Qantas reciprocal relationship with KLM/Air France (2020 onwards)

Woo hoo!! Thanks AFF team for taking the time to follow this up. This is an example of a huge benefit outcome to members that likely wouldn't have happened otherwise. Glad to see they have sent a reminder to checkin staff at the airport.

Now. Just to wait until I can take my KLM flight 😷
 
We now (finally) have some answers about the specifics of this partnership. I hope this clarifies things!

After we reached out to Qantas, Air France & KLM also sent a reminder to their staff about the QFF partnership.


The clarification is helpful, thank you, but you still cant select QF FF when booking and I doubt the ground staff are any more aware than they were previously. If you cant get your QF FF assigned to your booking then it's all over red rover. And I have tried to do that at checkin and been refused.
 
Anyone have any updates on this? I have some flights between Paros and Amsterdam and Amsterdam and Belgrade booked with them and i still can’t add my LTG statutes to their booking. I get the ‘update successful’ banner but then the FF number immediately drops off. They say that all benefits are system generated, but no benefits are generating. It’s exceptionally frustrating to the point where im about to cancel all flights with them as I don’t want to get into a ‘flying blue’ with them at the airport when they try to charge me €50 to check in a bag that should be free!
 
Anyone have any updates on this? I have some flights between Paros and Amsterdam and Amsterdam and Belgrade booked with them and i still can’t add my LTG statutes to their booking. I get the ‘update successful’ banner but then the FF number immediately drops off. They say that all benefits are system generated, but no benefits are generating. It’s exceptionally frustrating to the point where im about to cancel all flights with them as I don’t want to get into a ‘flying blue’ with them at the airport when they try to charge me €50 to check in a bag that should be free!
Prompted by this thread to try to add our QFF numbers to our AF bookings and it does exactly what you describe.

I would call or social media message them to add your number.
 
Anyone have any updates on this? I have some flights between Paros and Amsterdam and Amsterdam and Belgrade booked with them and i still can’t add my LTG statutes to their booking. I get the ‘update successful’ banner but then the FF number immediately drops off. They say that all benefits are system generated, but no benefits are generating. It’s exceptionally frustrating to the point where im about to cancel all flights with them as I don’t want to get into a ‘flying blue’ with them at the airport when they try to charge me €50 to check in a bag that should be free!
Might be worth ringing air france. I rang them a couple of time, only a few minutes wait time, and friendly staff. As you will ring the Australian team, chances are they are aware of the partnership with Qantas, outside of respective alliances, and maybe they can help you. Let us know how it goes.
 
Anyone have any updates on this? I have some flights between Paros and Amsterdam and Amsterdam and Belgrade booked with them and i still can’t add my LTG statutes to their booking. I get the ‘update successful’ banner but then the FF number immediately drops off. They say that all benefits are system generated, but no benefits are generating. It’s exceptionally frustrating to the point where im about to cancel all flights with them as I don’t want to get into a ‘flying blue’ with them at the airport when they try to charge me €50 to check in a bag that should be free!
I read this article fairly recently and have made use of it. I am flying to AMS with Qatar, but then doing a return trip to BLL (Billudn Denmark) from there. I rang Qantas to make the booking. The lovely lady in Hobart had never heard of Billund, so I just said look up BLL! The home of Lego, by the way. The outbound KLM flight seemed to be a "city flyer" type and no reward seats available, so I paid for that and she entered my QFF number during the booking. The return flight was booked as a classic reward: J, because I have plenty of points and will be able to use the lounge.

I just noticed that my OW Emerald status should be recognised for lounge and luggage perks, so I might not have to leave one bag in luggage storage after all. Perhaps I will print out that article to show, just in case!

Possibly you cannot add your QFF number retrospectively or through some airline websites, but it can be done via Qantas. Not online, because no OWE association. Add your QFF number at check in.

But yes, the deal is real.
 
Last edited:
...

I just noticed that my OW Emerald status should be recognised for lounge and luggage perks, so I might not have to leave one bag in luggage storage after all. Perhaps I will print out that article to show, just in case! ...

Where are you seeing this? The Air France page on the Qantas website doesn't refer to lounge access.
 

Attachments

  • AFF.jpg
    AFF.jpg
    51.8 KB · Views: 14
Where are you seeing this? The Air France page on the Qantas website doesn't refer to lounge access.
The link in post #2 goes to the Business Traveller article. I have re-read it and not so sure of lounge access as OWE, but my return flight is in J anyway. The article definitely mentions luggage. I have booked through Qantas on KLM, not Air France. I don’t know if both airlines benefits are the same.
 
Last edited:
Anyone have any updates on this? I have some flights between Paros and Amsterdam and Amsterdam and Belgrade booked with them and i still can’t add my LTG statutes to their booking. I get the ‘update successful’ banner but then the FF number immediately drops off. They say that all benefits are system generated, but no benefits are generating. It’s exceptionally frustrating to the point where im about to cancel all flights with them as I don’t want to get into a ‘flying blue’ with them at the airport when they try to charge me €50 to check in a bag that should be free!

Yep - same here, attempting to add QFF numbers shows "Successfully updated!", but retrieving the booking again shows no frequent flyer details associated with the passenger. :mad:
 
I think you had to make the flight booking through Qantas for your FF details to attach.
Doesn’t really make sense though given (a) KLM have a spot on their equivalent of manage my booking for qantas and (b) I have a revenue fare for intra-Europe so can’t book via qantas anyway…

Hoping they fix it by the time I travel. However it’s such a terrible earn rate I would try one post flight attempt at obtaining points and then not worry about it further.
 
Last month, while trying to flee Europe as COVID-19 was escalating quicker than alcohol orders at an AFF lounge meet, I went about trying to get answers as to the reciprocal benefits. I made three separate calls to QFF on the same day, asking about benefits when travelling as a Platinum in revenue Y. All were answered by the Asian call centre.

Agent 1 told me I would have lounge access in Paris but only when travelling on QF flight number. Points and SCs are earned on an AF flight number.

Agent 2 told me I "definitely have lounge access". I would also have priority seating and baggage. I then asked specifically what the baggage allowance was for a non-Americas flight. The agent asked me the specific route. I said Geneva to Casablanca. He said I would have an additional 50kg on any Y ticket. I confirmed this, twice. 50kgs extra on any Y ticket – regardless of the fare bucket, which would make the baggage allowance more generous than what Qantas provides to its own elites on its own metal. I then asked if there is any lounge access? “Yes, definitely.” I confirmed: “So if Air France has a lounge at GVA, I would be able to access it travelling in Y, provided I present my QF card, is that correct?” It was a clear “Yes”.

Agent 3 began by listing the same five benefits that are outlined on the QF website for travel on AF. I specifically asked what the extra baggage allowance is. She looked and said 50kg total (not extra). I confirmed that this was in any class on any ticket, including deep discount Y. She said it was. I then asked if I had lounge access. She said it would depend where. I said Paris CDG and GVA. She said at CDG I could access the AA lounge and the CX lounge and in GVA the BA lounge. I confirmed with her that I would have access to those lounges even though I am flying with AF. She said yes.

With the possible exception of the 50kg total baggage allowance, I'm 100% confident that the information provided by the three agents is 100% wrong.

It's been two years and it's not like I've spent enough time on the phone to Qantas in recent months so I tried again. This time, I limited my query to what the additional baggage allowance is for a Platinum travelling on AF. Several minutes of hold time later I was told it's 27kg for Y and premium Y, 37kg for J and 47kg for F. What bizarre numbers. And, I'm sure, not remotely correct.
 
I think you had to make the flight booking through Qantas for your FF details to attach.
I suspect you’re correct, but it shouldn’t be like that. I can’t see anywhere where the agreement states the ticket must be bought through Qantas or on 081 ticket stock. I suspect there’s going to be some ‘discussions’ at the airport with a duty manager about this.
 
I suspect you’re correct, but it shouldn’t be like that. I can’t see anywhere where the agreement states the ticket must be bought through Qantas or on 081 ticket stock. I suspect there’s going to be some ‘discussions’ at the airport with a duty manager about this.
Is it the duty manager’s field of work? I know in the far past I could not get my FF number to save on a booking. In the end I let it go. I am just very happy now that I could book a reward flight on KLM. 😊
 
Read our AFF credit card guides and start earning more points now.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

Is it the duty manager’s field of work? I know in the far past I could not get my FF number to save on a booking. In the end I let it go. I am just very happy now that I could book a reward flight on KLM. 😊
When it comes to receiving the benefits of the agreement, like the luggage allowance, which seems will not be allocated due to the a absence of the frequent flyer number in the booking, then yes, I believe this would fall to the duty manager as I doubt the check in staff will check in a bag for free when their system is demanding payment. I personally couldn’t care less about the points earned on these flights, I care more about the luggage allowance, priority boarding and seat selection which will all be denied without the Qantas status on the BP!
 
I was mostly hoping for seat selection on the KLM website after adding my QFF details. The KLM website is obviously set up to allow the QFF details to be added (it's shown as a choice in the "Loyalty" details of the passenger information), but it's buggy/doesn't save.
 
I flew AMS LYS last week with KLM. It was a reward booking with Flying Blue miles.
I could input my QFF number (WP) and Mrs chrismars too (gold) at time of booking. From there, my booking was always showing my flying blue number (used for the reward flight) and I couldnt change it back to QFF, neither from the app nor from the website. I could only choose standard seats until checkin.

At online checkin time, we both had the sky-priority logo on the digital boarding pass. We have no status with AF/KLM, so that meant the qff number were recognized and used. I could select the front-of-the-plan seats for both of us for free, and I could only select the extra legroom seat (more at the front) for free for myself, while it was for a fee for Mrs Chrismars indicating that the system could differentiate gold and wp. We were on the aame booking.

Food in Y was the worst bread-cheese-mustard sandwich you can imagine, at least for a non dutch pax. Dutch people I think eat that everyday at the office, from memory. Hopefully I am offending no-one!
Anyway, we got luky as we didnt get affected by the ongoing issues at Schiphol last week (something similar to what happened in SYD a couple of weeks ago), and arrived on time.
 

Become an AFF member!

Join Australian Frequent Flyer (AFF) for free and unlock insider tips, exclusive deals, and global meetups with 65,000+ frequent flyers.

AFF members can also access our Frequent Flyer Training courses, and upgrade to Fast-track your way to expert traveller status and unlock even more exclusive discounts!

AFF forum abbreviations

Wondering about Y, J or any of the other abbreviations used on our forum?

Check out our guide to common AFF acronyms & abbreviations.
Back
Top