Flying Blue ‘50% off’ redemptions for May and June released

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• Roger says:

  25 Apr25 April 08:32

  Also in today’s bundle of information from Flying Blue were significant changes to FB awards.

  Main news:
  – most longhaul flight awards will need more FB miles from June 2013. Existing members can book at current rates by phone until the end of the year.
  – better availability is promised, presumably as a quid pro quo for higher miles requirements.
  – ‘carrier imposed surcharges’ (presumably YQ) are reduced, also for connecting and Euro flights.
  – more opportunties for upgrading with miles.
  http://www.flyingblue.com/long-haul-award.html

  For me, FB remains uncompetitive compared with BAEC though as always, YMMV. 125,000 miles for London -(AMS)-NYC in biz compared with 80,000 for LON-NYC with BA, for example, though the lower ‘carrier imposed surcharges’ with FB make the comparison difficult.

  • Rob says:

    25 Apr25 April 08:59

    Thanks Roger, I will take a look and get something written up.

  • Sir Stamford says:

    25 Apr25 April 14:39

    “lower ‘carrier imposed surcharges’ … make the comparison difficult”

    When comparing different programmes, you need to consider both the earn and burn costs.

    However, there is nothing difficult with comparing the redemption costs of both programmes.

    For instance, with BA, it is 80k plus £526.41.

    With Flying Blue, it is 125k plus €360 (£308) based on the illustrated examples. (I don’t have access to the actual amount, but this can be ascertained if you do a dummy booking).

    Therefore, the difference is 45k points for £218. Assuming that you can accrue points in both programmes at the same rate/cost, the comparison is whether 45k is worth more than £218.

    Sir Stamford

    • Roger says:

      25 Apr25 April 15:17

      Indeed.

      I was aiming for a short, concise note. An in-depth comparison – off topic for this thread – would have compared several aspects, including:
      – miles earning rates – minimum 100%/500 Avios with BA compared with FB’s derisory earnings – many flights earn just 25%/187;
      – award availability – neither is great, always a YMMV, but FB’s chances under the new scheme have still to be explored;
      – life of miles: just 1 Avios earned no matter how every 3 years can keep BA’s miles alive; FB miles expire after 20 months without flying a revenue flight on a limited number of carriers.

      I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see just such a comparison before long! 😉

      • Rob says:

        25 Apr25 April 16:01

        I am doing something on the new FB scheme tomorrow, but I won’t be digging into this level of detail. If you’re in FB, you know it already!

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