New XP rules Flying Blue?
 

Hi,

I said goodbye to KLM pre-pandemic due to Flying Blue miles becoming worthless for redemption. With my new job I travel quite a lot and since AMS is my homebase, I fly KLM a lot. I decided to go back to Flying Blue. With 50% more XP's I got my first 100 XP's easily and became Silver. Under the impression that with the next 80 XP's I would make Gold.

Today I was told I need ANOTHER 180 XP's to become Gold. Then when you are Gold, you need an addition 300 XP's to become Platinum. So in total to become Platinum in one year you don't need 300 XP's, but 580 XP's. Does that sound fair? Did I miss this news? Because I can't really find it anywhere?

The same counts for the fact that they quietly took Sky Priority off Silver boarding passes.

Kevin.

You are right, that is how it works.

Yes that's correct. But to maintain a status you have, you only need the number of XP for that status (so only 300XP each year to maintain Platinum)

Thankfully they did that, the SkyPriority queues are already huge as they are now...

This was always the case (as long as the XP system existed). From the moment you reach Silver, you have a year to either reach 100XP to requal, or 180XP to upgrade. Then again a year to reach 180XP to requal or 300XP to upgrade (to the end of the same month next year, so up to 395 days in theory)

So you don't need to earn 580XP in a year to reach Platinum, you can spend just over 3 years doing so.

Also, they did not quietly remove SkyPriority off Silver status, because SkyPriority has not been a benefit of Silver status. FB Silver passengers do take advantage of some benefits including in AMS the priority checkin zone IIRC and boarding in zone 2 or 3, but not for the whole bundle.
You might be remembering having SkyPriority as Silver previously; that could be because SkyPriority is a feature of Economy Flex tickets.

This is a thing since after you go up a level, your qualification period resets. So after getting Silver it's like you started a new year and you have a full year to get to Gold (or maintain it).

Yes, but as I thought I was going to reach Platinum in one year it is 580 XP's for the first year ;)

They did remove some of the SkyPriority perks that were for Silver members on some locations, especially Silver. You no longer get PRIORITY baggage, just allowed to bring your bag to a Priority/Business Class check-in. Also priority boarding zone went from 2 -> 3. Which basically means on European flights you don't get any priority over general economy.

yes this is something I read somewhere last year. That they would align the validity of status with the qualification period. On the FB website though it still states that FB's from before 2018 have their year run from January to December. But as soon as you reach a new level, you are automatically transferred to the new rules which is that your new qualification period starts from the earning date of the new status.

Since I was all new to this I felt it's really a step back. All your travel from 1 year counted for all status and now all my travel from the first quarter is somewhat 'lost' on my ability to reach Gold quick. But the only real upside is lounge access and with Priority Pass and the much quieter Privium I'm all set.

Thanks for all these answers!

Then if you were going to reach Platinum within 2 months then you have to earn 580XP in two months?

No, that is simply incorrect.
To reach Platinum, you have to reach 580XP within three years, with a given minimum total accumulated.
i.e. you have to reach 100XP within the first year, then 280XP within the first and second year (because everything over 100XP is carried over), then 580XP within the first three years (because everything over 180XP on Gold is carried over).


The same was the case when I was silver some 4 odd years ago.

FB members from before the new system have the year aligned to calendar, new members have the year aligned either from registering or first earning, not sure.

The downside of the new system is that reaching status from 0 is more difficult. The upside of the new system is that if you start at any point other than beginning of the year, you don't have to worry about resetting all your progress come December. And that anything you earn over the qualification threshold is kept.

It's a step back in one specific situation, namely that where you are at the base level and gain enough points to get to a level above the next within one year. I.e. in the old system if you flew 30 (iirc?) segments in one year you'd get to gold immediately, rather than having to do the 15 for silver and then 30 for gold.

But in every other respect the XP system is better for many (myself included) because it combines segment-based qualification with miles-based qualification into one. That is, it is easier to qualify now if one flies a reasonable number of intra-EU flights every year combined with one or two long-haul flights, possibly in premium classes. In the old system, the long haul flights would not help one qualify on segments any more than a flight from AMS to BRU would, while conversely your short-haul flights earned almost no miles so your long haul flights weren't enough for qualifying on miles. The XP system fixes that because those long-haul flights earn more XP which is now the only number that counts.

Not being able to skip levels within a year is a reasonable compromise for me.

TBH the change from miles/segments to XP is one of the few positive changes FB has made in the past few years. We on this forum were afraid, before that happened, that the system would become directly revenue-based in the same way that DL SkyMiles is, requiring a hard minimum spend using Medallion Qualifying Bucks along with segments or miles.

You sound so sure, but it is correct! In the old days if I would travel a lot from January to December I could jump from Ivory -> Silver -> Gold -> Platinum. So let's say you reached Platinum in October of that year, you would have that status until the next year and then 3 months the year after that. So it is a hugh downgrade! Period.

Silver used to come with more perks before. I even got this confirmation from KLM staff in AMS, last time I asked why my bag wasn't priority.

Lets agree to disagree.

"if you want to reach Platinum within one year, you have to earn 580XP" is exactly as much true as saying "if you want to reach Platinum within one month, you have to earn 580XP" which is, true if you are specifically talking about that time period and that time period only, but it implies that you have to reach 580XP within that time period, which is not true.

In the old days if you travelled a lot from October to March, your progress would be deleted midway, so the new system is an upgrade! Period.

Old and new systems follow a different logic. As Fabo.sk and CyBeR have pointed out, there are certain circumstances and patterns of flying under which operating to old rules would have been better and others where it would have been worse. One cannot generalise on the basis of one's own specific circumstances.

As others said , what is good for you might not be good for others .

I like the fact that i can influence my qualification year , which now doesnt finish on december 31st and then avoid me rushing to fly in december just to keep status while tickets are super expensive , but not everytbody thinks or see the same

Its a general trend for FFPs to evolve , every few years each come with new rules , some good but a lot are from "kind of ok" to "very bad for consumers"

If you talk about silver having skypriority , i guess your main point is about tags on boarding pass and luggages , then you were probably away from FB for a few years , like 6 or 8 at least

Come back in 2028 or 2030 and you will see FB wont be the same as today

It is a way to make it harder to reach quickly by just flying lot of cheap short flights . But it makes it easier to reach it if you fly long haul flights in premium economy or business class

No more mileages run but XP runs , which removes headaches about booking codes with AFKL and to a lesser extent with other airlines (as it affect only amount of miles you will get)

I've read a few good arguments about the change also being positive for many. I think I've missed the information back then and was now kind of surprised that I need to do a lot more flying, before I'm actually getting some real value out of it. I do mostly short hops within the EU, so I'm a loooooong way from Platinum. But I can see the point that after reaching a certain level, you would have another year to keep it. Instead of just a few months.

FB Silvers did have SkyPriority until this perk was removed in 2015: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-...fb-silver.html