Elite status with Flying Blue offers access to perks globally.
If you’ve flown with Air France, KLM, or its partners, you may be familiar with the Flying Blue frequent flyer program. We’ve previously looked at how to earn and spend miles, and today we’ll take a look at what it takes to qualify for elite status and the perks you’ll receive.
Experience points
Flying Blue uses a unique currency known as ‘Experience Points’ (XP) to determine your progression within the program. There are four tiers: Explorer, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. You automatically join as an Explorer and move up as you earn more XP by flying.
To qualify you will require:
- Silver: 100 XP – SkyTeam Elite
- Gold: 180 XP – SkyTeam Elite Plus
- Platinum: 300 XP – SkyTeam Elite Plus
Similar to most airlines, XP is earned through flying only and calculated based on the distance of flight and cabin class. While Flying Blue’s redemption might be revenue-based, elite status is not (yet). Here’s the chart:
Photo: Flying Blue
As you can see a few roundtrips within Europe can easily get you to Silver status (assuming a stop in Amsterdam or Paris). Since Air France and KLM are both Skyteam members, their status is matched to all of the carriers in the alliance. This means you receive benefits across the globe when flying with any member airline as well. Getting to SkyTeam Elite Plus will require some international flying in business class for quick access, or just three long-haul trips in first class (if that’s for you!).
Given Air France and KLM’s sprawling network, especially in Europe, getting to Silver is not too expensive an affair and is a great perk, which we’ll discuss below.
The benefits
Here’s the exciting part: what do you get for your loyalty? In addition to the miles earned for each flight, each status level has its own set of benefits.
As an Explorer you’ll get:
- €10 discount on checked bags
- 10% off on selecting seats
- Earn 4 miles per euro spent
As a Silver member, you’ll get:
- SkyTeam Elite status
- One extra checked bag on SkyTeam members and select partners such as Qantas
- Priority lanes for boarding, check-in, and luggage
- 25% of selecting seats and free access to standard seats
- Earn 6 miles per euro spent
Photo: Antonio Salaverry / Shutterstock
From here on, the perks start to get serious, with the renowned lounge access thrown in. As a Gold member you’ll get everything above plus:
- SkyTeam Elite Plus status
- Access to all SkyTeam lounges globally with one guest
- Priority access to security and immigration queues (SkyPriority)
- 50% discount on selecting seats
- Earn 7 miles per euro spent
Finally, as a Platinum member you’ll get all the above benefits (including SkyTeam Elite Plus) and:
- Dedicated Platinum phone line
- Earn 8 miles per euro spent
Available globally
As we’ve mentioned before, status earned on Flying Blue applies to all SkyTeam members and even partners like Japan Airlines, Virgin Atlantic (soon to join), and more. This means you’ll get priority boarding on all Delta Air Lines flights in the US, access to the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in London, and extra bags when flying on Air Mauritius. With an achievable path to Silver and Gold, Flying Blue is definitely an interesting option for frequent flyers.
Are you a member of Flying Blue or another program? Let us know in the comments.
Source: simpleflying.com
