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It’s a frequent flyer working in Paris and living in Hyères (Var) which caught our attention. His trips back and forth between the capital and Orly airport have become much rarer over the past year, for reasons that need not be developed. But the health situation having improved in recent weeks, he is resuming his weekly shuttles.
And there, surprise, on its Flying Blue program, the miles continue to accumulate … But the counter of its XP points remains blocked.
Focus
These XP allow you to change your Flying Blue status. As we move up the “Explorer”, “Silver”, “Gold” and “Platinium” ranks, the advantages are more numerous: more miles earned for each euro spent, access to priority queues, discounts or free on certain “seat” and “baggage” options, or even – this is no small feat – personalized assistance for “Platinium” customers.
These XP, the number of which depends on the travel cabin and the type of flight, are earned on all eligible flights flown with Air France, KLM and their SkyTeam partners. And that’s the rub. Until recently – and for some twenty years now, the Paris Orly-Toulon route was operated by Air France. However, under the Vesta plan to redistribute the group’s network (made public in the summer of 2020) which provides, among other things, for the deployment of a strong domestic Transavia offer, created or replacing AF lines, the link is ensured. by Transavia since March 28.
Vesta, goddess of the hearth, and indeed, there is fire
However, although Transavia flights do indeed allow the accumulation of miles, they are not eligible for the XP system. An unchanged policy which found its logic in the strong identity leisure Transavia links, historically. But this Vesta plan, which is scheduled for completion in 2023, significantly changes the situation: by setting up certain routes, in particular radial (from region to region), Transavia flights should accommodate many more business passengers than by past, in minimum proportion. This is therefore the case with our example from the Var.
This could also be the case for examples from Brest or Biarritz (from Biarritz) – AF lines already and now operated by Transavia – or, in the near future, Montpellier or Pau. Radial connections have not yet been officially announced.
On the side of Transavia, we are told that it is not the same product: “COf course, in the case of this client, there are no more possibilities to accumulate XP, but the flights are cheaperIn other words, you can’t have it both ways. The loss of the XP advantage is certain. What about the prices?
Money Time
“My routine is as follows, details our witness : I leave Toulon on Tuesday morning and return there on Thursday evening. I paid with AF my return trip from 200 to 250 €, excluding the summer period. During the winter, I was even able to take advantage of single flights at 49 €. Prices have not fallen with Transavia.“An assertion which the company is surprised. The memory of our traveler has the right to be faulty. Except that it is about business trips: the accounts prevail.
Verification…
The return trip Toulon-Orly, with a departure from Toulon on Tuesday June 8 at 6:40 a.m. and a return on Thursday June 10 at 9:05 p.m. amounts to 228 €. Or exactly in the “Air France” range that our attentive Varois has assured us. And we avoided the previous week (Tuesday June 1-Thursday June 3) during which, by the grace of yield management, this same trip costs € 293 (and it should be noted that if the dates chosen are September 7 and 9, 2021, the amount drops to € 133).
Even assuming that the Transavia trip was some ten euros less than that of AF, we are in the case of frequent flyers, mostly business travelers, paid for by their employer. If the company can possibly be satisfied with a reduction in prices, the end user, the employee, he, concerned above all about his comfort – and therefore, in particular, of the advantages induced by loyalty programs – is not there. not.
Golden Client
What about the edifying case of this golden ex-client of the Pavilion company who finds himself in Gros-Jean when he hasn’t asked for anything? What response from the Air France-KLM group and Transavia? In the same voice: “The redistribution of these domestic lines is justified by AF’s annual losses of € 200 million on this network. To remedy this, we opted for the Transavia solution, with its lower production costs.“Is it likely that this response will satisfy our business traveler between Seine and Var? And that it will satisfy the neo-exiles in the Paris region, as many travel nomads ? We doubt it.
Moreover, well aware of the limit of such an argument, the Air France-KLM group tells us that the domestic Transavia offer is new, that it demands “some adjustments“. And at Transavia, after a few pressing questions, we are told:”It’s too early for any new announcements, but yes, we’re thinking about it“.
OK so this is a real topic. Both in terms of prices and services, we are told, or connection with the Flying Blue loyalty program, the starting point of our questioning, which unfolds like a skein.
Yes, it is a real subject, indeed. Because this golden client from Hyères is in fact solid gold: he hardly allowed himself, when the price of his AF air trip exceeded € 250, in July and August in particular, to use the TGV (1 hour of Toulon to Marseille, then 3 hours by LGV to Gare de Lyon) …
Alchemy for beginners
In solid gold, that’s for sure, because he didn’t even tell us about the fact that: even if he recovered his XP rights, he could only benefit from the advantages induced on journeys other than those operated by Transavia since priority queues or lounges, with this operator, there is no; that its 6 daily AF rotations between Toulon and Orly have been halved since Transavia took over this route; or that if it is a question of going, in final destination, to Fort-de-France, for example, there would be no more continuity of the transfer of his luggage between Toulon and the Martinique prefecture. Cool, finally, the “grumbler”.
A golden customer, then, but a little weighed down by his XP points. Transavia should not be transformed into “upside down” alchemists. Something is wrong: the pandemic has prompted the Air France-KLM group to “freeze” the Flying Blue statuses at the start of the crisis until the end of 2021, when their lifespan is usually 15 months. The advantages of our witness between Seine and Var are therefore safe until the end of the year. Like those of the others, among the approximately 2 million passengers who have already made or who, possibly, will make the changeover Air France / Transavia.
We repeat, the Air France-KLM group like Transavia assured us that all these subjects concerning business travelers were on the table. We hope for their customers (but also for them) that they are at the top of the pile, because, during this time, EasyJet and the SNCF are refining their corporate offer …
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