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Qantas launched a codeshare partnership with Air France/KLM in 2018, expanding a year later into a frequent flyer partnership.
With this partnership, Qantas Frequent Flyer members can earn and redeem points with Air France and KLM. The expanded partnership also came with reciprocal frequent flyer benefits.
This is how Qantas described the new partnership in 2019:
Today’s announcement allows members to access reward seats and earn points on all fares across all Air France and KLM marketed flights globally. Frequent flyers with Gold status or higher will also be able to access tier benefits including priority boarding, priority check-in and extra baggage allowance on any Air France and KLM operated flights.
So, how does this partnership actually work in reality? I recently flew with KLM as a Qantas Platinum member to find out!
A confusing start
Australian Frequent Flyer previously reported back in 2020 that KLM had been inconsistent in honouring the advertised benefits of this partnership. While some passengers were to access benefits like priority check-in and extra baggage allowance, others were told by KLM staff that Qantas was not affiliated with the airline in any way.
We reached out to Qantas at the time. Qantas clarified in 2020 that these benefits should apply on all Air France & KLM flights, and arranged for a reminder to be sent out to Air France/KLM ground staff about the partnership.
So, how is it all working out in 2024?
At the time of writing, the Qantas website partner page for KLM still shows that Qantas Frequent Flyer members can access the following benefits:
According to a different page of the Qantas website, frequent flyers and Qantas Club members can access even more benefits (including lounge access) when booked on a “QF” marketed codeshare flight operated by KLM.
The lounge access benefit is not available if you’re booked on a “KL” flight number. Unfortunately, based on my experience, none of the other benefits are, either (except for the ability to earn Qantas points).
I recently flew with KLM from Hamburg to Amsterdam on an Economy Light ticket. This was a standalone ticket booked with KLM, with a KL flight number.
Sadly, things didn’t get off to a great start. At check-in, I was told that I could not check in a bag because I had no included allowance. This wasn’t just a rogue agent – she also showed me her computer screen, which clearly showed my baggage allowance was zero bags.
I also happen to have SkyTeam Elite Plus status, so I just switched the frequent flyer number on my booking and was then able to check in the bag for free. (I don’t think I’ll lose any sleep over the 50 Qantas points I would have earned for this flight.)
As a result, I didn’t get to test whether priority boarding would be honoured. However, when I arrived in Amsterdam, I decided to ask the KLM staff member policing the priority check-in area whether Qantas Gold and Platinum members were allowed in. The staff member said she didn’t know.
Qantas now says the benefits are only available on codeshare flights
Afterwards, we reached out to Qantas again to ask if there had been a change to this partnership. A Qantas spokesperson told me that status benefits such as additional baggage allowance only apply when booked on the QF codeshare. They added that Qantas “may look to expand this in the future”.
This contradicts the information Qantas provided Australian Frequent Flyer in 2020. It also contradicts recent reports from other Qantas frequent flyers, who say they’ve been able to receive Sky Priority benefits flying with on KLM-marketed flights. But if correct, it would at least explain my recent experience.
If this is the case for KLM, it’s probably also the case for Qantas members flying Air France.
For what it’s worth, the Qantas website does not currently specify anywhere that the advertised reciprocal status benefits with KLM or Air France are only available on Qantas codeshare flights.
This is not how certain other partnerships work (e.g. Qantas’ partnership with LATAM), so I’m not sure how Qantas Frequent Flyer members are expected to work this out. We put this to Qantas, and the airline told us they would look to make this clearer on their website.
