What’s happening with easyJet’s Flight Club?

easyJet has a semi-secret loyalty programme called ‘Flight Club’.

I say ‘semi-secret’ because, whilst most easyJet travellers won’t know that it exists, and it is not openly advertised, it is discussed on the airline website.

Some HfP readers emailed this week to say that they had been evicted from Flight Club. The email was curt and did not give the reason for the membership cancellation. This caused concerns, especially from people who had made complaints about the airline in the past year.

In theory, membership of Flight Club is ‘invitation only’. However, easyJet publishes the criteria for receiving an invitation:

• Booked and flown on 20 flights or more in the past 12 months, or
• Booked and flown on 10 flights or more, and spent £1,500 or other currency equivalent in the past 12 months, or
• Booked and flown on an average 10 flights or more for 10 years, with at least one flight every year

The readers who got in touch with me had met these criteria.

This is all they were told by the airline:

We’re always reviewing our membership schemes and offers. Following our last review, your Flight Club membership has unfortunately come to an end.

[Extra paragraph added for easyJet Plus members about retaining those benefits]

We look forward to welcoming you on board soon,
easyJet

Seems a bit rude ….

It turns out that there is more to it than this. What I don’t understand is why easyJet wasn’t upfront with Flight Club members in the first place.

After a bit digging, easyJet said this:

Following a recent internal review of our complimentary Flight Club membership program, we’ve made the difficult decision to place the program on hold. This change is part of a broader effort to reassess and refine the structure and future direction of the program. Please rest assured that this decision was not based on individual travel patterns, loyalty, or any specific customer interactions. No personal circumstances were considered in this process.

So, it seems that Flight Club is being closed for everyone. Why easyJet didn’t say this in the first place is a mystery.

Why? Well, as we have covered in recent months, easyJet appears to be setting up a ‘proper’ loyalty scheme – click here. It would make sense to wind up Flight Club as part of this transition.

As far as I know, it is almost three years since anyone got a fresh invitation to Flight Club.

What did easyJet Flight Club get you?

The problem with the scheme was that you weren’t getting into any airport lounges with your Flight Club membership, or getting any free flights.

All of the savings it generated were going straight to your employer, assuming you travel on business, rather than yourself.

Here are the Flight Club membership benefits, as per the easyJet website:

• Fee-free changes – Make unlimited changes to the dates and travel routes of your bookings without paying admin fees. Just pay the difference between the original fare and that of your new flight.
• Price Guarantee – If you find an equivalent flight of another airline cheaper within 48 hours of making your booking, we’ll refund the difference. We’ll also give you a voucher worth 10% of that difference for your next flight. Just let our dedicated Flight Team know within that time.
• Our Price Promise – We promise you’ll always get the best fares for your easyJet flights. If, on a rare occasion, you find a flight you have already booked on easyJet.com for less, we’ll give you a voucher worth the price difference for your next flight.
• Preview of schedule seat releases and sales – We think the people who fly with us most often should be the first to know what we’re doing and what’s coming up, so we’ll give you advanced notification of schedule seat releases and sales to keep you in the know.

Conclusion

If easyJet is planning a ‘proper’ loyalty scheme, it makes sense that Flight Club is being wound up – especially as no new members seem to have been added for a while.

It could certainly have worded its email better, however ….