Going forward for Flying Blue members, every Level mile (elite-qualifying mile) earned above your status threshold will be saved after your ‘annual level check’ for the following year so you don’t have to start from zero every year to reach elite status. Level miles are earned with flights on Air France, KLM and partners Air Europa, Kenya Airways and TAROM as well as SkyTeam partners.

The additional level miles you earned in 2011 will automatically appear in your account in mid-2012. Platinum members now have a lowered threshold for carrying forward their miles. In the past, carry over miles were only available to Platinum members in France and Monaco for all miles over 150,000 miles and the rest of the world, for all miles above 115,000. Now, all the miles over the required thresholds of 90,000 (France and Monaco) and 70,000 miles (rest of the world) will be carried over.

In other news for Flying Blue members, you can now spend your miles instantly online at the flyingbluenews online store. The Flying Blue Store offers an alternative to spending your miles for award flights. You can spend your miles for hotel stays, holiday packages, car hire and more. There’s no need to request an award voucher to be mailed or faxed–you’ll receive an e-voucher that you can use once you have selected your desired award in the store and have logged in using your Flying Blue number and PIN. As soon as you receive your e-voucher, you can make your reservations directly using the partner’s reservations center as specified in the e-voucher. Be sure to mention that you will be using a Flying Blue award so your miles will be redeemed. Visit http://flyingbluenews.com to see the new award options.

In other online news, members in France, the Netherlands and Spain can now earn Flying Blue award miles when shopping online at http://www.flyingbluenews.com to access webshops like Fnac, Fauchon, Bol.com and the Apple store. The ability to earn miles while shopping online will be available in more markets soon.