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Flying Blue has announced major changes to the program that will come into effect April 1, 2018. At that time we'll see a shift to a revenue-based loyalty program. As of now, Flying Blue has outlined the changes it is making to earning miles, as well as tier miles needed to move between levels.
Changes To Earning With Flying Blue
With the shift to a revenue-based program, you will now earn Flying Blue miles per Euro of spending with Flying Blue. Earnings are determined by your status, and you will earn miles accordingly:
The new chart is not generous since inexpensive long-haul routes will now earn far fewer miles than they did before. So far there has been no confirmation of the exact details about partner earning changes.
Changes To Status Qualification
Flying Blue is also changing the way status is earned. For every flight, you will earn XP points depending on cabin class and distance flown. Earning will be according to the following rates:
This is interesting since there is no differentiation between different fares within a class. Discounted economy fares will earn the same as full fare economy fares, and the same also applies to business class fares. To transition between elite levels, you will need to earn the following number of XP points:
This differs significantly from the current system which uses level miles to calculate your status with Flying Blue.
Although you now have a rotating one-year period to earn your XP points as opposed to a calendar year. The new chart represents a devaluation since it is not cumulative. To earn Silver in a year, you will need to earn 100 XP points, to then move up from Silver to Gold you will need to earn a further 180 XP points. Finally, to earn Platinum, you will need to earn a further 300 points after hitting Silver. So you would have to earn 580 XP points to earn Platinum Status.
To put this into context a flight between New York (JFK) and Paris (CDG) would qualify as a long 2 tier flights. To hit Platinum, you would need to take 12 first class flights or 19 business class flights, which makes the status almost unachievable.
How Level Miles Will Transfer
At the point of the changeover, Flying Blue has outlined how it will transfer level miles to the new XP points system. Current level miles will transfer as follows:
Other Changes And Questions
There will be other changes coming to Flying Blue on June 1, 2018. So far, the company has not outlined any solid details of the changes,
While Flying Blue has released a whole lot of information, there are still plenty of questions to be answered. What will the redemption rates be? How do the changes affect partner earn and burn? These are some of the concerns that Flying Blue will have to clarify.
Overall
Without a doubt the changes will have a negative impact, hitting top status will become very difficult and earning ability has been dramatically reduced. Hopefully Flying Blue will keep its promo awards which can provide good value. Over the following months as more details emerge you will get a fuller picture of the impact of the changes on partner earning and partner redemptions.
Source: One Mile At A Time
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