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"Roses are red, my Gold Level was extended, KLM Flying Blue, I love you."

Our Chief Mobile Opinionist, Matteo, is thankful for the extension to his Flying Blue status.

I’m a really bad poet, I know. I have butchered a classic children’s rhyming poem here, and my only excuse is that I really want to thank the people at KLM and Flying Blue.

Roses are red,

My Gold Level was extended,

KLM Flying Blue,

I love you.

(Matteo Doni, January 2021)

A whole month before Valentine’s Day, I received a lovely message, via electronic mail, from Flying Blue. Flying Blue is the frequent flyer program of Air France-KLM, which other airlines take part in as well. Those who follow Tech Travel Geeks will probably know I’m quite a loyal customer of KLM and participant in the Flying Blue program.

My Gold Level (status) has been extended and my XP (status points) from 2020 have been carried over. Thank you Flying Blue!

MY KLM Flying Blue status is renewed for 12 months. Thank you KLM Flying Blue

KLM’s wonderful people gained my loyalty after having provided excellent service in multiple occasions. Not only did they solve complicated travel problems for me on multiple trips, but always served me with a smile and an excellent sense of humour. This amazing level of service really won me over. It wasn’t the Tinykens™ in the Crown Lounge at Schiphol and all the other Skypriority benefits, though those may have been a contributing factor.

A Tinyken™: a small glass of self-serve Heineken in a KLM Crown Lounge at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

The renewal of my Gold Level, the status level which grants me many benefits when I travel, just reinforces my loyalty to KLM and the Air France-KLM group.

2020 was a devastating year for the travel industry. It was heart-breaking to see not only my favourite airline, KLM, but the industry as a whole deal with the impact of the covid-19 crisis. I’m an optimist though: the ripples of the social and economic impact of the crisis will be felt for decades to come at this point, but the lessons learnt will hopefully help us navigate future challenges better.

As a frequent traveller, it is now almost a year since I have been on a flight. We all know it is the right thing to do, and I will continue to avoid any non-essential travel until it is safe to pack my bag, go to the airport and walk down that SkyPriority lane at the gate. I would be lying if I said I haven’t had dreams of this recently.

Rest assured that as soon as it is appropriate I will be back on a KLM flight somewhere and might bump into you at a Crown Lounge in Schiphol.

Stay safe, dream of travel and be ready to take off when we can do so safely.

Again, many thanks to the KLM and Flying Blue teams.

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Air France - KLM refresh Flying Blue loyalty scheme

Air France - KLM have changed their loyalty programme Flying Blue. Changes have been made to the way you earn miles and status.

Air France - KLM, the Franco-Dutch airline group, has just refreshed its loyalty scheme Flying Blue. The main change is in the way miles are awarded. Flying Blue now awards miles according to monetary spend on flights rather than miles flown. 

The new look Flying Blue card design.

According to your level you will earn miles per Euro spent on flights, in the following tiers:

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

You will still be able to earn miles through partners, such as credit card providers, as previously.

Flying blue is the loyalty programme of Air France, KLM, Aircalin, HOP!, Joon, Kenya Airways, Tarom and Transavia.

Flying blue is the loyalty programme of Air France, KLM, Aircalin, HOP!, Joon, Kenya Airways, Tarom and Transavia.

To attain a higher Flying Blue level you will need to earn XP (experience), which will be scaled according to the distance and class of flights you travel on.

This refresh, or as Air France - KLM put it reinvention, may be seen as a challenge to those who attained their higher level status through frequent short economy flights, while those who fly less over larger distances in higher classes will be rewarded more quickly.

I'm a loyal KLM and SkyTeam traveller. KLM won my loyalty through some excellent customer service and ensuring I made it to Italy with my sister's wedding cake the day before the wedding (despite some major issues they had no control over). Apparently I will maintain my Flying Blue Gold level and am already most of the way to Gold for this year as well.

What do you think of this change to Flying Blue? Will your travel changes as a result? Let us know in the comments to this post or start a conversation with us on Twitter.

Source: Flying Blue

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