KLM/AirFrance Flying Blue Announces Major Changes – Soon To Be The Most Confusing Program Imaginable

KLM & AirFrance’s loyalty program Flying Blue has announced that on April 1st, 2018 they will be making major changes. Important things to note:

• They will be moving towards a revenue based earning system. Number of miles you’ll earn is based on the € spent.
• As of June 1st all seats will be bookable with miles. The number of miles needed will depend on the origin, destination and date of flight. It’s not clear whether they will be an adopting a Southwest system where there is a clear value per point and the price in points is directly tied to ticket price in cash or if they will be moving to a Delta based system where they have a hidden award chart and then also charger higher amounts when they feel like it.
• Points + cash bookings will be available. You’ll be able to pay up to 25% of your award flight in cash and then pay the rest in miles.
• Loyalty program will move to an Experience Points based system. The number of XP you earn will depend on the flight type and cabin class.

Revenue Based System

Elites will earn at the following levels:

• Ivory: 4 miles per €
• Silver: 6 miles per €
• Gold: 7 miles per €
• Platinum: 8 miles per €

Experience Points

You’ll earn experience points based on the distance of your flight and class of service. Inside Flyer NL has the XP table as follows:

Then each tier requires the following amount of XP:

• Ivory: None, base level
• Silver: 100XP
• Gold: 180XP
• Platinum: 300XP

They are also moving away from qualification period that is based on a calendar year and instead having personalized member years. Your qualification period starts on the date of your first flight that earns XP and ends 12 months later. So if I have a flight on August 2nd then my qualification period would be August 2nd 2018 – August 2nd 2019. Credits under the old system will convert as follows: 1,000 elite miles = 5 XP or 1 segment = 7 XP (whatever is more).

Our Verdict

Honestly this is one of the most idiotic set of changes I’ve ever seen. Consumers want simplified rewards programs, adding personalized rewards years is completely unnecessary and needlessly complicated. I honestly feel like slamming my head against a wall over and over again just thinking about this new program.

The only reason I ended up finishing this post is because Flying Blue is a transfer partner from the following programs:

• Chase Ultimate Rewards
• American Express Membership Rewards
• SPG Points
• Citi ThankYou Points
• Diners Club

And they frequently offer promo awards (apparently these will be continuing). If I had to give Flying Blue some tips they would be as follows:

1. Fire whoever thought this was a good idea.
2. Simplify your rewards program. Moving towards a revenue based program like Southwest is completely fine as long as people can easily understand the value proposition.

 

Hat tip to The Flying Dutchboy & View From The Wing