After a corresponding software bug, which is already being discussed lively online, there is hardly any doubt left that the Air France KLM program Flying Blue will apparently, as first major European program, change to a turnover basis as of May, although an official annoucement by the program itself is still outstanding. Basis members will accumulate 4 miles per EUR spent on Air France and KLM flights while Silver, Gold and Platinum members respectively shall earn 6, 7 and 8 miles. In order to be able to judge this change, further information will indeed be required, notably regarding changes to the award tables and elite qualification as well as regarding the question how partner airlines will be treated in the future. But the change could  certainly lead to the paradox situation that Air France KLM clients, for whom a mileage basis makes more sense, will prefer the Delta program SkyMiles for their credits of Air France KLM flights – as Delta customers already do it the other way round.

While elsewhere airlines simply stop flying and leave passengers (and frequent flyers) more or less to themselves, this is completely different in Germany. Here, the government grants a loan to an airline controlled by another government, allowing it to end its operations in a controlled manner after three months. From the outset, this has been the declared objective for Air Berlin and that is what is now likely to go to happen as well by the end of the month. The fleet will be shared between Lufthansa/Eurowings and perhaps easyJet – nobody is talking though about sharing Frequent Flyer miles (which represent a slightly higher value than some leased aircraft…). That’s why there is unfortunately no alternative to accepting the well-meant suggestions of the brave topbonus management (left on its own in the rain by owner Etihad) and redeeming its at least 5,000 miles for vouchers with some non-air partners – including Sixt – at a ridiculous redemption value of 0.2 EUR cents per mile. Thanks, Air Berlin, for the good time. Thanks, Etihad, for the contribution to accelerating the consolidation in Europe.

While it is unclear how much longer Iberia can still be seen in Catalonia, Iberia Plus has reacted in proactive manner and started a massive expansion at Catalonia’s Eastern border: A bit surprisingly, the program has launched several partnerships with absolutely local partners in Italy over the last few weeks, including car rental company Maggiore or the Italian version of supermarket chain Auchan (while, for instannce, there is even no supermarket partner in Spain!). Local taxi operators figure as new partners, too.

SAS has actually undercommunicated a current interesting offer by stating that 12,000 EuroBonus points could be earned with two Avis rentals of at least two days each. This statement is true – the first rental earns 4,000 points and the second one 8,000 points -, but definitely even more interesting for frequent renters is the fact that, according to the fine print by Avis, each subsequent rental qualifies for 4,000 points as well. The offer is good for reservations placed online until 31 October and rentals completed by 31 December. It is limited to rentals in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and North America.

After the currency crisis in Russia two years ago, it has become pretty quiet about the credit card market. But as witnessed by the recent launch of a new co-branded card between the S7 program S7 Priority and the Tinkoff bank, it is actually still alive – and highly attractive. While you would struggle to find offers letting you earn more than 1 mile per USD/EUR spent in most markets, it is hard to find such low offers in Russia… After the adjustements due to the ruble devaluation, most offers are now about 50 to 100% above this Western rate, making credit card offerings a key component for Russian FFPs, but also for the few Western airlines having an offer in the market. And there are certainly additional opportunities for the smart collector, for instance such as going through the loyalty program of the Russian branch of RaiffeisenBank and converting these points into S7 miles. Like this, you may earn up to 277 miles for the equivalent spend of 100 EUR – a rate frequent flyers in most countries would even not dare to dream about.