Flying Blue extends free stopover to all award tickets, including those with Skyteam partner airlines
I am increasingly convinced that of all the Skyteam alliance loyalty programs, Air France and KLM's is the [...]
KLM
Air France
SkyTeam
I am increasingly convinced that Of all the Skyteam alliance loyalty programs, Air France and KLM's is the best, to make it super lacks just a credit card for individuals, because for companies there is Mooncard which is really top in accumulation. And a partner for accumulating points in everyday spending, so that would be really top.
6 reasons why Flying Blue is an (almost) perfect program
- Points hardly ever expire, one flight every 24 months is enough to renew the level
- It is possible to transfer Membership Rewards points for free. towards FB
- Soft landing makes it possible to maintain a status, even if you don't fly for a year
- XP points are rollovers, so what you fly extra is used for the following year
- Monthly offerings allow you to fly around the world using very few points
- The family program Allows kids to accumulate up to the age of 18 with no expiration date and redeem award tickets with 25% discount
The free stopover on all award tickets
In this article:
The stopover allows, with only one of airfare to take more than one vacation, taking advantage of this possibility at no additional cost is a real boon if you then consider the fact that in this case we are talking about a stopover included in an award booking then we are truly in the apotheosis of the mooching vacation.
What is new is that Flying Blue allows you to request a free stopover not only for tickets issued to fly on board Air France and KLM, but also with all other airlines in the alliance.
The confirmation was given by FB chief Ben Lipsey In a post on the FlyerTalk forum, the industry bible. No other loyalty program offers this opportunity so generously, indeed there are companies that do not allow stop-overs even with paid tickets.
How Flying Blue free stopover works
- In order to purchase an award ticket with stopover, it is necessary to book by phone, sooner or later this feature should be integrated into the booking engine of award tickets, but at the moment the phone is the only possible means
- They can be requested with all Skyteam airlines, subject to award seat availability, and in combination of different airlines on any route and from any airport
- The minimum stay is 24 hours, the maximum stay is 365 days
- They are also allowed on one-way tickets
Did you get your flight cancelled, miss your connection, land late?
You could get up to 600€ compensation per person
As you can see, the rules are really generous and open to every possible route, even the most imaginative ones.
Some examples of how to take advantage of this possibility
The first, and most obvious, is to get a weekend in Paris or Amsterdam for free, thanks to the stopover. If you wanted, however, it could be two separate vacations. Thanks to the year-long period to restart between flights, one could create an itinerary where one leaves on December 5 for Paris, spends the Immaculate Conception bridge in the Ville Lumiere, and returns home on December 10 with a low-cost ticket. In June you leave again for Paris and here you (re)take off, with an award ticket to the Caribbean.
One of the furthest destinations reachable with Air France is Polynesia, through this possibility one could fly Delta from Italy to Los Angeles, spend a few days in California, and then board the AF flight to Papeete.
Looking at other operators one could board Korean Air. direction Seoul, spending a week in South Korea and departing for Australia or Japan. Same with Vietnam Airlines, flying to Ho Chi Min and then hopping aboard a China Airlines flight to Beijing.
The combinations are really endless, but most importantly they are free.
