"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.
This Week in Mobile - Meizu 15 in China
This Week In Mobile is a bit late this week because Matteo has been in China at the Meizu 15 launch event. Lukasz has managed to show us what is in his bag too…
Welcome to This Week in Mobile (TWiM), Tech Travel Geeks' weekly column covering what has happened in the world of mobile. If we haven't covered it on Tech Travel Geeks we'll link to the best content on the web.
A rainy Wuzhen, Zhejiang, China. Shot on Meizu 15 #ShotOnMeizu15 #Meizu15
This Week in Mobile is a bit late this week (again) because I was travelling in China while Lukasz is still on his epic journey around the world with a very densely packed bag.
Motorola G Series Launch in Brazil
Motorola, also known as Lenovorola, have refreshed their popular G Series of Android powered devices, announcing the Moto G 6 Play, the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Plus. I haven't had enough time to look at these devices in depth or follow the launch closely, but luckily our friends at Android Central have and did a great breakdown of the announcement and launch over on their site. Below you can find Daniel Bader's excellent explanation on video too.
Meizu 15 Announcement in Wuzhen, China
The Meizu 15 Launch stage, as shot on a Meizu 15...
As Chief Pixel Density Enthusiast at Coolsmartphone, I was a guest of Chinese technology company Meizu for their Meizu 15 launch event in Wuzhen, Zhejiang, China. You can catch all coverage of the event and the products on Coolsmartphone.com.
The Meizu 15 series, which is comprised of the Meizu 15, Meizu 15 Plus and Meizu M15 is a delightful range of devices. Hardware is well built, has excellent specifications and good ergonomics. Meizu's new version of their Android-based operating system, Flyme 7, has been refined and improved. Overall the Meizu 15 is a pleasure to use and I'm enjoying using it as one of my main devices.
China is on the path to being the first cashless society from what I can see, and AliPay and WeChat are the most used forms of payment. The occasional outlet also accepts UnionPay, but Mastercard and Visa as accepted forms of payment are a rarity in my most recent experience. We had to try hard, but finally found a place for dinner which accepted MasterCard (my Monzo card) in Shanghai. We set to order a quick meal before heading to the airport. Thanks to a misunderstanding using Google Translate we even managed to over-order dim sum, but it was definitely worth it.
We also managed to catch a Maglev train from Shanghai to the airport. I would definitely recommend doing it if you happen to be heading from Shanghai to Pu Dong Airport (PVG).
What's in Lukasz's bag?
Lukasz has finally published his "What's In My Bag" for his round the world trip he is currently on. As expected there is plenty of tech. He is a Tech Travel Geek after all... We look forward to getting more updates from him #soon.
That's all for... last week. I'll try and get back into the weekly TWiM rhythm from Sunday onwards. Safe travels everyone!
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.
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