As the end of the year approaches, when do frequent flyer statuses expire?
As the end of 2022 is approaching, the first post-pandemic year of the travel era is drawing to a close. Still [...]
Lufthansa
KLM
ITA Airways
British Airways
Air France
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The end of 2022 is just around the corner, the first post-pandemic year of the travel era is drawing to a close. Still in 2021, all the major loyalty programs had protected its loyal customers renewing statuses ex officio for the last time. And indeed 2022 marked a slow return to normalcy, although some carriers chose to continue with this policy, but we are only talking about a very small number. Instead, everyone else has gone back to the rules of the pre-Covid world, or nearly so.
On one thing everyone is aligned, there will be no aid in 2023 For no passengers.
How loyalty program statuses work
Before going into detail about the major airlines, it is good to give a quick summary of the rules of loyalty programs. Not all point collection programs, in fact, have January 1 as their zero date. For example. British Airways Executive Club or the program Flying Blue by Air France and KLM use the date of enrollment by the user as day zero: each enrollee therefore has his or her own expiration date of points and status. Others, however, such as Flying by ITA Airways, they reset everything at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, for all members and status holders.
The second point to keep in mind is. status expiration is not the same as points, these two factors travel on parallel but distinct tracks. Status expires every year, while for points it depends from program to program. It is highly recommended, therefore, to mark these two dates in your calendar so as not to lose a single point on the way. In addition, there are programs that make all points expire on a specific date, regardless of when they were earned. Others, however, make the points expire after 24/36 months that they have been earned. Still others cancel everything after a long period of inactivity.
Finally, two factors must be kept in mind:
- The qualifying period: how long you have to earn elite status.
- Duration of status: How long do you maintain elite status once you have earned it.
When does ITA Airways' Volare status expire?
We start, of course, with the frequent flyer of the Italian national airline, Flying. Born in October 2021, but only came into full swing in the spring. The Volare points accumulation window useful for the renewal of the level closes at 12/31 of each year, the next morning all members start from scratch and have another 12 months to renew their status. Status that expires each year on January 31.
To date, Volare still has several problems, and I would not be surprised if the Italian carrier decides on an automatic renewal of status to all members and/or a rollover of qualifying points. The reason is simple: to date, Volare Does not allow you to accumulate points when flying with carriers other than Skyteam and, given the small destination network, many users certainly left important points in other programs.
When the status with Air France and KLM expires.
The Flying Blue program, unlike Volare, does not have a fixed expiration date. The zero date is generally the date of enrollment in the program, but then it changes as the status changes by the individual subscriber. The basic operation is always the same. Those enrolled in French/Dutch frequent flyer have 12 months to To accumulate the XP points needed for level renewal. Regarding status, until the Last year it lasted 15 months, Now instead it has been raised to 12. This change was justified by the issuance of digital cards to replace the physical cards that were previously mailed and thus took longer to deliver.
This year the two companies launched several campaigns to help obtain/renew status. Bonus XP points, partnership with Accor and also the possibility of Gain status by paying for environmental sustainability.
To sum up: with Air France and KLM. the end date of the XP point accumulation period coincides with the expiration of the status. On the plus side, excess XP points are automatically transferred to the following year.
When status expires with British Airways
The operation of the BA Executive Club is very similar, but with one major difference. The reference date remains carved based on the day of enrollment in the loyalty program. Tier points, i.e., those that must be accumulated to obtain/renew status, reset every year, on anniversary day. While status expires at the end of the month following the anniversary month. Again, the discrepancy arises from the now obsolete need to send to home of the frequent traveler the physical card.
Even BA during the pandemic helped loyalty program members in various ways, help that came to an end in recent months and that Will be completely exhausted at the end of 2022.
When does Miles&More status expire in Lufthansa group airlines
Before the covid-19 outbreak, Miles&More had announced a revolution in program rules, obviously pejorative, the change, however, has been shelved due to pandemic. The peculiarity of the German carrier's frequent flyer is. if you reach the Senator level, or Gold status in Star Alliance, you will keep it for 24 months instead of the classic year. On the other hand, however, to rise to the HON level it is not enough to fly a lot, you have to fly mainly in Business Class or First Class, otherwise the elite card will (practically) never be achieved.
The accumulation of qualifying points lasts for 12 months and resets in the New Year.
Looking at other popular carriers in Italy, Emirates and Singapore have as their zero date the one related to status expiration. Card and qualifying points go hand in hand. You have 12 months to get enough qualifying points, if you accumulate enough points the status is maintained the next 12 months, and so on.
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