NEW CLUB EUROPE SEATING HELP

AIR FRANCE PILOT STRIKE – MINOR SIDE-EFFECT

To renew the Flying Blue gold card, you either need to have flown a certain number of miles, or have made 30 qualifying flights within the year. As it happens, six of my qualifying flights would have been during the time of the strike [which took place across two weeks in September], so all of them were cancelled. What do I do? Rush around before the end of December and take a six-flight mileage run? To add insult to injury, two flights taken just before the strike are showing in my mileage summary with no credit against them – presumably because I did not use the return part of the ticket, which was on day one of the strike. Does Air France want us to be “loyal”? Air France computers are simply computers. Should you not fly, you will not be credited either miles or qualifying miles. I had the same problem and was to be one flight short at the end of 2014 of renewing my gold card for 2015. I sent an email to Flying Blue to explain the situation and asked for a credit of two qualifying flights for my two cancelled flights. I got an answer within 24 hours: “Your account has been credited with two qualifying flights.”

You need to use the flyingblue.com website and select “support” and “contact us by email”, then log in and select “others” as the subject of your email. As I’m French, I used the French Flying Blue office. Should you need any help, please feel free to ask me. I feel there may be more industrial action from the Air France pilots in the months ahead. According to reports over the weekend, the airline’s management intends to proceed with its plans [to expand low-cost subsidiary Transavia in France]. In my view, the unions may have bitten off more than they can chew with Air France chief executive Alexandre de Juniac. The work he did to restructure Thales in the face of massive union opposition should be a lesson to them. This is not a man who backs down. How can I tell if my upcoming flights with BA will have the new Club Europe seating? I have blocked the two seats in the front row on both my future flights, but generally I prefer at least one row in front of me. From the reviews, I’m not sure I will be comfortable with the new seating, hence taking the two in the first row. Any advice is appreciated. Dutchyankee, I was also looking for that info but could not find it. I flew Heathrow-Prague a few weeks ago on an A320 and it had been upgraded to the new cabin with eight rows of Club Europe seating. The only bit of good news I can impart about the new BA seating is that (at least on the A319/A320) the overhead bins are now deeper and will actually take a wheeled bag lengthways, so BA seems to have caught up with other airlines on this one. Apart from that (even in the front row) – yuk! [The seats have] narrow, hard, straight backs and are uncomfortable, and I won’t [even] talk about the legroom – or rather, the lack of it. [What’s more] you’re sure to be hit by people carrying backpacks if you’re sitting in the front (especially the first row) because the aisle is so narrow. Plus, in C and D in the first row, [you need to] watch your feet and knees as people try to tow bags that are too wide to fit down the aisle. The new seating is fine. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to find it quite comfortable and you don’t notice the [reduced] legroom. I think this is because the seats are thinner. Thanks, would you say to keep the front row, or take another row? I have just flown from Barcelona to London Heathrow in the new Club Europe seating. It is a disaster. I am five-foot, eight-inches tall and my knees were almost touching the seat in front. Six-footers will be wedged in. Using a laptop was difficult when the seat in front was not reclined, and impossible when it was.

The backs of the seats are hard and, after nearly four hours on board, I still have backache four hours later. I’m afraid it will be Easyjet row one or emergency exit rows instead of BA for short-haul from now on. The value proposition has, in my view, vanished, despite the food and service being good.

If you have BA Executive Club status, then either grab row one or go economy and choose an emergency exit seat. The price premium for Club Europe is simply not there if you have silver or gold. The interior did look very smart, but it’s all about the legroom. Thanks Tim2sms, you have made my decision for me, I will stick with row one.