Why so much KLM?
by JFC AdminWell you’ll probably notice when I start documenting most of my travels that I tend to fly a lot with KLM and to a lesser extent Air France and their SkyTeam partners.
The main reason for this is that I’ve been a frequent flyer with KLM for a number of years now and as I was originally based in the North of England KLM were ideal for me as you could fly to Amsterdam Schiphol and connect there for nearly any destination in the world. The other option would have been flying to Heathrow and connecting there. Anyone who has transferred at both of these airports will know that transferring at Amsterdam is almost a pleasure while transferring at Heathrow can be a major pain. KLM’s Frequent Flyer Programme (Flying Dutchman at the time) was also much more generous than British Airways offering.
Now I live in London and I could fly direct to just about anywhere but I still often fly KLM via Amsterdam rather than going direct. Why would that be? Avoiding Heathrow is one reason, I can go to London City Airport and connect at Amsterdam just like I used to with flights from Newcastle. But that’s not the main reason, after building up many miles on KLM I now get priority check-in, lounge access and when I do really have to use Heathrow I get access to fast track security when flying KLM or their SkyTeam partners. All these extra benefits make it more appealing to stick with the airline I’ve flown for many years.
When KLM merged with Air France the Flying Dutchman programme was merged with the Air France programme and became Flying Blue. Although in many respects Flying Blue is not as generous as Flying Dutchman it still offers the best mileage earning options for my flying pattern.
As I travel mostly around Europe I don’t usually travel business class, for the short distances involved it is simply not worth it. For the journeys I make Flying Blue is a lot more generous with miles than the other options such as British Airways Executive Club, Lufthansa Miles and More and BMI’s Diamond Club. If British Airways made their mileage earning rates similar to Flying Blue that’d probably give me an incentive to switch to them once they move to Heathrow’s new Terminal 5. Once T5 is complete it should be a whole lot more pleasant experience flying BA from Heathrow. However, as I’ve got addicted to miles earning over the last few years they definitely need to improve their programme for me to consider it. To switch to Lufthansa would mean connecting at a different airport (Frankfurt or Munich) but as Amsterdam Schiphol is my preferred airport for connections then there’s no incentive there, as for their Star Alliance partner BMI their route network is not extensive enough.
Despite saying all that, I do fly other airlines on occaision that are not connected to KLM, Air France or SkyTeam. Particularly those that offer a good service out of London City. Belgian airline VLM has a particularly impressive route network out of London City and other airlines are starting to expand their operations at this airport.
Still, what’s good for me is not necessarily the best thing for everyone so on the JFC Travel Club I will be comparing what the other frequent flyer schemes have to offer. However, this will probably still be a few months away.