Air France KLM Group

Launch of the new Flying Blue programme on 1 April 2018

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New Flying Blue programme

Launch of the new Flying Blue programme on 1 April 2018: Simpler, clearer and more personalized

Flying Blue, Air France-KLM’s loyalty programme, is changing as from 1 April 2018 and will offer more simplicity and flexibility in the use of the programme, a clearer reward scale and more choice in the use of Miles.

Earn Miles for each euro spent

For each euro spent, Ivory, Silver, Gold and Platinum members will receive 4, 6, 7 and 8 Miles1 respectively. The number of Miles earned will no longer depend on the distance flown between origin and destination, on flights marketed by Air France (AF), KLM (KL), HOP! (A5) or Joon (JN). This will make the accrual of Miles easier and clear.

In addition, customers will be able to earn Miles when purchasing additional services2 such as an A la Carte Menu on board an Air France flight, additional baggage allowance, or reserving an Economy Comfort seat on a KLM flight. The balance of Award Miles as of 31 March 2018 will remain unchanged on 1 April 2018.

With Flying Blue, we are enhancing the travel experience for several million passengers while at the same time creating value for our group. The programme has become an essential travel companion and the common foundation for all Air France-KLM’s airlines to provide optimum service quality for customers. Adapted to simplify our members’ experience and increase our attractiveness, the new Flying Blue programme will support our commercial offensive as well as our strategy to personalize customer service.”

Jean Marc Janaillac, Chairman and CEO of Air France-KLM

To continuously increase customer satisfaction is our number one priority. A good example of how we do this is the new format of the Air France KLM Flying Blue loyalty programme, which addresses the desires and expectations of our most frequent passengers. We now offer greater simplicity, more flexibility, a much clearer and more transparent structure for earning and redeeming Miles, and an improved digital experience. In this way, we both strengthen our relationship with our existing customers and attract new ones.

Boet Kreiken, EVP Customer Experience

“Meeting customer’s expectations by being simpler and more personalized was a key driver in this two years project for reinventing Flying Blue. We aim to have Flying Blue as a leading airlines loyalty programme by listening to our customers and adapting the programme.”

Frédéric Kahane, Air France-KLM’s Flying Blue loyalty programme’s Vice President

More flexibility to spend Miles

For an ever more personalized offer, booking Award tickets will no longer be limited per flight but offered until the last seat available for sale. All seats on Air France, KLM, HOP! Joon and Transavia flights can be booked with Miles. The Miles amount needed for a ticket will be based on origin, destination and flight date. In addition, the new Miles & Cash option will allow Flying Blue members to pay up to 25% of Award tickets3 in cash.

These changes will be effective as of June 2018.

  • A simplified and personalized level qualification

To move from one level to another, Flying Blue is introducing Experience Points, called XP. These determine a membership level. A status will no longer depend on Level Miles and Qualifying flights. XP will allow members to progress and enjoy additional benefits:

– Silver = 100 XP- Gold = 180 XP- Platinum = 300 XP

XP will be calculated according to the type of flight (domestic, medium-haul or long-haul) and the travel cabin chosen by the customer. With this update, customers will easily find out how many XP they will gain for each flight. Flying Blue is the first airline loyalty programme to offer this scale. Level Miles and/or qualifying flights remaining on 31 March 2018 will be converted into XP.

XP scale

Type of flight

Travel cabin

Domestic

(Examples: Paris-Toulouse, Atlanta-New York)

Medium-haul

< 2,000 Miles

(Examples: Paris-Naples, Amsterdam-Geneva)

Long-haul

? 2,000 Miles

< 3,500 Miles

(Examples:

Paris-Lagos, Amsterdam-Dubai)

Long-haul ? 3,500 Miles < 5,000 Miles

(Examples:

Paris-New York, Amsterdam Nairobi)

Long-haul

? 5,000 Miles

(Examples: Paris-Shanghai, Amsterdam-Los Angeles)

Economy2 XP5 XP8 XP10 XP12 XP
Premium Economy4 XP10 XP16 XP20 XP24 XP
Business6 XP15 XP24 XP30 XP36 XP
La Première10 XP25 XP40 XP50 XP60 XP

The qualification period for each Flying Blue member will be effective over a 12-month period to gain the XP required to reach or maintain a level. In case of a level upgrade, the level is activated and the qualification period will simply start again.

For Silver, Gold and Platinum members, all XP gained beyond the threshold will be carried forward to the next 12-month running period.

A smooth transition towards the new Flying Blue programme

As of 1 April 2018, Flying Blue accounts will be automatically updated and customers will be able to keep using all functionalities of their account like today.

In addition to these changes, members will benefit from the best of the current Flying Blue programme:

  • The same privileges currently available for Ivory, Silver, Gold and Platinum members;
  • Various options to spend Miles on Promo Awards, upgrades, additional baggage allowances or A la Carte Menus;
  • Miles can be earned and spent with many Flying Blue partners.

Go to explorefurther.flyingblue.com to find out more about the new programme.

Flying Blue: leading loyalty programme

Flying Blue, the Air France-KLM group’s loyalty programme, has 15 million members and 39 airline partners and more than 100 non-airline partners.

The more members travel, the more their loyalty is rewarded. With the Flying Blue card, customers can access the many services specially designed to make their trip even more enjoyable.

At www.airfrance.com and www.klm.com, members can check their account, book tickets directly or request missing miles to be added to their account.

At www.flyingblue.com, customers can access a complete presentation of the Flying Blue programme, detailing the benefits of the different Ivory, Silver, Gold and Platinum levels explained through videos and tutorials. They can also check out all the ways to earn or spend Miles and the complete list of all the programme’s partners’ offers in the “Flying Blue Store” section.

www.flyingblue.com

(1) Excluding government taxes and fees

(2) Additional options offered by Air France, KLM and HOP!

(3)Award tickets are plane tickets purchased in Miles.

Amstelveen, 06 November 2017

This post was published on 6 November 2017 11:51

André Orban

M. Sc. Engineering

Published by
André Orban

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