13th February marks the start of full integration between Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Air France KLM Flying Blue. You will be able to earn and redeem Flying Club miles for Air France KLM flights, which opens up a whole load of new destinations.
You will also enjoy status benefits across all the airlines.
This is good news for UK travellers based in the north. KLM have many options for direct flights into Europe, avoiding the need to travel to London. This saves time and money, but for many people results in a small pot of Flying Blue miles which can be hard to redeem and expire after two years.
Now, you’ll be able to take advantage of KLM connections from northern airports but credit the miles to Virgin Flying Club. It’s easy to build up a larger pot of Flying Club miles with the Virgin Atlantic credit card, car hire partnerships, and other promos.
There are no details yet of the mileage earning rate or the partner reward charts. Unless the clamour for reducing UK APD brings results, there will almost certainly be better deals out of European hubs, having taken a cash flight or used Eurostar.
Sadly the Air France first class product, La Premiere, which is exceptional, can not be booked on points except by top-tier Flying Blue members, but the Air France business class has outstanding service and food. A lot of the Air France fleet still has 2-2-2 business class seating, which sucks for solo travellers in particular.
According to the press release, “Customers will also soon be able check-in and select their seat through any of the partner airline mobile apps or websites.” which suggests that IT integration is high on the agenda and hopefully that will extend to ease of redeeming for partner flight awards.
From Virgin Atlantic:
Virgin Atlantic, Delta, Air France and KLM have launched their new expanded joint venture offering a greater choice of routes and loyalty options when travelling between Europe, the U.K. and North America.
The new partnership provides customers with more convenient flight schedules and a shared goal of ensuring a smooth and consistent travel experience, whichever airline people fly. The partnership also provides the flexibility to book flights on any of the four carriers through their respective mobile apps, websites, or via travel agents. Customers will enjoy award-winning service, top-tier premium cabin products and complimentary food, drink and seat-back in-flight entertainment in all cabins on all trans-Atlantic flights.
Starting from 13 February, enhanced customers benefits will kick in meaning that loyalty programme members will be able to earn and use miles or enjoy elite benefits for flights on any of the four airlines’ worldwide operations, including a trans-Atlantic trip, intra-Europe hop, or domestic U.S. journey, offering more opportunities to quickly move through loyalty tiers and reach a higher status. Eligible elite loyalty programme members can also enjoy priority boarding and relax in over 100 airport lounges when travelling internationally.
