Finally!!! ITA and Air France KLM seal mutual accumulation and benefits: here are ITA award tickets with Flying Blue points
Today's announcement brings to 6 the number of Skyteam partner companies with which the Volare program has signed agreements [...]
KLM
ITA Airways
Air France
SkyTeam
Today's announcement brings to 6 the number of Skyteam partner companies with which the Volare program signed the business agreements to allow the use of benefits, the accumulation of points in a reciprocal form.
Finally the agreement with Air France KLM.
In this article:
We are pleased to announce that Air France e KLM, member airlines of the SkyTeam alliance, have now become partners in the Volare program. By choosing to travel to any of the 318 destinations operated byAir France e KLM, you can take advantage of the SkyPriority services dedicated to Elite Plus members, including priority check-in and boarding, drop-off and extra baggage.
On these flights you will also have the opportunity to accumulate points Fly by simply entering your Volare frequent flyer number when booking or checking in.
This is the ITA announcement sent to all Volare members. I am surprised, but it must surely be an oversight, that mutual lounge access is not mentioned in the benefits, Until now in fact AF and KL passengers were bounced from FCO and LIN lounges, while on alternate days AZ passengers had access to CDG lounges.
What changes between Flying Blue and Flying
Starting today, I don't think retroactively, however, program members will be able to accumulate qualifying points and reward points when they fly on different routes, regardless of who is operating the flight or who issued the ticket.
Both programs have a revenue-based model, but when flying with partners, the accumulation is based on flying and ticket class, to which Volare also adds a status-related bonus.
As of today, therefore, all passengers who had not been able to accumulate on the preferred program will be able to do so, it will then be possible to obtain Flying Blue status, flying ITA and vice versa accumulating Flying points with tickets issued by Air France.
How to get Flying status by flying with Air France and KLM
As of yesterday, Nov. 20, ITA Airways passengers can enter their FF Volare number in bookings with the Franco-Dutch airline and accumulate Volare points, qualifying and non-qualifying, according to the following table:
| Class of service | Reservation class | Points |
|---|---|---|
| First (long-haul flights) |
P, F | 250% of the miles flown |
| Business | J, C, D | 175% of the miles flown |
| I | 150% of the miles flown | |
| Z | 125% of the miles flown | |
| O* | 100% of the miles flown | |
| Premium Economy (long-haul flights) |
W | 150% of the miles flown |
| S | 125% of the miles flown | |
| A | 100% of the miles flown | |
| Economy | Y, B | 100% of the miles flown |
| M, U, P, F | 75% of the miles flown | |
| K, H, L, Q | 50% of miles flown | |
| T, E, N, R, V, G | 25% of the miles flown |
How to get XP points and Flying Blue points by flying ITA
Similarly. Flying Blue members can earn XP points and FB miles on all flights sold and operated by ITA. The accumulation of FB points will follow the traditional model, e.g. a Genoa Rome will accumulate 3 valid punts for obtaining/renewing the card and FB points based on distance flown and a single multiplier based on class flown, with no status-related bonus, according to the following scheme:
- Business Class - J, C, E: 175%; D: 150%; I: 125%;
- Premium Economy - P: 150%; U:125%; A: 100%;
- Economy: Y, B, M: 100%; H, K: 75%; V, T, N, Q, S: 50%; X, W, L, O: 25%.
But so ITA is moving to Star Alliance?
The answer is obviously yes, the marriage with Lufthansa (if it comes) will also lead ITA to leave Skyteam and move into Star Alliance, the same thing done by SAS entered the Air France orbit. Until there is closure of the ITA deal, however, it will remain in the current alliance and therefore "perforce" must close deals with all the alliance carriers, although operations are definitely slow as we are nearing the 2-year mark.
Will there be ITA prize tickets with FB points?
Again, the answer is YES. As happened with Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club, I expect very shortly that ITA will open its award rates to Flying Blue members as well.
In fact, the prize tickets are already there, for example, a business class ticket from Los Angeles to Rome Fiumicino, direct, can be booked for 107,500 FB points and less than 10€ in taxes. Certainly not very cheap in terms of points, but the surcharges are laughable and greatly amortize the higher outlay of points. Also bookable with FB points are award tickets partially operated by ITA, such as an approach flight to Paris or Amsterdam, and the long-haul AF or KL route.
Unfortunately, however, the reverse possibility does not currently exist, or book award tickets on Air France or KLM metal using Volare points.
