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Daniel Ross
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Gone are the days of simple airline fares.
Air France and KLM are the latest full-service carriers to follow the trend of unbundling their business class fares.
However good or bad you feel this may initially seem, these basic fares will only be rolled out on certain routes, not including North America.
Does this mean cheaper fares, or just that you’re getting less for your money? Let’s take a look.
Similar to what we’re used to seeing with economy fares, airlines around the world are separating out their business-class fares rather than offering an all-in-one package.
Air France and KLM have now introduced this alternative way of booking business class on all intercontinental routes except from certain destinations such as China, Mauritius, North America, and Vietnam.
The main difference between the new Business Light fare and the airlines’ Business Standard fare is that you won’t be eligible to use the lounge and you’ll only be able to check 1 bag at 32 kilograms (70 pounds) instead of 2.
Hot Tip:Rather than paying for a business class flight with Air France/KLM, you can use Flying Blue miles instead. Even if you’re based in the U.S., there are still many ways you can rack up those miles.
That said, passengers who have SkyTeam Elite Plus status will still be eligible to use the lounge before their flights and check in a second bag for free.
The amount you save by opting out of lounge access and only checking 1 bag varies per flight but you can expect a savings of somewhere in the region of $100.
Note that sometimes Business Light fares aren’t available even on routes that are eligible for the fare.
Taking a look at an example of a nonstop flight from New York (JFK) to Paris (CDG), only “Business Standard” and “Business Flex” fares are available to book.
You can now decide to forgo lounge access and a checked bag when booking Air France and KLM business class flights to save around $100.
It’s difficult to prove that the creation of “basic” business class fares adopted by more airlines is beneficial for passengers. Whether or not this actually acts as a saving to passengers remains to be seen.
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Daniel has loved aviation and travel his entire life. He earned a Master of Science in Air Transport Management and has written about travel and aviation in publications like Simple Flying, The Points Guy, and more.
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