fredo1664

I am considering doing a XP run with Air Europa ORY-MAD-LIS in Business class, to earn 60 XP with Flying Blue. However I read that Business Class "O" does not qualify for earning XP. When I try and book the flight on Air Europa's website, I see discounted business tickets at a price of 425 euro or so for a return trip, but nowhere does it say if it's in "O" or "J".
I am guessing these discounted tickets are in "O" and therefore won't earn any XP ?

vinnyc

Hi fredo1664:
I tried to make a dummy reservation as well and indeed it doesn't look like Air Europa displays the fare letter anywhere (sometimes, it is buried in the fare conditions like for AF). Since you cannot select the fare class to purchase, you can either:

• give a call and make the reservation on the phone, and argue that because you cannot complete your reservation online, they should waive the 12EUR phone booking fee. This technique usually works but I am not familiar with Air Europa, so I am not sure this will play with the agent. Considering however that you are paying a business class ticket, I suspect the agent might show you some goodwill.
• proceed with the booking, but use the option "Pay Later". That way, you will have a Record Locator and you can then call the agent on the phone to confirm this is not an "O" fare, and if it is, ask the agent to change the immediately above fare class and pay/issue the ticket directly on the phone.

Keep us updated on how this goes!
Cheers
vinnyc

glennhaak

Or just enter all the details of the booking into ITA Matrix which will show the farebucket, if the prices match up you can be fairly sure that it's this farebucket. There are ways to force ITA Matrix in showing higher farebucket which are eligible for earning by using the following command in the advanced controls: F bc=X where X is the desired farebucket (Business Class – J, C, D, I: 100% source: https://www.flyingblue.nl/nl/partner...a/presentation)

Then use powertools or bookwithmatrix to book the flights.

Concerto

Absolutely right, O-class won't earn a mile or an XP in FB. Only program it earns in is AirEuropa's own SUMA. The call center agents seem to be really nice IME and I'm sure they'll accommodate you.

offvoice

Trying to generate (what I assume to be) the same flight on an OTA did mention booking class as I inbound (earning), O outbound (non earning) (link here). But price is 650. The 400-something (like here) seems to be restricted to O.

As mentioned, best way to make sure is to call them, but rule of thumb when Air Europa is aggressive, it's always O. Paid less than 1000 for a week-end in NYC from Paris a few months ago, in their new A330 J-seats, a good deal for Lie-flat TATL. But no miles nor XP.

Xandrios

..the same applies the other way around too. Business class AF flights in O do earn in flying blue, but not in other FFPs.

fredo1664

Thanks all!
It seems too good to be true so I expect it is...
I'll try and give them a call later this week, see how much it would cost to *not* fly in "O". I'll post here if I get an answer.

Concerto

Do, because I remember it wasn't hugely expensive to upgrade to the next class, maybe 20 or 30 Euros. It was the change fee that hammered me.

glennhaak

It does in the Delta SkyMiles Program https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...-partners.html

off-topic: ouwe tweakert

fredo1664

I just spoke on the phone with Air Europa.
Indeed the 465 euros return ticket I saw online does not earn any XP/miles with Flying Blue.
They gave me a price of 760 euros for a return that does.
I don't feel like it's very good value (?)

offvoice

Not, not really a good value, AF offers direct flights in J for 355 from Paris (where I assume you're based) to Madrid and several other EU countries. So enjoy two week-ends for the same price and get the same number of XP .

XP/Mileage run are complicated ex-CDG or AMS, but if you're really looking, maybe consider flying from somewhere in Germany, through CDG or AMS. This won't be on Air Europa though, but check other threads "Best routes" where you can find some options. Last one I did was FRA-CDG-ZRH-CDG-FRA in J for EUR 450 (adding a Y flight CDG-FRA-CDG for 99 EUR), that's EUR 7.85/XP (60XP+10XP), worth for me as I was missing this to keep Platinum an additional year (aiming at Plat for life) and could do it over 2 days. I know Alitalia can sometime offer good deals worth checking. Another option is flying out of LHR, since Eurostar offers dirt-cheap fares for week-ends if booked in advance (I saw round-trips for as little as EUR 78).

Concerto

It's not easy to find mileage runs or worthy XP itineraries on AirEuropa. One of the issues is, due to the location of MAD, most logical connections are to domestic Spain or the islands. I did once manage to find FRA-MAD-LPA-TFN and vv for just over €500. But that one would now yield only 46 XPs, despite the distance. That's over €10 per XP. LPA-TFN was in Y-class.

InsomniaBA

Hi, flying this airline in J to Tenerife soon.
The MAD-TNF and TNF-MAD legs of my flight are marked as (Op. by PRIVILEGE) on a 789 and 787.

As I found Privilege has no dreamliners, will this be in Air Europa planes with Privilege crew, I'm slightly confused.

offvoice

That is interesting as Air Europa doesn’t operate 789 or 787 to TFN (usually 738). They do mention they could operate it one in a while to this destination here. That’s an old article though, but my guess would be it’ll be UX metal. Could be that Privilege is leasing crew for coach service (could make sense if all coach is booked by a tour-operator for instance).

swaigiux

Actually I've flown on a 787 with them both to TFN and LPA quite a few times about 2 years ago, but more recently it's usually A330, even though when purchasing it says a 787. They do have 1 or 2 flights per day on a widebody on most days