antkalaitzakis

Hi everyone,
I am a Flying Blue (Skyteam) Platinum member with KLM/Air France and I am based in AMS.

Recently I applied for a status match with TK and got approved for the Miles&Smiles Elite level.
I travel a fair amount annually, but not as much that would allow me to keep both my Skyteam and Star alliance status.

I have flown in Business class in both KLM (post-Covid) and TK (pre-COVID/2019) and tbh I did enjoy both, TK maybe a bit more as the catering was miles ahead.

I don't know about TK, but KLM is a hot mess right now.

How is TK? Is the TK service closer to what it was before covid? I had some bad experiences during covid (denied boarding, delayed luggage, incorrect compensation) which put me off from flying with them again.

As I am based in Amsterdam, I will only fly TK for my long-haul trips.
If I fly within the EU with other Star Alliance members, will I receive status miles in TK (e.g. If I fly in a Lufthansa Economy Light ticket)?

Are there any additional benefits to having status with TK? For example, extra care by the crew during the flight, business class upgrades, better customer support, etc.?

What would you guys think it's wiser to do? Would you recommend TK? Should I focus on TK and Star alliance, or keep my Skyteam status?

Thanks, everyone!

Hafnia

I�m Eurobonus Lifetime Gold and AF Plat, and I also had a Miles Smiles statusmatch approved (Elite = Gold). I believe Ive done approx 10 legs on TK since the status match (international short haul flights), and so far I didnt experience any special attention (no upgrades etc). Appart from the free access to standard seats in eco and better earnings if crediting to MS, I don�t see additional benefits of being Elite if compared to what I have as *A gold through SK, and I�m not sure I will try to rank up the 15k miles I need to have a second year of Elite with TK. I usually fly cheapest eco fare. Maybe if access to eco exit row seats as Elite (I think you need to be Elite+) would make it more interesting - or paid upgrade offers would be more attractive but maybe I�ve overlooked something. I will probably focus on maintaining my AF plat status as I generally feel more welcome on AF/KL flights, experience better customer service etc. - in particular during irregularities, where I generally don�t find TK very helpful/flexible. In my opinion, TK offers a very solid product onboard and with the lounge in IST - until something goes wrong. And don�t expect any special attention as Elite/gold.

craigthemif

You earn few to no TK miles when flying LH Group Economy Light fares around Europe. You generally get lounge access but NO seat selection or checked baggage allowance.

You would need to do the bulk of your *A flying on TK to make Elite or Elite Plus worthwhile...

TPJ

1. Full pre-COVID service is more or less restored
2. IST operates as normal - most TK flights are more or less on time, if you commence your trips in AMS book longer connections - you will most likely face more issues in AMS than in IST
3. TK offers all published benefits - but nothing more - no extra recognition. Upgrade vouchers are only for E+, OPUP's are prioritized based on FF status
4. I would never consider ST as they do not offer lounge access on wholly domestic itineraries. I sometimes travel extensively within the US and my TK*G gives me access to UA Clubs, while my AFKL Gold or Platinum would not give me access to DL Sky Clubs. My not be your case, but for this reason I treat ST as an inferior alliance...

kaspars

The KL/AF price in miles for the free tix has been awful after the latest FB "improvements", and price-based miles earning on KL and AF flights has degraded the value of being Platinum and to reach reasonable number of miles for free tickets. On the other hand, TK used to be quite easy to book discounted C class awards, until recently - when they became super restrictive in terms of availability. I guess, too may members sit on too many miles after C19... so its hard to guess what will be the final direction TK will take, but as of now I still see better value in being TK Gold or EP.
The customer service is far better at KL/AF though

fifty_two

If you can keep both then of course it is always better, but in the end it only depends on what is more important for you

The FFP is not the only goal and should not be the main goal

If you had ask us before i would tell you to wait and apply for TK status match only when you know for sure you will fly TK and star alliance a lot (not just for 3 or 4 flights schedule for the current year) .

There is a dedicated thread for this topic Need advice on which *A FF scheme to join? - please post here , by asking lot of questions , members there can help you assess the situation and see if you would manage to reach thresholds required by TK or not

Because you can apply only once for status match , and if you cant keep both Skyteam and Star alliance then you will need to make a choice

Obviously being AMS based mean you pay higher prices in general and even highest for KL . While it is not always the case , competitors have more incentives to offer lower prices to beat main local player , and in case of AMS, those competitors are mostly from star alliance

I was using FB as my main FFP and collecting star alliance miles with A3 when skyteam wasnt available or the best option ... i had no intention of chasing a star alliance status in near future , so i went for A3 M+B cause , as far as i know , it is only FFP which is not a dead end for miles (meaning i can indirectly get them back to flying blue)

Since then my life changed and after long brainstorming i was ready to partially move my workload from skyteam to star alliance , cause i realised that wherever i go on this planet TK and/or TP follows me and skyteam wasnt always there (or prices/options werent so good) so i did status match with TP

Now i wont mind going from FB platinum to gold if i can keep star alliance gold

Maybe ask yourself if you really need FB platinum or if you would be better with FB gold and keep the money for the 120xp less needed per year for TK

As others said , to get your TK status you would need to fly TK obviously cause you will get low amount of miles peanuts by flying other star alliance airlines in economy , meanwhile with FB you can fly with any skyteam airline and the value of an XP towards your status is the same regardless of the price you paid , so you can qualify easier even flying economy only .

With FB you can get even more miles by flying with more generous airlines , like KQ or SV and collect lot of miles even when flying with relatively cheap fares . Forget about it in oneworld and star alliance

In my opinion , FB platinum doesnt bring much hard written benefits compared to gold besides free seating on AFKL , however TK elite benefits can be easily purchased and are cheaper than collecting 15k miles per year

The hard product of TK is much better than AFKL for middle haul and their world wide network is simply the best

As others pointed out in case of disruption i prefer AFKL despite all their god damn flaws (our dear veterans Johan Rebel or Goldorak can tell you a lot about them)

With FB you can , after 10 years as platinum get lifetime status (assuming it wont change soon) while TK dont offer this

So , as you see the grass isnt greener elsewhere , so it is really up to your needs and also most important your current and near-future flights patterns to guide you towards your choice

ivanwmc

Can you give me a hint how you manage that?

fifty_two

Very simple , you get your awards miles from M+B , convert them into ALL points , then convert again to FB . The ratio is 4:1 , but its better than loosing them

nacho

How can you get Lifetime EBG and AF Plat by flying with the cheapest eco fare?

I like my TK status, since I also fly the cheapest Y and it is a lot more possible to maintain vs EBG.