Note that there may be restrictions regarding which flights you can earn or redeem miles on within each of these partnerships. Review the airline's partner page on the Flying Blue website before you plan your travels so you know what to expect.
Ultimate Guide To Flight
The chart above shows how many XPs are required to earn each elite status tier. You need to reach this number of XPs within a year of earning your first XP. So if you take a paid flight in May, you have until May of the following year before your XP counter resets. Current Flying Blue elite members must requalify by earning enough XPs to maintain or upgrade their status tier within one year.
Thankfully, U.S.-to-Canada flights are considered international, so the 214-mile jaunt between Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) and Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ) would earn 5 XPs in economy class. Better yet, you can earn XPs on these routes when flying Delta or WestJet, so there are opportunities for U.S.-based Flying Blue elite members to top up their XP balances.
On the other hand, Gold or Platinum will take a little more work. Gold requires 180 XPs. You can shave this down to 120 XPs with the cobranded credit card and earn those through a mix of short-haul international hops and flights to Europe.
Make sure to link your Flying Blue and Accor Live Limitless accounts on the Flying Blue Miles+Points website to earn these bonus points. Earnings start immediately, so do it before your next Flying Blue member flight or Accor hotel stay.
Even with dynamic pricing, Flying Blue often has the best pricing for many SkyTeam awards, beating out Delta, Korean Air and other major airlines. The key to finding these awards is to be flexible and keep an eye out for great deals. For inspiration, check out TPG's guide to maximizing Flying Blue miles.
Since this flight has a connection in Paris, you could spend a couple of days in Paris using the free Flying Blue stopover. This is a great way to visit another city without forking over additional miles or cash. To book Flying Blue stopovers, you'll need to call Flying Blue at 800-375-8723.
Just note that Virgin Atlantic Flying Club often has better deals on Delta flights to Europe. Earlier this year, Virgin Atlantic had wide-open award space on Delta One to Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) for 50,000 miles and minimal taxes and fees. So if you have transferable points, cross-check other airlines and book with whichever one offers the best price.
Passengers with disabilities are entitled to certain accommodations, free of charge, under the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA). The ACAA states that all domestic and international flights that have the U.S. as the destination or origination point are required to provide necessary accommodations to people with disabilities to ensure safe travel.
If you need extra time exiting the aircraft, a wheelchair at your destination or transfer point, assistance in deplaning the aircraft, or assistance through the terminal, the airline requests that you notify a flight attendant at least 45 minutes before landing so they have time to make the necessary arrangements.
When flying JetBlue, contact the airline at 800-JETBLUE to add any accommodation you might need to an existing reservation. JetBlue encourages passengers to notify them as early as possible of any accommodation so they can ensure you have an enjoyable flight.
Hot Tip: Certain seats on the aircraft are made available to passengers with a disability, but the request needs to be made at least 24 hours in advance of your flight. You can check your wheelchair or other devices at the ticket counter or gate as well.
If the flight is longer, selecting the aisle versus window seat may be a difficult choice. If you select an aisle seat, you will be able to access the bathrooms easier; however, other passengers may require you to move so that they can also access the bathroom as well.
If you suffer from any food allergies, you should make requests when you are booking your flight. If you are concerned about other food that might be on board, check out our Ultimate Guide to Flying With Allergies [Includes Nut Policies for 60 Airlines] for more information.
Service and emotional support animals are treated very differently, but can easily be confused by airline staff. Be sure you know the documentation requirements to fly before your flight to avoid any issues.
If you have a service animal, make sure you have the proper documentation from your doctor that qualifies the animal as a service animal. Also, make sure you contact the airline and inform the airline staff that you will be traveling with a service animal so they can be prepared on the day of your flight.
Be sure you check in with your gate agent prior to your flight. Pre-boarding and other boarding accommodations can be arranged or confirmed at this point. Pre-boarding allows you more time to get settled on board the plane. In addition, for those airlines without assigned seats, you will also get your pick of seating options.
An aisle chair can be used to transport immobile passengers from their own wheelchair to a seat on the airplane and can also be used to access the lavatory during the flight. This is the most common transfer device, but may not be available on all aircraft.
There are some limitations to the help you can be provided on a flight. Flight attendants can help guide disabled passengers to and from the bathroom, but cannot provide any other type of assistance in the lavatory.
In addition to the items noted above, airline crew members can help passengers with disabilities identity food items and open packages, but cannot actually feed passengers. If you need more assistance than can be provided by flight attendants, consider traveling with a companion who is able to better assist you.
When providing assistance to passengers with disabilities who are navigating the airport, airlines are required to assist passengers in carrying their gate-checked or carry-on luggage when passengers are unable to carry the luggage due to their disability. But I do not believe they are required to hold the flight until the person arrives to the gate.
If a passenger with disability missed his flight and had to go to the need help center but there is a long line. Does the passenger have to wait in the line or he has priority to rebook his flight first?
To some, a delayed or cancelled flight may mean fewer hours of vacating, but to others, it may be missing an important meeting, an event you were looking forward to or even the last hours in the life of a loved one.
In order to protect travellers and respect their rights, the European Union has established the EU Regulation 261/2004. The regulation specifies what airlines should do in order to ensure that a person receives all the attention and care in case of a delayed, cancelled, overbooked or downgraded flight and other similar cases.
If your flight has recently been delayed, you will have the right to ask the air carrier for the compensation if you have a confirmed reservation on the flight concerned and one of the following applies to you:
If you believe that, you are entitled to a flight delay compensation you will need to claim it. No one will compensate you if you do not ask for it. You have several options on how to make a compensation claim, depending on how you see it as reasonable.
Once you submit the complaint form to the airline, you should wait for their reply. If they fail to get back to you within two months, or you are not satisfied with their reply, you can move on to the next phase of the flight compensation claim.
Yes, the airline can turn down your claim. In particular, if the flight has been delayed due to extraordinary circumstances. If you believe your claim has been unjustly rejected, then you can continue with any of the other procedures explained above.
It depends. The EU regulation clearly states that all passengers are entitled to compensation in case of a flight is delayed more than three hours. However, it also explains that passengers travelling free of charge are not entitled to ask for such compensation.
50% of the price of the ticket should be reimbursed for all intra-community flights of more than 1500 kilometres. Exempt are flights between the European territory of the Member States and the French overseas departments, as for such flights 75 % of the price of the ticket should be reimbursed.
If you are waiting for your flight and the airline staff tells you the flight may be delayed, you should start paying attention immediately. Even though the delay might be only 20 minutes or less, it is always better to be attentive.
In the Relief Form, the handler must certify that their service dog will either (i) not need to relieve itself while on the flight, (ii) can relieve itself during the flight without creating a health or sanitation issue, or (iii) refrain from relieving itself, or relieve itself without posing a health or sanitation issue (for example, through the use of a dog diaper).
Some airlines have a link on their website to submit the form, while others accept them by email. If you booked a flight within 48 hours of departure, you can bring the form with you and submit it to an airline agent at the airport.
If there is nowhere to place a larger service dog comfortably, the airline is required to offer the handler the opportunity to transport the service dog in the cargo hold free of charge or travel on a later flight if there is space available in the cabin for that flight.
For example, on a flight likely to be full without an empty seat, the handler may want to consider purchasing an additional seat or taking a less popular flight. Otherwise, they risk the chance they may have to relegate their service dog to cargo which is a non-starter for many service dog owners.
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