Have had an email update from klm telling me that they are still looking into this and will get back to me.

arrghhh !!!

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dog food...whoops I mean snack

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Virtual Airline Management Group

*a QF here and an IB there, here a AA, there a BA, everywhere a ....?

Have been following this up as a result of my recent visit to Endeavour House - some "new to me" names have now become involved, and hopefully await a quick written response.

FYI - Andrea Schmittman is NOT KLM staff.

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dog food...whoops I mean snack

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Virtual Airline Management Group

*a QF here and an IB there, here a AA, there a BA, everywhere a ....?

You got an invite ?

The FD Helpdesk will not provide availabilty information on CO upgrade awards but they definitely state that this type of award is available on request.

CO flights on VS metal are specifically included in the list of available flights.

I am considering such a request at present.

Darren

I would be most interested in the results of this.

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dog food...whoops I mean snack

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Virtual Airline Management Group

*a QF here and an IB there, here a AA, there a BA, everywhere a ....?

I have an official answer to this :

In written form via email :
============================================
the FD-policy is no accrual & redemption on CO-flights operated by a non-KL partner.

Could you pls provide a list of CO-flights which are operated by Virgin.

So we can correct our brochure and give the correct information to our members.

Best regards
Edu Peek

Senior Manager Airline Alliances Loyalty Management (AMS/ME)
==========================================

This email also carries other comments and names of other KLM/CO staff. I do not like the answer, but this does look pretty definite.

[This message has been edited by Cris L (edited 06-25-2002).]

Have they considered asking CO, their code-sharing partner?

On the other hand, it might be a good idea if it was left to FD members to correct the brochure!

johan

Johan

The email I received was also sent to a number of people, including someone @ CO. I believe that that request to list the CO flights was to ensure that ALL parties contributed to the corrections...

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dog food...whoops I mean snack

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Virtual Airline Management Group

*a QF here and an IB there, here a AA, there a BA, everywhere a ....?

I am getting absolutely no response from the FD Helpdesk on my request.

Cris, given your quote from KLM I think I will book my paid ticket on CO metal to stand a better chance of getting an award upgrade.

I am disgusted at the complacent attitude of KLM staffers to legitimate requests for information. They frequently either ignore you completely or provide misleading information.

My business is going elsewhere once I have used up my current mileage.

KLM FD helpdesk call agents are NOT KLM staff. They are employees of Cygnific who contract with KLM to provide call centre services.

FYI - Cygnific is a KLM group company, but it remains that they are NOT KLM staff

True, but so what? Whether the call agents are employed by KLM or by a company 100% owned by KLM is completely irrelevant from the passenger's /FD member's perspective.

All we want is prompt and correct answers to our queries. Not an unreasonable thing to expect, in my opinion.

From Cycnifics website :

"What About Our Staff?

We genuinely believe that our staff are our greatest asset. We have invested heavily in training and development and are satisfied that this investment has paid off. Our dedicated in-house Training Department constantly reviews processes and procedures in order to maintain our drive for continuous improvements to our service delivery.

Staff welfare is of paramount importance and we ensure that regular staff forums and communications meetings are held. Our working conditions are industry-leading and are designed to be as stress-free as possible.

Finally, we pride ourselves on our creativity when it comes to staff social events as we believe a happy workforce is a productive one."

Check out their website http://www.cygnific.com/ .
They have vacancies for "Customer Care Representatives on the Flying Dutchman department" Any takers? Ralf? Kurz?

They are also advertising for a Flying Dutchman Supervisor ( http://www.cygnific.com/Jobs/ad_supervisor_FD.htm )

By the way, and in all fairness, I must add that they do also employ competent and helpful staff. I know of one to whom I personally address my queries, which have always been resolved promptly and correctly in a courteous manner.

johan

Cris, thanks for the update.

And Darryl, you cann't use FD points to upgrade a CO flight.

KLM have just given me some generous bonus points for my tenacity in bringing this to their attention and getting this clarified...

Now just waiting for the new updated booklet/website !

Very funny! You should have hit 'reply', given a flight number from Houston to Milwaukee (or something equally useless), stated firmly that it is the only one, and signed with an official-sounding title (Chief Codeshare Management Officer or something).

From the FD website

<< Earning possibilities

You can earn and spend points on all scheduled flights operated by Continental Airlines.>>

That explains that then

Nigel