Category Archives: Readers’ questions

I received a letter from American Express promoting their Air France/KLM Flying Blue credit card. When I pay with the card I will earn frequent flyer miles. Would it make sense to apply for this card? Richard Schmidt Airline Passenger Guru’s response: Co-branded credit cards are a well-known phenomenon in the airline industry. Many carriers have co-branded cards enabling members of their frequent flyer programs to earn miles when they charge their expenses to those cards. It is beyond doubt that it is profitable for airlines and credit card...

A reader asked us how he could learn the price of an award ticket. He was unable to find a table showing the prices of award tickets. This is a relatively recent phenomenon as such tables still existed a decade ago. Ticket prices and hotel room prices have in common that there is hardly a relationship with the cost of flights or hotel rooms. Both airlines and hotels love dynamic pricing, which means that prices depend on demand at a certain moment. As a result, they can change every day and even on 1...

A reader of our website who is a platinum member of Flying Blue, Air France/KLM’s frequent flyer program, shares his experience with a European flight operated by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. While the passengers are already on board, the purser moves the curtain separating business and economy class from behind row 3 to behind row 2. From row 3 all seats but one are taken. However, nobody is sitting in the first 2 rows (business class). While moving the curtain the purser tells the passengers in row 3 they...

We received several questions from readers that have one thing in common: they pertain to the relationship of airlines and their customers. The most frequently asked question is: “How can I score an upgrade?” This suggests that what flyers desire most is an upgrade to first class. Small wonder that quite a few readers ask our opinion about tips they have read or heard for a free upgrade. Today, this kind of tips is usually worthless. Airlines have learned to make money by nickel-and-diming their customers and by limiting capacity so as to keep...