Starting today, reciprocal elite benefits between Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Air France-KLM Flying Blue have gone into effect. This stems from the combined trans-Atlantic joint venture between Virgin Atlantic, Delta Air Lines, Air France and KLM announced late last year. The exact details are now available. InsideFlyer has all the details!
For Flying Club Gold and Silver members
Flying Club members will greatly benefit from the new partnership, as it opens up benefits when flying Air France or KLM within Europe, Africa and Asia where Virgin’s own route network is lacking.
Gold members will receive access to any Air France, KLM, Skyteam or third party operated lounge when flying Air France or KLM. Furthermore they can benefit from SkyPriority, which provides priority check-in, baggage handling, security and boarding. Gold members receive an extra bag on top of their usual allowance as well. Even when buying the cheapest Light ticket on Air France/KLM, one piece is luggage is then included.
Flying Club Silver members, however, receive limited benefits of priority check-in/baggage drop-off and boarding.
For Flying Blue elite members
Flying Blue elite members traveling on Virgin Atlantic operated flights can also look forward to an improved experience.
For Flying Blue Gold and Platinum members, lounge access is an attractive benefit. These passengers will receive access to Virgin’s own Clubhouses or partner lounges. However, this benefit is NOT available in London Heathrow’s Terminal 3, Johannesburg, Manchester, Las Vegas, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados and Saint Lucia. In LHR T3, passengers can use The Qantas Lounge instead.
It’s a shame Flying Blue members are barred from the flagship Heathrow Clubhouse, however the Clubhouses in Gatwick, New York, Los Angeles, etc, are available.
In addition to lounge access, Gold and Platinum members also receive priority check-in, boarding and baggage handling as well as fast track security and an additional bag.
Silver member receive priority check-in/bag drop-off and boarding.
These benefits are valid globally on VS-operated flight, so are not limited to the trans-Atlantic joint venture.
Mileage earning
As part of the partnership, members can now earn and redeem miles on all airlines. Flying Blue members can earn a certain percentage of the distance flown, based on the booking class.
This applies only to VS-marketed flights, operated by Virgin, Delta, Air France or KLM. If an AF or KL codeshare is booked, the miles earned depend on the ticket fare. Earning XP is, as usual, based on the zone travelled.
For Virgin’s Flying Club members, the earning scheme for KLM is the following:
And for Air France:
