Flying Blue Removes Domestic Delta Flights From Desktop Online Booking, Adds Fuel Surcharges
UPDATE: Delta domestic flights do appear on the KLM and Air France apps, but there's also an additional surprise: domestic Delta-operated flights now carry what appear to be fuel surcharges. The longer the flight, the higher the surcharge:
$15.76 in "other taxes" are added for an Atlanta (ATL) to Seattle (SEA) flight:
For a short hop from Atlanta to Charleston (CHS), only $10.15 is added:
With flights showing on the app but not the desktop site, it's likely this is some sort of website glitch for the time being.
Original Post:
Over the last few weeks I've been doing considerable research on booking domestic award tickets for a variety of articles. Flying Blue, the loyalty program of SkyTeam members Air France and KLM (among other carriers), has been a routine source of domestic award tickets operated by fellow alliance member Delta. However, it now appears that the Flying Blue online search engine is no longer displaying wholly domestic award flights on Delta metal.
In the last month, I haven't been able to find a single domestic Delta flight on the Flying Blue award search engine. Regardless of the route or date, this is the error message I receive:
Even when using the award calendar option, which initially disappeared with June's program changes but then reappeared the following month, no Delta flights will display.
It's worth noting that this is a relatively recent development; even after all the changes were completed this summer, you could still find and book domestic tickets online. We weren't sure how these tickets were going to price, but they did show up as options:
What's even more interesting is that Delta-operated flights do still appear for international flights, including any connecting domestic segments to reach the international gateway. For example, here's an itinerary from Salt Lake City (SLC) to Amsterdam (AMS) via Minneapolis-St Paul (MSP), and the initial flight from SLC to MSP appears:
However, if I search for just the domestic leg (on September 4, 2019), the Flying Blue site displays no results:
I called Flying Blue to ask if they could see availability and book domestic Delta tickets over the phone. For the above Sep. 4 flight from SLC to MSP, the phone agent returned four different Delta nonstop flights, each requiring 13,500 miles. I asked him if there had been a change to the program where domestic Delta tickets were no longer going to be displayed online. He didn't know of any changes and tried to replicate the lack of results on his own browser. He saw the same thing I did: no domestic segments (after checking both Chrome and Internet Explorer). He was confident at first that I was doing it wrong, but by the end of the call appeared to be just as surprised as me that nothing would show. He promised to forward this situation to his supervisor to try and get feedback.
Bottom Line
I truly hope this is some kind of glitch, but it has been at least three weeks now with no domestic Delta award flights showing online through Flying Blue. In addition, because domestic Delta flights are appearing on international itineraries, this leads me to believe this is not a system problem. If it is (in fact) a purposeful move, this is simply another data point revealing Flying Blue's new program is almost completely illogical and now even more user unfriendly. While you can still book these flights over the phone, that's an unnecessary step for what should be a simple task.
I'm not sure what the new Flying Blue is trying to accomplish with dynamic pricing, opaque booking and shortcuts to elite status with a few short international hops, but one thing's for sure: I don't see anything in the new program that should attract regular flyers to be loyal.
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- 4 points per dollar spent on dining at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets (on the first $50,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter and $25,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter, respectively)
- 3 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline or with amextravel.com
- Packed with credits foodies will enjoy
- Solid welcome bonus
Cons
- Not as useful for those living outside the U.S.
- Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
- You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
- $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an American Express Card for your transaction. That’s up to $120 Uber Cash annually. Plus, after using your Uber Cash, use your Card to earn 4X Membership Rewards® points for Uber Eats purchases made with restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. Point caps and terms apply.
- $84 Dunkin' Credit: With the $84 Dunkin' Credit, you can earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you enroll and pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations. Enrollment is required to receive this benefit.
- $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
- $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
- Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- Annual Fee is $325.
- Terms Apply.