True friends are hard to find, hard to leave, and impossible to forget,” said George Randolph. In business it’s the same: it’s in the crisis that we see the real ethical businesses, able to continue to satisfy their customers, to respect their employees and their suppliers.
In this respect, the COVID-19 crisis will shed light on the commercial and social practices of many airlines around the world.
You know how critical we can be of our national airline, Air France. But in this crisis of the Coronavirus, it is necessary to note that it does the job: between very reasonable conditions of rebooking and Flying Blue statuses maintained in 2020, TravelGuys makes the point on the measures taken by the airline for its customers.
Reasonable exchange and refund terms
As soon as the crisis began, Air France issued on its Traffic Info page waivers for all passengers (Editor’s note: These are exceptional exchange and refund conditions put in place by the airlines in case of a health or political crisis, normally locally) in constant modification as the world situation evolves.
In case of postponement or voluntary cancellation
Initially located in China, this waiver was soon extended to the whole world, offering modification possibilities to all the airline’s travelers with the modification of tickets at no cost, including those that were not flexible.
Things are pretty clear: if you want to proactively cancel your trip and your flight is not yet cancelled, you can do so at no cost and get a non-refundable credit note. If you only want to postpone your trip, then you can change your reservation without any fare adjustment. Few airlines offer this possibility today.
In case of flight cancellation by the airline
If your flight(s) have already been canceled by the airline, Air France offers a credit note valid for one year and refundable if not used during this period.
While most airlines are reluctant or simply refuse to refund, Air France has chosen to offer refundable credits to its customers from the start. The principle: if you do not use the credit within 1 year, the amount is returned to you. This avoids the need to take out cash today (the airlines don’t have any anyway) and the customer remains satisfied because he knows in any case that he will get his money back. Smart, and especially differentiating.
Concrete measures for Flying Blue loyal customers
From the beginning of the crisis, Flying Blue reacted in mid-March by reducing the qualification requirements by 25%. for frequent flyer program members whose status ended in March, April or May 2020, as well as the waiving of award ticket change fees until the end of May 2020.
But the international situation quickly worsened, and much heavier measures had to be taken in many businesses in the sector: Hilton, Marriott, Delta, United or American have announced that current membership status will be extended through the end of 2021 in each of their respective loyalty programs, and Flying Blue had not yet reacted before yesterday’s announcements.
Free change of award tickets for travel until June 30, 2020
A simple but effective measure: the €45 change fee on award tickets is waived for travel until June 30, 2020. It is conceivable that the measure could be extended if the health situation continues to be so bad.
On the other hand, Flying Blue does not seem to be rebooking, but just cancelling, which means that if the award ticket is more expensive, the difference in fare (in miles or taxes) will still be charged to the customer.
Extension of all public statuses by 12 months
All Silver, Gold and Platinum members whose status expires between March 2020 and February 2021 will receive a 12-month status extension upon expiration.
For example, if your qualification period with Flying Blue is calendar (January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019), your status today expires on March 31, 2021. With this extension, this status will be valid until March 31, 2022. This means that 2020 is a blank year. Very fair, and especially foresighted depending on the health situation that will not be very favorable to travel at the end of the year.
No change for the Platinum For Life qualification
Platinum For Life qualification will be only slightly impacted: the extension year will count as a qualifying year, but XP will still be deducted (to the possible extent) from the account when qualifying for the year.
If you have 460 XP at the time of the qualification cutoff, then 300 XP will be deducted (no change from the current situation). But if you have 270, then those 270 XP will be deducted and you remain Platinum (with that year counting as qualifying for For Life status). Not necessarily fair to those who have had a lot of rollover, but pretty simple to understand.
900 UXP offered for Ultimate members
For the most loyal members who are Platinum Ultimate or Club 2000 Ultimate, Flying Blue will credit an additional 900 UXP by the end of June 2020, which is the equivalent of half an Ultimate qualification (which is 1,800 UXP over 2 years). Very fair, and which arouses the satisfaction of the members in question on the specialized forums.
Bottom line
A beautiful management of the attentive relationship: Air France goes up in our esteem, and knows how to take the problems in hand. Lufthansa, SAS and others are playing cheap! To be continued on TravelGuys.
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