Does anyone have experience of a FD status match?

I would guess thats a bit like asking if the pope is catholic. The only ones that seem to be still on here are people who got the free status at the expense of the real customers who bought it the hard way.

Big question really is to ask why would you want to join a scheme that is about as much use as an ashtray on motorbike

Answer - coz 2x C EDI-AMS-HKG return trips = Gold Elite status which I can then use to status match over to BMI and get membership of a decent scheme as = *A Gold status...

I hate KLM just now - phoned their FLying Dutchman helpdesk on Friday to check availability of an HKG-AMS upgrade, they said there was availability so I book a ticket online and call back. There's still availability but KLM haven't ticketed me so they can't upgrade. Call back tomorrow they say (there was only half an hour until the help desk closed)...

So I call back first thing in the morning and get told that I have now been ticketed but there is no upgrade availability. Thanks very much KLM. Ticket was US$250 more than BA so I only booked it for the upgrade.

When I complain the FD helpdesk say they won't be able to do anything about it as it is KLM that releases the tickets/upgrades. They then say that KLM customer services won't be able to help me as it is a FD matter.

I have sent off two stinking emails and am so angry I think it is best if they don't reply as that could tip me over the edge. Sorry - not very constructive but I can't afford therapy!

Because business travellers usually have to go where they�re sent and there are some places, like francophone Africa, where AF is the only alternative to some rather dodgy national carriers. Maybe KL & Bonaire falls into a similar category (my baggage has been there, but I have not).

The airlines want your bum on their seat. It doesn�t cost them anything more than a piece of gold or platinum plastic to give status to �collectors� who aren�t going to fly much. What they�re after is getting and keeping someone like you who has a record of putting in the flights& miles, someone who has earned status the hard way and who stays loyal because of the perks but doesn�t want to switch because they need / like the lounges, the waitlist priorities, the occasional upgrade, the (theoretical) boarding priority. So what if they catch a bunch of geeks from Anorexia, Nebraska and have to let them into the lounge once a year? As long as they win your future business, it�s worth it.

As for earning status the hard way, I now feel the same way about folk who earn & keep �elite� with 4 C class trips a year as opposed to footsloggers like me who had to do it the extremely hard way with 60+ intra European flights (+ because I was caught out by the n class swindle)

The only time when I fly KL/AF/Kenya airways these days