Frequent readers will know I like Air France-KLM and their loyalty program, Flying Blue. Right now, Flying Blue is still one of the best programs to redeem points for business class flights between the US and Europe, with saver awards coming at 60.000 points. Unfortunately, there’s some changes coming that amount to a devaluation of the program and if you’re sitting on Flying Blue miles for a redemption, you may want to redeem them ASAP. Read on for the details…

Here’s How Flying Blue works Before September 8th

At it’s most basic, Flying Blue award prices follow a dynamic structure, with a floor at 60.000 points. This is the ‘saver’ level and is the cheapest fare you could get for a flight between the US and Europe. In economy, the saver floor usually starts at 20.000 points for a flight between the US and Europe.

You can expect that there’s usually only a few seats on every flight (if any) that would go at the saver price, and beyond that award prices are dynamic. A business class flight could then go for as much as 500.000 points, if not more, plus any applicable taxes and fees, which is of course outrageously expensive.

When you book an award flight with Flying Blue, you can expect it will come with all the bell and whistles of a ‘Flex’ fare, meaning it comes with a luggage allowance and flexible cancelation and refund policies (minus a fee), and in business class with SkyPriority and lounge access. However, note that seat selection is no longer free in business class.

So, when you go to select your fare type, only a single option will be shown:

As you can see this (very expensive) business class fare provides 1 small bag, 2 hand baggage items (carryons), 2 checked bag (plus 1 because of my Gold status), free seat selection at checkin (with my Gold status I get it at booking), lounge access, SkyPriority benefits, and the ticket is refundable and changeable with a 70 Euro fee.

Unfortunately, this is going to change as of September 8th…

What’s Changing: Flying Blue Adds Tiered Award Fares

For award flights booked as of September 8th, Flying Blue released a press release detailing changes coming to booking award flights in the program. In a nutshell, Flying Blue will add tiered fare buckets for award flights, same as for the cash options. As per the press release:

• Light: the essential option, ideal if you travel light and are looking for a streamlined experience. 
• Standard: a balanced option offering a combination of comfort and flexibility
• Flex: the most comprehensive experience, with full flexibility, included benefits and a lower mandatory cash contribution when booking your reward ticket.

Do note that this will only kick in as of September 8th, and any award flights booked before September 8th will have all the current inclusions honored.

But don’t be fooled: while this is trying to market the change as a way to provide choice for consumers by matching options with different pricing, what’s actually happening is a devaluation. For the same price that you used to get the benefits of a ‘Flex’ award fare, now you will only get the benefits of a ‘Light’ Award fare. Here’s the specifics of what you can expect with every fare bucket:

Economy

Light	Standard	Flex
No checked baggage	1 checked baggage	1 checked baggage
1 hand baggage	1 hand baggage	1 hand baggage
No changes	Changes for €70	Free changes
No cancelation	Cancelation for €70	Free cancelation
Advance seat selection at a cost	Advance seat selection at a cost	Advance seat selection included
No SkyPriority	No SkyPriority	No SkyPriority
Lounges access at a cost	Lounges access at a cost	Lounges access at a cost

Premium Economy

Light	Standard	Flex
No checked baggage	2 checked baggage	2 checked baggage
2 hand baggage	2 hand baggage	2 hand baggage
No changes	Changes for €70	Free changes
No cancelation	Cancelation for €70	Free cancelation
Advance seat selection at a cost	Advance seat selection at a cost	Advance seat selection included
SkyPriority included	SkyPriority included	SkyPriority included
Lounges access at a cost	Lounges access at a cost	Lounges access at a cost

Business Class

Light	Standard	Flex
1 checked baggage	2 checked baggage	2 checked baggage
2 hand baggage	2 hand baggage	2 hand baggage
No changes	Changes for €70	Free changes
No cancelation	Cancelation for €70	Free cancelation
Advance seat selection at a cost	Advance seat selection at a cost	Advance seat selection included
SkyPriority included	SkyPriority included	SkyPriority included
Lounges access at a cost	Lounges access included	Lounges access included

In a Nutshell, Here’s What’s Changing

Given all the inclusions for the different tiers listed above, the actual differences with current inclusions for award tickets are fairly straightforward. From the current saver award to the new Light fare, here’s what’s changing:

• You can no longer change your award ticket at a 70 Euro cost.
• You can no longer cancel your award ticket at a 70 Euro cost.
• You will have less luggage allowance (either none in economy, or 1 piece in other classes)
• In business class you don’t get lounge access anymore
• Seat assignments are generally for a fee (in business this was already the case).

So, I’d say it’s pretty much all around bad. And while technically speaking this is not a devaluation, this is a dilution of the product that you used to get, meaning you’re going to pay more to get treated the way you were before. In that respect, this makes it abolsutely a devaluation.

Elite Status is the Key to Maintain the Status Quo

There is a one way around all this: you have to have Flying Blue elite status. With elite status, you will get status benefits that apply to the fare buckets for a cash flight (which I’ve written about before). Since these new tiered award fares replicate the cash fare buckets, the status benefits also apply the same way. This is confirmed by Flying Blue:

No matter which fare you choose, the benefits linked to your Flying Blue status, such as additional baggage allowance, waived change and refund fees where applicable, remain unchanged and will continue to apply on the day of departure.

Given that I have Flying Blue Gold status, I will not actually experience any of the annoyances that come with this devaluation, sicne I will still be able to book the ‘Light’ fares for the lowest saver points cost, and get all the benefits of at least the ‘Standard’ tier. And remember, the Standard tier is generally in line with the current award inclusions.

To provide an example using cash flights in economy, fi I look for flight on August 25th from New York to Paris, and I do not login to my Flying Blue account, here’s what I see:

However, if I do login to my Flying Blue account, you can see there’s a whole range of inclusions displayed that were not there before. And this is specifically useful if you book the Light fare. I’ve posted about this strategy before: I’m able to buy the Light fare and still get 1 checked bag, free seat selection, lounge access and SkyPriority benefits, providing me an elevated Standard Economy experience for the price of the Light fare.

So, the idea is that these benefits will also apply to award fares in the same way they apply to these cash fare. As an aside, you may observe there is a ‘Light Plus’ option now as well. Truth be told, I do not know why this shows up after login and not before, but there you have it…

Summary

Flying Blue is masking a very real devaluation as a ‘choice for consumers’. All the current award prices, including the saver award tiers, will become the new ‘Light’ awards for booking after September 8th. This means that for the same price, you will receive less benefits, predominantly in the flexibility of the ticket and the luggage allowance you get. In business class also expect to no longer get lounge access. This is definitely bad, but the silver lining is that Flying Blue elites will be largely shielded from this.

In short: have a stash of Flying Blue miles you were hoping to use and you’re not a Flying Blue Elite? Then I’d hurry up and use those miles before September 8th, so you can lock in a ticket with all the (currently) standard inclusions.