Victor88

Will be travelling to Riga on a regular basis in the near future and the convenience of a nonstop from Amsterdam with Air Baltic (as opposed to Prague or Frankfurt stopovers with CZ and LH respectively) is appealing from a time perspective.

However I have not flown with Air Baltic before. How does their FF program Baltic Miles compare with SkyTeam or Star Alliance? Are there possibilities to match status with other alliances? What about lounges and other benefits? I know to not expect much by way of service onboard, since there is much nickel and diming, but is it otherwise a pleasant experience?

Appreciate any feedback!

tsastor

There is a lot of information about BalticMiles in the SAS forum.

Their FF program was bad from the start and is getting worse ... Initially they matched status from SAS EB but I don't think they do it anymore.

You can read about lounge and other benefits here:
http://www.airbaltic.com/public/43716.html

On board everything is quite ok.

Toli

... but schedule changes and cancellations are very frequent. An unreliable and customer-hostile airline IME.

renalt130

Their frequent flier program is probably the worst I've ever encountered. I've been trying to get credit for a flight from Riga to Istanbul and several "retro requests" and emails have been ignored.

They just don't seem quite professional to me. They're able to make it look like they know what they're doing, but it's all on the surface.

I hate to generalize but that's kind of how I felt in Latvia in general, "yeah, we know we're kind of Scandinavian now, but we've got our Soviet ways and don't you forget them, so please wait until we're ready to serve you". And in the meantime we'll be surly and unpleasant.

I have to say though that the Air Baltic Non-Schengen lounge at Riga was the exception, very nice staff.

Gabi kool

@renalt and Victor88. Please drop me a direct email at [email protected] and I will ensure proper follow is given to your questions or concerns.

I have joined Baltic Miles this week as the new CEO and I look forward to receive direct feedback from the FT community on the program, partner additions, promotions or any other suggestions to build and improve the program.

Best regards, Gabi Kool
CEO Baltic Miles

tsastor

FYI, it seems that airBaltic is again matching status in some cases...
^

renalt130

Thank you, I appreciate your help. The miles have now posted.

jms_uk

Do you know from what program[s]/alliance[s]?

tsastor

My information is that they have set an "internal policy" regarding status matches. Unfortunately I have no specific knowledge about the details other than that it exists. Gabi Kool seems to be the semi-official/official lurker, why not send him a PM.

jms_uk

Thank you for your response. Getting in touch with Gabi was to be my next step.

Carolinian

Air Baltic seems to be in trouble. They have been cancelling loads of flights lately, including some that were sold out. The company apparently has substantial debts including to the Riga airport, and there is a huge fight underway between the Latvian government that owns a bit over a majority of the stock and a private investor which owns the remainder and is managing the airline. The investor is demanding the government kick in more money, and many suspect the rampant flight cancellations are an attempt to force them to provide it. My employers travel office responded by no longer booking on Air Baltic until things get back to normal, if they ever do.

The substantial government ownership in Air Baltic probably precludes something like Lithuanian Airlines sudden collapse a year or two ago. In that case, the privatized owners stripped the airline of assets, transferring its aircraft to a new corporation, ran up debts, and then bankrupted the carcass. But then again, who knows?

Carolinian

Update: from a message from our travel office, Air Baltic has now cancelled 723 flights in October and 726 flights in November, and temporary let half of their staff go.

maarisk

Today's information about airBaltic from Latvian press - they have initiated in the court process in order to save themselves from creditors so obviously they have solvency problems. Also it is said that there are rumors to cancel tomorrow's flights (not known which will be cancelled yet).

tsastor

D@mn! Seems too risky to book my next flight with them. I think that the Latvian government will probably attempt to save the airline, but who knows what kind of airline will then emerge and where they will fly.

Here is the press release: http://www.airbaltic.com/public/47243.html.

The CEO, however, is not surprisingly accusing the Latvian government:

SPBanker

Looks like Flick is out, perhaps the Latvian government government will now re-capitalize AirBaltic...

http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/transport/?doc=46511

Recess called in airBaltic shareholders meeting; Flick must step down

A recess has been called in the National airline airBaltic shareholders meeting today. The meeting will continue after the shareholders – the state of Latvia and Baltijas aviacijas sistemas (BAS) – sign agreement on the conditions for increasing the airline's share capital. This could happen in the next few days, as state representative, Transport Ministry's State Secretary Anrijs Matiss, and BAS representative Inga Piterniece told reporters.

....