; whether the paper he had in hand was a "boarding pass" or an "immigration form"; and whether there was a time difference between departure and destination cities.

I'd have no problem forking out real money for the guarantee of an empty adjacent seat in Y. Of course, that would have to be a firm offer, not a "empty seat unless we can monetise it more" offer, in which case it's basically moot.

Actually, even for short-haul, this offer would be perfect. When you are Plat, you already have lounge access and SkyP, so the J crackers/cold platter are the only real perk of flying J aside from the free adjacent seats. Make it a paid option, and you are basically offering short-haul J for a fraction of the price to Plat members :tu:. I'm pretty sure we can do without the sucré/salé for 2h.

Standard seats remain free for elite members, the only changes apply to the paid seat products

The news is that fees for paid seats are abolished as from T-72 (Gold)/T-24 (Silver).

I'm not sure how one arrives at the scenario. When they give you something that previously involved a fee for free, that doesn't mean that what was previously free now involves a fee?

You can pay up front, or wait until T-72 (Gold)/T-24 (Silver) when it's free.