There can be lots of value to having airline elite status, though it goes without saying that not all elite status levels are created equal. In this post, I want to take a closer look at Air France-KLM’s Flying Blue Ultimate elite status.
I’ve written about Flying Blue elite status — particularly Platinum and Gold status — and in this post, will focus on the highest tier. While this is a published elite tier, it’s very exclusive, and the requirements are way beyond what you’d otherwise need for status (this is separate from Hippocampe and Club 2000, which aren’t published elite tiers).
Each of the “big three” airline groups in Europe has such a status — Lufthansa Miles & More has HON Circle status, while British Airways Executive Club has Gold Guest List status.
In this post:
How do you earn Flying Blue Ultimate status?
Flying Blue uses “XP” (which stands for “experience points”) as the metric for earning status. For the three main elite tiers, the requirements are as follows (in each case when you earn a membership tier, your 12-month qualification clock resets for the next tier):
- 100 XPs gets you Flying Blue Silver status
- You then need 180 additional XPs to earn Flying Blue Gold status
- You then need 300 additional XPs to earn Flying Blue Platinum status
Flying Blue Ultimate status, by comparison, has much higher elite requirements:
- Flying Blue Ultimate status requires earning 900 UXPs, so that means the requirements are three times as high as qualifying for Platinum status
- Not only that, but Ultimate status is based on earning UXPs and not XPs; UXPs are earned exclusively for travel on flights marketed by Air France and KLM, and not for travel marketed by partner airlines (otherwise you can qualify for Flying Blue status based exclusively on travel with partner airlines)
- For what it’s worth, the XPs earned by buying sustainable aviation fuel in conjunction with Air France-KLM itineraries do qualify as UXPs as well, so would count toward Ultimate status
As you can see, Ultimate status is way, way, way harder to earn. It has triple the requirements of Platinum status, plus only travel on Air France and KLM counts toward it.
For context, below is the rate at which you ordinarily earn XPs.
So just as an example, earning 900 UXPs would require:
- Nine roundtrip first class tickets annually on long haul flights (up to 5,000 miles)
- 15 roundtrip business class tickets annually on long haul flights (up to 5,000 miles)
- 90 roundtrip economy tickets annually on short haul flights (up to 2,000 miles)
What are the perks of Flying Blue Ultimate status?
What benefits do you receive for having Flying Blue Ultimate status, above and beyond Flying Blue Platinum status (which gets you SkyTeam Elite Plus benefits, and more)?
- An Ultimate Assistant, who can help you with making all of your travel plans, and assisting with any operational issues
- Four upgrade vouchers per year, with one to two vouchers required per upgrade (more details in the next section)
- Free Wi-Fi onboard Air France-KLM flights, with no data caps
- The ability to nominate a companion to Flying Blue Platinum status
- Free rebooking on the day of departure, as long as the origin and destination remain the same; at least 60 minutes before departure, you can move your itinerary by up to 14 hours in either direction, and this can even be done online
- The ability to take up to eight guests into Air France and KLM business class lounges
- More personalized service at airports, including an exclusive check-in facility, an exclusive area in most lounges, pre-boarding on demand, and fast track immigration upon arrival (where allowed by law)
- If flying in La Premiere first class, you can bring two guests into the lounge, rather than the typical one
- A blocked adjacent seat whenever possible (this isn’t a guarantee, but the airline will make an effort)
- The ability to overdraft a mileage balance; you can redeem for an award up to 20% more than your current mileage balance, up to 100,000 miles
- Hertz Platinum status
There’s no doubt that a large part of the value with Flying Blue Ultimate status is better “soft” treatment from staff. From check-in agents, to lounge agents, to flight attendants, you can expect that you’ll get more attention.
As you can see, Flying Blue Ultimate status doesn’t actually get you access to a fully separate lounge. Rather, you can bring more guests into the lounges that you have access to. Furthermore, you’ll find that just about every Air France and KLM lounge has a roped off area for Flying Blue Ultimate members. Some hub lounges (particularly in Paris) even have a separate space that has a la carte dining and more attentive service, so the difference in the quality of lounge facilities does differ.
How do Flying Blue Ultimate upgrade vouchers work?
One of the major perks of Flying Blue Ultimate status is the four upgrade vouchers that members receive each year. They can be redeemed on Air France and KLM marketed and operated flights, with one to two vouchers being required per upgrade, as follows:
- One upgrade voucher is required for an economy to business class upgrade on a short or medium haul flight
- One upgrade voucher is required for an economy to premium economy upgrade on a long haul flight
- One upgrade voucher is required for a premium economy to business class upgrade on a long haul flight
- Two upgrade vouchers are required for an economy to business class upgrade on a long haul flight
- Two upgrade vouchers are required for a business class to first class (La Premiere) upgrade on a long haul flight
As you might expect, there are some terms to be aware of:
- Upgrades are allowed on award tickets or revenue tickets, with the exception of first class (La Premiere) upgrades, which are only possible on revenue tickets
- Regional flights can be upgraded as part of a long haul journey at no extra cost; in other words, you’d pay the same for a New York to Paris to Barcelona upgrade as you’d pay for a New York to Paris upgrade
- Upgrades can be cleared in advance subject to certain fare classes being available, with the exception of first class (La Premiere) upgrades, which can only be processed when online check-in opens, subject to availability
- As far as fare classes go, a premium economy upgrade requires the “S” fare class to be available, and a business class upgrade requires the “D,” “I,” or “Z” fare class to be available
How does this status compare to British Airways & Lufthansa?
How do the perks of Air France-KLM Flying Blue Ultimate status compare to the perks of Lufthansa Miles & More HON Circle status and British Airways Executive Club Gold Guest List status? I’d say there’s one biggest point of differentiation:
- The biggest perk of Lufthansa HON Circle status is that you get access to Lufthansa First Class Lounges and SWISS First Class Lounges, regardless of which cabin or route you’re flying
- The biggest perk of British Airways Gold Guest List status is that you get access to “true” first class lounges, like the British Airways Concorde Room London, the Chelsea Lounge New York, etc.
So I do think that probably makes HON Circle and Gold Guest List status more compelling in terms of the incremental perks offered. At the same time, I understand why this difference exists:
- Air France tries to make its first class product exclusive in a way you won’t find at the other airlines, so it’s not surprising that Ultimate members don’t get access to the Air France La Premiere Lounge; conversely, alcohol selection aside, I find the British Airways Concorde Room to not even be as good as some of the world’s best business class lounges
- To Air France’s credit, the airline does have some nice “lounge within a lounge” setups, which do offer a materially different experience
- Flying Air France is actually pleasant for the most part, and the carrier has phenomenal products in A350 business class and 777 business class; meanwhile on Lufthansa, you have to put up with a pretty lousy product to earn that status
What I’m impressed by is that Flying Blue keeps improving the Ultimate status. For example, in recent times we’ve seen the addition of free Wi-Fi, same day flight changes, and more flexibility with upgrade vouchers. I appreciate the direction the program is headed, and hopefully that trend continues.
Bottom line
Flying Blue Ultimate is the top tier elite status in the Air France-KLM program. This has triple the requirements of Platinum status, plus only allows you to qualify based on flying with Air France and KLM.
Flying Blue Ultimate members can expect special treatment throughout their journey, from special check-in, to exclusive spaces in lounges, to pre-boarding on demand, and more. On top of that, Ultimate members receive Platinum status for a companion, and Hertz Platinum status, as well as free Wi-Fi, same day flight changes, and much more.
Are any OMAAT readers Flying Blue Ultimate members? If so, what has your experience been with the status?
My military flying days ended a couple of decades ago, my professional civilian passenger days started thereafter. However, at the behest of my masters who dictate my seat class and airline, I am at a disadvantage when it comes to airline points programs, status knowledge, etc. Ben’s blog has filled many knowledge gaps, furthermore, made me blatantly aware of the fact that when I become a leisure only traveler, points and status will be unattainable.
My military flying days ended a couple of decades ago, my professional civilian passenger days started thereafter. However, at the behest of my masters who dictate my seat class and airline, I am at a disadvantage when it comes to airline points programs, status knowledge, etc. Ben’s blog has filled many knowledge gaps, furthermore, made me blatantly aware of the fact that when I become a leisure only traveler, points and status will be unattainable.
Parting with hard cash will be my only means of enjoying enhanced customer experiences.
Ben, are there some estimations of how mamy Ultimate / HON circle status members AF/LH has?
Great resume of the program. I managed to get to ultimate very quickly within 9 months and the welcome was warm. On flights, the staff are almost swooning over you and the assistant service is really nice and useful. I’m not sure who needs or wants to invite “8” people into a lounge. And gifting platinum to somebody is nice, but at the end its me doing the traveling not them. I went for it...
Great resume of the program. I managed to get to ultimate very quickly within 9 months and the welcome was warm. On flights, the staff are almost swooning over you and the assistant service is really nice and useful. I’m not sure who needs or wants to invite “8” people into a lounge. And gifting platinum to somebody is nice, but at the end its me doing the traveling not them. I went for it to get the vouchers. As every airline CEO who has a first class SHOULD know (i don’t think they do)…the only things we really want is: zero fuss if there is a problem and…to fly first when we can’t fork out the cash for it (but we still fork out for biz). When I read the fine print of Ultimate 2 months ago I was disappointed. , I realized that people actually knowing my name was nice but not worth the effort, as the only benefit I wanted were the vouchers (and first class lounge and car service)…biggest letdown was to find post-ex that the vouchers were for upgrades from eco to biz…I imagine that nearly 100% of ultimate members already fly business, so this is completely useless. I gave my feedback just a month ago, and was delighted to read yesterday that the vouchers can now be used for LP!! Very well done. I am Hon circle (even harder to earn than ultimate) for 13 years and it’s very hard to pry me away as it’s exactly what you say: access to F lounges in at least 5 airports is priceless, as is car service and virtually anyhting is zero problem. But the hard product and delays on the Swiss and German side have become unbearable, especially on LH. This change with the Ultimate vouchers really starts to level the playing field for me. I am very impressed by everything with AF so far. A month ago I would say “meh”. Now I say yeah…
a few more tweaks and I would consider dropping HON circle. So I’ll keep it going for another year for sure.
I think that the assumption that ultis will always be flying in business is a bit naive. There are definitely some people with frequent work travel which is mostly restricted to Y within Europe and premium economy long haul, a few senior managers who are contractually entitled to fly in the highest class available (so can't use the P upgrade because they're already there!), and there will also certainly be some small business owners etc...
I think that the assumption that ultis will always be flying in business is a bit naive. There are definitely some people with frequent work travel which is mostly restricted to Y within Europe and premium economy long haul, a few senior managers who are contractually entitled to fly in the highest class available (so can't use the P upgrade because they're already there!), and there will also certainly be some small business owners etc flying on a mix of classes depending on price, route, and schedule (e.g. going out in business on Tuesday for a bunch of meetings, returning in Y on Friday and taking advantage of the weekend to recover).
That's all academic for me as, beyond the fact that Ulti would be really hard for me to achieve, the huge devaluations of FB miles (85k for an one-way to Central Africa is ludicrous) have turned me off the programme for good and I now only really use it for the Accor double-dipping facility. I've always been happy with the treatment I have received over the years as a silver/gold elite in FB and other Skyteam schemes, so I still think that it can be a good choice for those who fly too much to prioritise maximising the value of redemptions.
Due to my leisure travel so far, and remaining this year, I will be reaching FB Ultimate in October as will my partner. I was looking forward to what was available in addition to Platinum and with the improvements this has been enhanced in a good way.
The redemptions are much of a muchness as if you get a good offer with the sales each month then it works out if you can be flexible...
Due to my leisure travel so far, and remaining this year, I will be reaching FB Ultimate in October as will my partner. I was looking forward to what was available in addition to Platinum and with the improvements this has been enhanced in a good way.
The redemptions are much of a muchness as if you get a good offer with the sales each month then it works out if you can be flexible like we can.
Overall, FB works for us here in the UK when we have both AF & KL from out local airport, so along with the Accor double dip we are currently happy. The improvement we would like to see is being given status with Accor through FB status.
Yes, there are some Ultimate flyers who got it from being mostly economy class and/or premium economy class flyers and maybe 0-2 long-haul business class trips.
Since it can be done without hitting a specific spend amount, it’s actually far more achievable than what is required to hit a comparable level with the legacy major airlines which have a spend amount requirement for such kind of level.
With EC 261/2004 compensation payouts included and advance...
Yes, there are some Ultimate flyers who got it from being mostly economy class and/or premium economy class flyers and maybe 0-2 long-haul business class trips.
Since it can be done without hitting a specific spend amount, it’s actually far more achievable than what is required to hit a comparable level with the legacy major airlines which have a spend amount requirement for such kind of level.
With EC 261/2004 compensation payouts included and advance booking on one of my more frequented short-haul routes via CDG, it’s possible to get Ultimate for something like $7000-$11,000 or even less in spend in a membership year.
Now 3 years Ultimate. Each year, it improves. You didn't mention specifically the big non-Schengen lounge for Ultimate in Amsterdam or the section in Schengen (smaller, but exclusive). Also good to know: on European flights in Embrears, you often get bumped up to BC on Economy tickets pro-actively.
Spock noted that "wanting" is more desirable than "having."
Imagine flying that much on a Skyteam carrier
Don't let your experiences with DL and KL cloud your judgement.
Some Skyteam airlines actually are very good. Take a business class flight on China Airlines and come back to tell us you didn't like it. Garuda, VN and even Saudia (politics and lack of alcohol aside) are hugely underrated too.
AF may not be the greatest airline in Europe, but they're better than their two major competitors. Flying Aegean or THY is...
Don't let your experiences with DL and KL cloud your judgement.
Some Skyteam airlines actually are very good. Take a business class flight on China Airlines and come back to tell us you didn't like it. Garuda, VN and even Saudia (politics and lack of alcohol aside) are hugely underrated too.
AF may not be the greatest airline in Europe, but they're better than their two major competitors. Flying Aegean or THY is a lot more pleasant, but it unfortunately only works from/to/within the Balkans and Near East.
Ultimate customers are invited to attend events with AFKL management and they have the opportunity to provide input on potential changes or improvements to products and services.
Yes, and in some markets AF-KL regional management even invite some AF-KL Platinum customers who are short of Ultimate status along with Ultimate status holders. But if they change anything based on customer input at these meetings, it’s not common.
This is also the case for HON circle… alas, the one person who should be listening…Carsten Spohr is…not there. So while the marketing managers become very excited about “upcoming changes”, the message of “keeping it great the way it was while innovating to become even better” goes on deaf ears.