FLUMMOXED ABOUT EARNING Flying Blue MILES--need help!
Nov 16th, 2010, 02:18 AM
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FLUMMOXED ABOUT EARNING Flying Blue MILES--need help!
Time for another tutorial for a still-hapless novice.
I received my statement from FB. I am puzzled. Last flights were RT from JFK to FCO on Alitalia. The JFK segment was T class and I earned 100% points--4280. But the return, on N class, earned me 50%me or 2140.
Yet the same T class that earned 100% points from JFK-FCO on AZ, earned me only 25% points, or 1,003 miles, flying Malpensa to JFK on Delta last year. And the JFK-MIL segment of the same RT ticket, in U class earned me 50%, or 2006 miles.
So there appear to be no consistency among airlines as to letter categories, or mileage earned. For example T class on Delta earned me 25% of miles, while T class on AZ earned me 100%. Yet when I went to the Delta site to pretend-book a flight to Rome, no T class tix coach showed up.
I have already phoned Flying Blue and they told me that there was no way to tell on a partner- airline website how many miles the flights would accrue....(???).
Please enlighten me, and let me know how I can make sure that I am getting full mileage for my flights. The next international ticket I need to purchase will be a RT from NYC to Italy in May and I want to fly direct...so either Delta or AZ coach.
How to proceed to maximize points? (I am a lowly Ivory member after using up many points on a reward ticket to Asia earlier this year.)
I received my statement from FB. I am puzzled. Last flights were RT from JFK to FCO on Alitalia. The JFK segment was T class and I earned 100% points--4280. But the return, on N class, earned me 50%me or 2140.
Yet the same T class that earned 100% points from JFK-FCO on AZ, earned me only 25% points, or 1,003 miles, flying Malpensa to JFK on Delta last year. And the JFK-MIL segment of the same RT ticket, in U class earned me 50%, or 2006 miles.
So there appear to be no consistency among airlines as to letter categories, or mileage earned. For example T class on Delta earned me 25% of miles, while T class on AZ earned me 100%. Yet when I went to the Delta site to pretend-book a flight to Rome, no T class tix coach showed up.
I have already phoned Flying Blue and they told me that there was no way to tell on a partner- airline website how many miles the flights would accrue....(???).
Please enlighten me, and let me know how I can make sure that I am getting full mileage for my flights. The next international ticket I need to purchase will be a RT from NYC to Italy in May and I want to fly direct...so either Delta or AZ coach.
How to proceed to maximize points? (I am a lowly Ivory member after using up many points on a reward ticket to Asia earlier this year.)
Nov 16th, 2010, 03:16 AM
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ekscrunchy - I would recommend that you post your question (with the details you've given here) on the Flying Blue part of the flyertalk.com forum. There, you'll find a large group of frequent travellers who are Flying Blue experts who are more likely to be able to help you.
I seem to recall that FB change its mile accumulation policies recently - maybe in 2009. That might be a reason for the difference in treatment.
I seem to recall that FB change its mile accumulation policies recently - maybe in 2009. That might be a reason for the difference in treatment.
Nov 16th, 2010, 04:35 AM
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If you go to this page you will get all the current information on mile earnings:
http://www.airfrance.us/X02/en/local...lue_gagner.htm
And yes, classes of service (Y, L, T, N, etc.) are not necessarily consistent from one airline to another. Some of the basic ones (Y, F, J, C, etc.) are almost always the same but most of the others will vary. This variance applies to everything from basic fare rules to mile earnings to benefits/perqs.
http://www.airfrance.us/X02/en/local...lue_gagner.htm
And yes, classes of service (Y, L, T, N, etc.) are not necessarily consistent from one airline to another. Some of the basic ones (Y, F, J, C, etc.) are almost always the same but most of the others will vary. This variance applies to everything from basic fare rules to mile earnings to benefits/perqs.
Nov 16th, 2010, 06:28 AM
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Thanks--that is very helpful. The agent I spoke to probably had no idea that this info was on their site, and I missed it yesterday..
What is an example of a Skyteam prefix?
<You can earn Miles:
On all Alitalia, Alitalia Express, Volare Spa and Air One-operated flights with an AZ prefix.
On all Alitalia-operated flights with a SkyTeam prefix.
On all Alitalia, Air One, Air France and KLM-operated flights with an AP prefix.>
What is an example of a Skyteam prefix?
<You can earn Miles:
On all Alitalia, Alitalia Express, Volare Spa and Air One-operated flights with an AZ prefix.
On all Alitalia-operated flights with a SkyTeam prefix.
On all Alitalia, Air One, Air France and KLM-operated flights with an AP prefix.>
Nov 16th, 2010, 07:39 AM
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Ok, so then I went to the Alitalia site to check the fares for my dates; yet I can find no indication of the ticket letter grade for any flight segment....
So how do I book the proper flights without knowing their letter code?
So how do I book the proper flights without knowing their letter code?
Nov 16th, 2010, 07:32 PM
#7
Find your flights on itasoftware, select the airline you are interested in so just those flights show. When the list of flights appear, find the flight you want, mouse over the blank area on the right side at the end of the flight you want and the word details will appear. Click details and your flight code appears.
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/
Are you trying to earn miles on Delta or Air France? All the miles programs have lists of which partner airlines you can earn ff miles with codes listed. Here's Delta's.
http://skymilesoffers.delta.com/airline_partners.php
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/
Are you trying to earn miles on Delta or Air France? All the miles programs have lists of which partner airlines you can earn ff miles with codes listed. Here's Delta's.
http://skymilesoffers.delta.com/airline_partners.php
Nov 17th, 2010, 02:00 AM
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KY, Thank you so much, yet again. I am trying to earn AF miles, but it is not worth it it me to take a connection via Paris.
I followed your instructions and I see that all of the AZ fllghts for my dates will earn me only 50% mileage! (They all are N class)
But it looks like if I fly on Delta, I will get 100% miles, as the coach flights are all U class.
You have no idea how helpful this is to me. I guess I am the last one on the team who even realized that not all trans-Atlantic partner flights accrued full mileage!
Again, many thanks!
I followed your instructions and I see that all of the AZ fllghts for my dates will earn me only 50% mileage! (They all are N class)
But it looks like if I fly on Delta, I will get 100% miles, as the coach flights are all U class.
You have no idea how helpful this is to me. I guess I am the last one on the team who even realized that not all trans-Atlantic partner flights accrued full mileage!
Again, many thanks!
Nov 17th, 2010, 06:25 AM
#9
It's not just trans-Atlantic flights (or AF) that don't award 100% miles. If you look at Delta's chart for their own flights, certain codes don't earn (these are typically the heavily discounted fares or group/consolidator fares).
http://www.delta.com/skymiles/ways_t...elta/index.jsp
It appears Delta awards 100% for the AZ N flight on their ff program if you want all of your miles.
http://www.delta.com/skymiles/ways_t...elta/index.jsp
It appears Delta awards 100% for the AZ N flight on their ff program if you want all of your miles.
Nov 17th, 2010, 08:11 AM
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Yes, I would rather take the flights and earn full miles.
So what you are saying is even though the flight is a code share, if I book a flight with a DL prefix, I will get all the miles, while if I book the SAME flight through Alitalia (which is often quite a bit cheaper) I may get only half the miles?
So what you are saying is even though the flight is a code share, if I book a flight with a DL prefix, I will get all the miles, while if I book the SAME flight through Alitalia (which is often quite a bit cheaper) I may get only half the miles?
Nov 17th, 2010, 10:42 AM
#11
No, that's not what I'm saying. Each FF program has their own rules about flight credits and just because all of these are Skyteam does not mean they credit flights the same. It shouldn't matter who you book the flight with (Skyteam), you still should be able to credit it to whatever Skyteam FF account you want. It appears that Delta FF program does give 100% credit for an N flight on Alitalia and AF FF program does not. Book a flight with Alitalia, but credit your Delta FF account with the miles. At least that's the way I understand it.
If your just trying to top off your AF ff account to get to an award level and only want to credit to your AF account, then you will only get the reduced miles for the AZ N flight as per AF FB award rules.
You might want to search around on Flyertalk to confirm or perhaps someone else will chime in here. Perhaps this thread will shed a bit of light.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...-2-credit.html
If your just trying to top off your AF ff account to get to an award level and only want to credit to your AF account, then you will only get the reduced miles for the AZ N flight as per AF FB award rules.
You might want to search around on Flyertalk to confirm or perhaps someone else will chime in here. Perhaps this thread will shed a bit of light.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...-2-credit.html
Nov 17th, 2010, 01:51 PM
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Thanks, Ky. I do not have a Delta account. The only Skyteam account I have is Flying Blue. So how can I credit a Delta account, unless I open up one now (??) But then I would be splitting up the earned miles between two Skyteam accounts--does that make any sense?
If I do that, can I then combine them to get one reward ticket sometime in the future?
That was a big mistake and if I knew then what I know now, I would have had only a Delta account.
So since for my dates, there are no AZA T fares showing, I guess I will not get full mileage...(???) The dates are not until late April/May, so I can keep looking...maybe they will add T class fares (??)
I hate to sound so dense, but this entire subject is way over my head....
If I do that, can I then combine them to get one reward ticket sometime in the future?
That was a big mistake and if I knew then what I know now, I would have had only a Delta account.
So since for my dates, there are no AZA T fares showing, I guess I will not get full mileage...(???) The dates are not until late April/May, so I can keep looking...maybe they will add T class fares (??)
I hate to sound so dense, but this entire subject is way over my head....
Nov 18th, 2010, 08:14 AM
#13
Sorry, I assumed you also had a Delta FF account and could just credit the miles there. I'm not sure an AF FB account is as beneficial as the Delta account for someone in the US unless it's easier/less miles to book awards on AF FB (I'm not really familiar with AF FB) than on Delta. A lot of the partners on FB that you can earn miles with (car, hotel, etc.) are not available in the US. You could keep using your FB account until you get enough miles for an award flight. After that, open a Delta account and start crediting miles to your Delta account (you can't share/transfer miles between them, but you can use Delta FF to book an award flight on AF or any other Skyteam flight).
It costs nothing to get a Delta FF account, you just have to keep it active. When you first open, you need some activity within 12 months. To keep accumulated miles from expiring, you need activity at least once every two years (current rules).
http://www.delta.com/skymiles/about_...ules/index.jsp
Whenever I an ordering something online, I check my various FF accounts or hotel accounts (I have Marriott, Hilton and Priority Club accounts) to see if the store is on their link. They all have links to their own online shopping malls. If you log into your FF account (you may also have to register for the shopping mall the first time) and order through their link to the store you want, you earn miles or points. This keeps your account active without even flying. Delta's shopping mall has hundreds of stores (don't think AF FB has a shopping mall).
http://www.skymilesshopping.com/shopping/b____alpha.htm
Skyteam members.
http://www.skyteam.com/
Same is true if you open a One World FF account or Star Alliance. Their rules will be a bit different (miles expiration, inactive accounts, etc.), but all have online shopping and lots of partners to easily keep any miles active.
http://www.oneworld.com/ow/member-airlines
http://www.staralliance.com/en/
I would also think for NYC, there would be lots of restaurants that you could earn miles with Delta's Skymiles Dining. After you get an FF account, you register with Skymiles Dining and link a credit card to it. Each time you eat at one of the restaurants listed you just use that credit card and you get miles credited. Restaurants do come and go on this program so you have to check every now and then to see which ones are listed.
http://skymiles.rewardsnetwork.com/
>>>So since for my dates, there are no AZA T fares showing, I guess I will not get full mileage...(???) The dates are not until late April/May, so I can keep looking...maybe they will add T class fares (??)<<<
I'm sure there are T flights showing for your dates. Scroll down to the more expensive flights and they will likely be T.
It costs nothing to get a Delta FF account, you just have to keep it active. When you first open, you need some activity within 12 months. To keep accumulated miles from expiring, you need activity at least once every two years (current rules).
http://www.delta.com/skymiles/about_...ules/index.jsp
Whenever I an ordering something online, I check my various FF accounts or hotel accounts (I have Marriott, Hilton and Priority Club accounts) to see if the store is on their link. They all have links to their own online shopping malls. If you log into your FF account (you may also have to register for the shopping mall the first time) and order through their link to the store you want, you earn miles or points. This keeps your account active without even flying. Delta's shopping mall has hundreds of stores (don't think AF FB has a shopping mall).
http://www.skymilesshopping.com/shopping/b____alpha.htm
Skyteam members.
http://www.skyteam.com/
Same is true if you open a One World FF account or Star Alliance. Their rules will be a bit different (miles expiration, inactive accounts, etc.), but all have online shopping and lots of partners to easily keep any miles active.
http://www.oneworld.com/ow/member-airlines
http://www.staralliance.com/en/
I would also think for NYC, there would be lots of restaurants that you could earn miles with Delta's Skymiles Dining. After you get an FF account, you register with Skymiles Dining and link a credit card to it. Each time you eat at one of the restaurants listed you just use that credit card and you get miles credited. Restaurants do come and go on this program so you have to check every now and then to see which ones are listed.
http://skymiles.rewardsnetwork.com/
>>>So since for my dates, there are no AZA T fares showing, I guess I will not get full mileage...(???) The dates are not until late April/May, so I can keep looking...maybe they will add T class fares (??)<<<
I'm sure there are T flights showing for your dates. Scroll down to the more expensive flights and they will likely be T.
Nov 18th, 2010, 12:49 PM
#14
eks, I gave up on Flying Blue (oh how true that is) for the reasons kybourbon lists above. If you have a French bank account I think you can get an AmEx and accrue FB miles that way. But by and large, unless you are doing lots and lots of full-fare flying on AF, KLM, KQ, et al, you might as well just go with SkyMiles. <i>As far as I can tell.</i> I am definitely an amateur when it comes to this.
Good luck.
Good luck.
Nov 19th, 2010, 03:23 AM
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KY: That was so kind of you to spell everything out for me. I did find the higher class fares on Alitalia and Delta and they are close to $2,000 RT for coach from NYC to Bari! I do not think it is worth paying that just to get the full credit for points!
Had I known then even the little I know now, I certainly would not have signed up for AF/FB. What a dolt! I do not visit Paris often and I certainly do not want to take flights that connect at CDG! Last time I flew KLM was via AMS to CapeTown and I will not even attempt to describe the frustration of trying to book seats via Northwest on those two back-to-back flights.
I think the thing to do now is to try to use up those FB miles and then sign on with Delta.
BTW: I also have an Iberia card!
Leely, when you say you gave up FB, what happened to the points in the account--were you able to use them up?
Is it possible to transfer the FB points to Delta (pretty sure I know the answer to THAT one!)
I would love to use my points to upgrade to business, but you probably need to buy the full-fare coach to be eligible for that, right?
I am really out of my depth here, and very grateful for the help offered here..
Had I known then even the little I know now, I certainly would not have signed up for AF/FB. What a dolt! I do not visit Paris often and I certainly do not want to take flights that connect at CDG! Last time I flew KLM was via AMS to CapeTown and I will not even attempt to describe the frustration of trying to book seats via Northwest on those two back-to-back flights.
I think the thing to do now is to try to use up those FB miles and then sign on with Delta.
BTW: I also have an Iberia card!
Leely, when you say you gave up FB, what happened to the points in the account--were you able to use them up?
Is it possible to transfer the FB points to Delta (pretty sure I know the answer to THAT one!)
I would love to use my points to upgrade to business, but you probably need to buy the full-fare coach to be eligible for that, right?
I am really out of my depth here, and very grateful for the help offered here..
Nov 19th, 2010, 06:19 AM
#16
>>>Is it possible to transfer the FB points to Delta (pretty sure I know the answer to THAT one!)<<<
No and you can't combine Delta FF miles with FB FF miles to have enough for a flight.
>>>I would love to use my points to upgrade to business, but you probably need to buy the full-fare coach to be eligible for that, right?<<<
You will have to read AF FB rules to see which flight codes can be upgraded with FF miles. All FF programs restrict which flight codes qualify for upgrading with FF miles.
The hard core FF people hang out on Flyertalk. They aren't very patient with newbies asking questions (see their stickies for answers first). You should find the answer to your AF FB upgrade question on their AF FB forum.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/flyin...rance-klm-594/
>>>BTW: I also have an Iberia card!<<<
You are going to run into the same problems with your Iberia FF account (no online shopping, different flight credit rules, foreign businesses for earning points) that you do with the AF FB account. I imagine you would have been better off picking one of the other One World airlines (AA - people seem to really like AA as it takes less award miles) instead of Iberia although many do join BA. BA is the only foreign FF program that I hear US people joining and that's often because they offer some great mile deals. There was a promo last year on BA to sign up for their credit card and get 100,000 points. Quite a few Fodorites took advantage of that, but BA does have some restrictive flight credit rules.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...gnup-bonus.cfm
No and you can't combine Delta FF miles with FB FF miles to have enough for a flight.
>>>I would love to use my points to upgrade to business, but you probably need to buy the full-fare coach to be eligible for that, right?<<<
You will have to read AF FB rules to see which flight codes can be upgraded with FF miles. All FF programs restrict which flight codes qualify for upgrading with FF miles.
The hard core FF people hang out on Flyertalk. They aren't very patient with newbies asking questions (see their stickies for answers first). You should find the answer to your AF FB upgrade question on their AF FB forum.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/flyin...rance-klm-594/
>>>BTW: I also have an Iberia card!<<<
You are going to run into the same problems with your Iberia FF account (no online shopping, different flight credit rules, foreign businesses for earning points) that you do with the AF FB account. I imagine you would have been better off picking one of the other One World airlines (AA - people seem to really like AA as it takes less award miles) instead of Iberia although many do join BA. BA is the only foreign FF program that I hear US people joining and that's often because they offer some great mile deals. There was a promo last year on BA to sign up for their credit card and get 100,000 points. Quite a few Fodorites took advantage of that, but BA does have some restrictive flight credit rules.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...gnup-bonus.cfm
Nov 19th, 2010, 09:09 AM
#17
eks, I used a lot of miles for a fairly silly reward (flew from Nairobi to Kigali in business). My miles were going to expire within a few months and I knew I wouldn't be traveling through Paris or Amsterdam anytime soon. I'm not sure why I ever signed up for Flying Blue in the first place, but I had done so before they instituted all the newer rules about flight credits. Didn't pay much attention until I returned from a trip to Tanzania and noticed I had only earned about 7500 miles for a 20k mile trip. Lesson learned--for the time being.
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