• Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Live and Let's Fly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Home  >  Air France • Award Bookings • Award Travel • JetBlue • KLM • Tips  >  More Sleaze by Air France-KLM Flying Blue
Air FranceAward BookingsAward TravelJetBlueKLMTips

More Sleaze by Air France-KLM Flying Blue

Matthew Klint Posted onFebruary 2, 2013December 9, 2016 2 Comments

Sleazy ˈslē-zē also ˈslā- (adjective): carelessly made of inferior materials; marked by low character or quality. 

I do not use the term “sleazy” lightly, but I can think of no adjective more apt for the Air France-KLM Flying Blue loyalty program. I’ve bemoaned the saga I had to endure in order to book an award trip that touched Africa and yesterday I ran into a couple more problems.

ISSUE #1: Cannot make more than one booking in a single login session

First, it’s probably best not to try multiple transactions without logging out of your Flying Blue account, closing your browser, clearing your cookies and cache, and logging back in again. I was booking a r/t from JFK to CDG for a client and was forced to book the trip as two one-ways rather than a single r/t (see below for why). I booked the outbound leg without issue. Then I thought I booked the return without issue. I selected the flight, entered the passenger and payment details, and a new PNR was generated. I pulled up the PNR and the reservation looked perfect, although it had not auto-ticketed like the outbound.

In the meantime, I booked another intra-Europe flight for the client. Same issue–no auto ticketing, but a new PNR was generated, everything appeared “confirmed” and there was no mention of any error or glitch on the screen.

About two hours later, neither reservation had ticketed. I thought I’d give it a bit more time, but by the end of the day the reservations had just dropped off.

I called my amigos in the Flying Blue call center and they could see no history of a booking attempt in the account. When I gave them the reference numbers, the response was “this reservation is empty.”

Yes…

I actually had to provide the flight information to the CSR, who manually rebuilt the reservation and then ticketed it. The whole process took an hour…

If booking multiple tickets with the same account, I would at least log out and log back in, as annoying as that may be.

ISSUE #2: Be vigilant for rogue added fees on round-trip bookings

Take a look a the flights below–

(and don’t blame me for the horrendous fuel surcharge–the client wanted to fly non-stop!)

air-france-klm-flying-blue-complaint-04  

air-france-klm-flying-blue-complaint-03  

Add up $472.70 and $404.68 (which doesn’t even make sense in the first place because taxes are much lower coming out of the USA and flight time is also shorter flying east…)  and what do you get?

You’re correct. $877.38. But let’s see what happens when we try to purchase this reservation as a r/t ticket–

air-france-klm-flying-blue-complaint-05  

Oh no! We have to pay an extra $201.39 for the pleasure of booking both flights together.

Extra taxes? Nope. Just an inflated “carrier imposed fuel surcharge” (read: fuel surcharge) line that is more by itself than the combined fuel surcharge and government taxes when booking the two legs separately.

air-france-klm-flying-blue-complaint-06

But if you book them separately, the “correct” price displays–

air-france-klm-flying-blue-complaint-07

air-france-klm-flying-blue-complaint-02  

See, only $877.38?

I almost missed this and I bet many people do (particularly the math challenged among us). This may be an “innocent” glitch by Flying Blue but to me it is another example of how sleazy this program is. How convenient that it works out so nicely in Flying Blue’s favor…

Flying Blue: you’ve been notified. Now fix it. And fix your whole program while you’re at it.

Previous Article Review: Four Seasons Beirut
Next Article This is the United Airlines That I Love

About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

Related Posts

  • United Airlines Worldwide Devaluation

    United Airlines MileagePlus Devaluation Spreads Worldwide

    June 2, 2023
  • JetBlue spirit airlines

    Dismantled JetBlue-American Airlines Northeast Alliance Complicates Spirit Purchase

    May 21, 2023
  • JetBlue American Strategy

    Will Northeast Alliance Survive On Appeal?

    May 20, 2023

2 Comments

  1. FlyingDoctorWu Reply
    February 2, 2013 at 3:36 am

    It’s not just AF/KL who somehow make the the roundtrip award ticket cost more. BA does the same. I priced an two one ways PHL-LHR-FCO, LIN-LHR-FCO but booked as one ticket via the phone because I had a Chase 2 for 1. Low and behold I paid an extra two hundred bucks versus booking them separately… I asked the representative for an explanation and she just couldn’t give me one…

    FDW

  2. Ryjoe Reply
    July 12, 2013 at 9:17 pm

    Of course, Delta doesn’t work like this, of course, because a one-way ticket is the same price in miles as a round-trip!

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Search

Hot Deals for June

Note: Please see my Advertiser Disclosure

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Earn 60,000 Points
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles!
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles
Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Earn $750 Cash Back
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Earn 120,000 Membership Reward® Points

Recent Posts

  • Will United Airlines Add First Class Seats To A320? June 3, 2023
  • Delta 97 Diversion
    Delta Air Lines A330-300 Diverts After Violent Passenger Breaks Free Of Restraints June 3, 2023
  • Spirit Airlines Feisty Senior Citizen
    Feisty Senior Citizen Puts Drunk Spirit Airlines Passenger In Her Place June 2, 2023
  • British Airways Fine
    Justified: British Airways Slapped With $1.1 Million Fine From US Government June 2, 2023

Categories

Popular Posts

  • American Airlines Pins Cockpit Door
    American Airlines First Class Passenger So Angry Over Meal Choices He Pins Flight Attendant To Cockpit Door May 11, 2023
  • Cursing Fight United Airlines
    “Don’t You Ever Tell Me To Speak English!” (Fight Breaks Out On My United Airlines Flight) May 17, 2023
  • Missed VDB United Airlines
    My Foolish $1,000 Airport Lounge Visit May 16, 2023
  • Spirit Airlines Flight Leaves Early
    Spirit Airlines Passengers Enraged After Flight Leaves Early May 8, 2023

Archives

June 2023
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
« May    

As seen on:

live_and_lets_fly

A lovely stay at the @fsdoha, one of the best hote A lovely stay at the @fsdoha, one of the best hotels I have ever stayed in.
A fabulous flight onboard @qatarairways on the A35 A fabulous flight onboard @qatarairways on the A350-1000 in Qsuite Business Class from DFW-DOH. Qatar offers the best all-around business class product in the world with a spacious suite, plenty of privacy, excellent service, and superb cuisine.
The new United Polaris Lounge at Washington Dulles The new United Polaris Lounge at Washington Dulles is the most beautiful of all Polaris Lounges. Stay tuned for a detailed look and many more photos on the blog tomorrow. Well done @united.
@malaysiaairlines just announced it would retire i @malaysiaairlines just announced it would retire its A380 fleet. While not surprising, it is sad to see the growing list of carriers retiring this superjumbo jet. On Malaysia Airlines, I flew the #A380 once from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to London (LHR) and had the entire first class cabin to myself (full review on the blog). It was a beautiful flight that I will always remember.
Welcome to @fly_bur @aveloair! I am so excited tha Welcome to @fly_bur @aveloair! I am so excited that a new carrier, Avelo, has launched, especially from an airport just 12 minutes from my home!
I greatly miss the @lufthansa #747-8 at @flylaxair I greatly miss the @lufthansa #747-8 at @flylaxairport. Hopefully this summer it will return.

.
.
.
.
#Lufthansa #FirstClass #747 #747-8 #StarAlliance #Miles #Points
I recently spent a weekend at the @ventanabigsur. I recently spent a weekend at the @ventanabigsur. This is not only a lovely, all-inclusive resort, but one of the best properties to use your @hyatt World of Hyatt points.
.
.
.
.
#Hyatt #BigSur #California #WorldofHyatt #CA-1 #Points #Hotels
In terms of a spacious first class product, the @E In terms of a spacious first class product, the @Emirates suite on a 777-300ER is hard to beat. My preference is Suite 2K.

.
.
.
.
#Emirates #777 #firstclass
Nearly five years ago, I took a “break” from I Nearly five years ago, I took a “break” from Instagram ahead of the birth of my first child. Goodness, how time flies. While I’ve enjoyed catching up on others over the years, now it is time for me to return to Instagram. In this first post, I highlight two joys in my life, my two children, whom I trust will grow up to be prolific travelers that circumnavigate the globe as ambassadors of love and respect.

.
.
.
.
.

#travel #airplanes #airlines #miles #points #familytravel #human #integrity #honor
United Airlines' new Polaris seat is a huge improv United Airlines' new Polaris seat is a huge improvement over UA's current business class seat. Check out my blog at liveandletsfly.com for 70+ photos of how @united is transforming its entire business class experience starting this December!
The perfect @flysas name tag for #Longyearben! The perfect @flysas name tag for #Longyearben!
Spotted four #polarbear outside of #longyearbyen - Spotted four #polarbear outside of #longyearbyen -- oh, and I love 40°F summer weather!
One of the best crews I have ever had the pleasure One of the best crews I have ever had the pleasure of flying with in all my years of flying. Thank you @flysas SK940 on 11 Aug 2016
Next stop ARN! But dear @flysas , next time if I a Next stop ARN! But dear @flysas , next time if I assign a window seat months in advance, don't move me to a center seat "for my convenience" with no way to get my original seat back... 😞
Ready for #PIA from #MAN to #JFK -- we will be rac Ready for #PIA from #MAN to #JFK -- we will be racing the #Delta flight to JFK at the gate next to us, which also departs at 12:45p. With @onemileatatime
Another room with a beautiful view... #hyattregenc Another room with a beautiful view... #hyattregencycasablanca #cassablanca #hyatt
Load More... Follow on Instagram
facebook twitter instagram rss

Privacy Policy

© Live and Let's Fly All Rights Reserved.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Live and Let's Fly with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.