Qantas has announced a new frequent flyer partnership with Air France-KLM. Air France-KLM Flying Blue and Qantas Frequent Flyer members will be offered inter-company mileage earning and redemption opportunities and tier benefits across all flights from both companies.
The announcement is more of an upgrade than a new scheme, as Qantas established code-share agreements with Air France-KLM in 2018. Under this agreement, customers of each airline could connect on flights between Australia and Europe via Singapore and Hong Kong; customers also benefited from lounge access and Qantas points on Qantas coded flights.
The revised partnership allows passengers to see these benefits on all flights operated by Qantas, Air France and KLM. Qantas Frequent Flyers will be able to fly to over 60 new destinations across Europe and Africa, including Biarritz, Dresden, Calvi, Corsica and Bristol.
Qantas’ Frequent Flyers, holding Gold status or higher, will also be able to access tier benefits including priority boarding, priority check-in and extra baggage allowance on any Air France and KLM flight.
Passengers that use Flying Blue, the loyalty program used by Air France and KLM, will be able to benefit from this announcement as well, as points can be earned by flying anywhere in the Qantas network.
Members of both loyalty programs will also be able to redeem Classic Flight Reward seats, across Air France and KLM’s Economy and Business Class cabins.
“Members will now have access to hundreds of thousands more reward seats in popular destinations including Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Barcelona and Athens, as well as new destinations across France, Italy and Northern Europe. Frequent Flyers used 10 billion Qantas Points booking dream trips across Europe last year. We know this partnership will allow our members to explore more of the continent and find reward seats more easily.”
Qantas Loyalty CEO, Olivia Wirth
In order to earn Qantas Points with Air France or KLM, members just have to enter their Qantas Frequent Flyer number when booking their flight. Members can also redeem available reward seats when they log in and select “use points” when searching for flights on the Qantas website.
A limiting factor in the partnership is that points can only be earned on eligible booking classes, except on Air France and KLM codeshare flights operated by an airline other than Air France, KLM or Qantas.
Should You Use Qantas Points to Redeem Air France-KLM Flight?
Using Qantas Points to redeem Air France-KLM flight isn’t a good idea. Apart from carrier surcharges, you would not find full seat redemption availability for Air France-KLM flight on Qantas booking page. Most importantly, the redemption rates for Air France-KLM flight are on the high side. One way Europe to US East Coast on Business Class already cost 75k Qantas points.
Here is the redemption chart for Qantas’ Partner Airlines:
Should You Use Flying Blue Miles For Qantas Flight?
Flying Blue doesn’t have an award chart as it adopts dynamic pricing, although the pricing is fairly consistent for partner airlines. Nevertheless, the pricing appeared to be on the high side as well. One way Business Class on Qantas from Brisbane to Los Angeles already cost 144k miles.
It is better off using Flying Blue miles for Air France-KLM flight. At the beginning of each month, Flying Blue will publish selected discount routes for redemption – up to 50% off.
What are your thoughts on this announcement?