One unique aspect of the Air France-KLM Flying Blue program has long been how environmental contributions have contributed toward elite status, whether through the purchase of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), or through mileage donations to environmental causes.
A couple of days ago I covered how seemingly overnight, the Flying Blue program drastically decreased status qualification through these methods, requiring 50% larger contributions to earn the same number of XPs (experience points, the method by which one earns status). There’s now an update, and I’m pleased to see the way this is being handled.
Flying Blue pauses changes to XP earning from SAF
Flying Blue has announced that it’s delaying the changes it’s making to the ability to earn XPs through SAF and mileage donations, and this will now be implemented as of December 1, 2026. Tiffany Funk, Head of Flying Blue, shared the following with me:
On Monday, we updated how many XP you earn on Sustainable Aviation Fuel and charitable contributions. We didn’t handle the rollout well, and the new rate went live with unclear messaging and without notice. While this affects a small share of our members, we recognize for those members it matters a great deal.
The update was part of a continuous review of our elite tiers. We want status to stay balanced across every way you earn XP, in the air and on the ground, so that we can keep delivering the benefits and service you expect.
For now, we’re pressing pause. From tomorrow (4 November), SAF and charitable contributions will earn XP at the previous rate, and any contribution made since 2 November will be credited at the prior rate as well. The new rate of €15 per XP begins on 1 December 2026; no program in the market will recognize SAF contributions more generously than Flying Blue, including on award tickets.
We want Flying Blue to be a program you build your life around. Many of you put a lot of care into planning your flights and status qualification, and we understand your need to have time to make adjustments.
And to everyone who told us why this matters to you: thank you for caring this much about Flying Blue.
This is the right way to handle this situation
I am happy to see how Flying Blue leadership is handling this situation. Let me share my take on this situation, broadly.
I don’t necessarily think Flying Blue had to make some big, public announcement about the change in advance. After all, this isn’t an official part of the program, and there has really never been any member communication about these opportunities.
I think what was frustrating is that the change was implemented before the website was even updated. So you had the higher pricing already showing, while the page about SAF and mileage donations still reflected the old cost, leaving many people wondering if the change was a glitch or intentional.
At a minimum, I think it’s appropriate to update the webpage before the changes go live, and ideally even give a little notice on the page dedicated to this, just so members aren’t caught off guard.
When it comes to the change as such, Flying Blue does indeed have the most generous opportunities to qualify for elite status through these types of contributions. Selfishly I love this option, but it’s not like members are “entitled” to a certain rate of qualification through this method, since there’s not actually any objectively “fair” way to reward elite qualification for contributions.
So for Flying Blue, it’s presumably about balancing environmental goals with elite ranks. I know with the 50% price hike, I’ll be much less likely to buy SAF, and that’s fine.
Bottom line
As of December 1, 2026, the Air France-KLM Flying Blue program will be decreasing the number of XPs that members earn for contributing toward sustainable aviation fuel and environmental causes. This was initially supposed to be implemented a couple of days ago, but members were caught off guard, so I appreciate that the implementation of this has been delayed.
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