Flying Blue, Air France and KLM's joint loyalty program, stands out in the frequent flyer world for its decent versatility and exceptional value it offers to its members. Whether you're an Air France loyalist or someone looking to maximize the value of your points in either economy/business class, understanding how to leverage Flying Blue can lead to substantial savings and a more luxurious flying experience.
In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the ins and outs of earning Flying Blue miles, key sweet spot redemptions, and the program's stopover/cancellation policies.
How To Earn Flying Blue Miles (Without Flying)
Flying On Air France/KLM & Partner Airlines
Earning Flying Blue miles is relatively straightforward, as it is based on how many Euros you spend. Depending on your status tier, you earn more/less Flying Blue miles:
- Explorer: 4 miles/euro
- Silver: 6 miles/euro
- Gold: 7 miles/euro
- Platinum: 8 miles/euro
- Ultimate: 9 miles/euro
Additionally, you can earn Flying Blue miles through their partner airlines and SkyTeam members. For example, this means when you fly Delta, you can elect to earn Flying Blue miles when flying Delta airlines. Generally speaking, miles are calculated based on the "distance" traveled x the booking class earning percentage.
Credit Card Transfer Partners
Flying Blue miles are among the easiest miles to acquire since they are transfer partners with every single major credit card issuer out there:
Credit card issuers frequently offer transfer bonuses to Flying Blue. While the major banks typically run 20-30% transfer bonuses to Flying Blue, Bilt actually offered up to 150% a few months ago, which was the largest ever transfer bonus we've seen for Flying Blue.
There are several strong cards out there that can transfer their points/miles to Flying Blue:
Buy Flying Blue Miles
It is relatively easy to purchase Flying Blue miles. While buying miles at face price is usually an expensive endeavor, with promotions, it can actually be a very reasonable deal to right out purchase Flying Blue miles.
For instance, Flying Blue's recent April 2024 points promotion lets you effectively purchase points for as low as 1.81 cents per mile. With some of the sweet spots we'll discuss, you can do really well on a cash basis.
Air France business class is highly regarded
Do Flying Blue Miles Expire?
Flying Blue miles expire after 24 months of inactivity, but any qualifying activity, such as earning miles through a flight or using a co-branded credit card, resets the expiration clock. This policy encourages continual engagement with the program and its partners, so it's important to make sure you stay wary of expiring miles.
Which Airlines Are Partnered With Flying Blue?
Flying Blue's website says they partner with ~35 airlines. However, in a few months, Air France/KLM is cutting earning ties with some of them, meaning you won't be able to earn miles on non-SkyTeam flights anymore. SkyTeam is comprised of 19 airlines, some major ones including Delta, Vietnam Airlines, Korean Air, and AirFrance/KLM.
Some of Flying Blue's non Sky Team airlines include:
- Air Corsica
- Air Mauritius
- Air Calin
- Copa Airlines
- Etihad Airways
- Japan Airlines
These partners indicate the fact that you can book award flights on them using your Flying Blue miles.
How To Earn Flying Blue Status
Flying Blue has a simplistic, yet cool system for how you get and maintain status with the program.
- Silver: 100 XP
- Gold: 180 XP
- Platinum: 300 XP
You need to have the minimum amount of XP corresponding to your status to maintain it and your membership will be evaluated accordingly. This helps you maintain your status for longer, since, at worst case, you are downgraded to the lower level instead of losing your status altogether.
For instance, if you're a Flying Blue Platinum member who doesn't earn the minimum XP required to maintain your status (300 XPs), then you'll be progressively downgraded to Gold the next year. If you miss the requirement to maintain Gold (180 XP), then you'll be downgraded to Silver.
XP is earned in a slightly different system than how Flying Blue miles are earned. Rather, it's based on your fare class and the general distance band of the destinations you're traveling to. Additionally, you can only earn XP on eligible flights marketed or operated by Air France, KLM, Transavia (only Plus and Max fare), Aircalin, Air Corsica flights between Paris-Orly and Corsica, and all our SkyTeam airline partners.
How Does Flying Blue Price Its Award Flights?
Flying Blue uses a dynamic pricing model for its award flights, meaning the cost for an award flight can vary based on demand, time of booking, and other factors. Despite this, it's still possible to predict general trends and find value.
While the program is technically "dynamic" in nature, all pricing starts at a certain point. These "saver" rates typically feature best in class deals on Air France/KLM flights which can be really cheap ways to get around the world. For instance, based on this award map and Air France's dynamic pricing system, award prices for business class flights between the US and Europe start at 50,000 miles each way.
Air France Sweet Spots
The sweet spot prices here are considered deals on their own. However, you can also stack transfer bonuses with these sweet spot deals to make the value of your points even stronger. Furthermore, with Air France's monthly promo awards, these incredible redemptions only continue getting better.
USA <> Europe In Business Class: 50k Miles One Way
Flying Blue features one of the best travel deals around: you can fly business class on Air France or KLM to/from Europe via the contiguous 48 United States, Canada, and Mexico for just 50,000 miles each way.
To find this redemption, you can use a tool like SkyView to view pricing across a whole month at a time. This can really speed up searches, especially if you have multiple valid departure airports.
Roame SkyView search example. This search features a 25% transfer bonus.
USA <> Europe In Economy Class: 20k Miles One Way
Flying Blue also has a great deal for economy flights, starting at just 20,000 miles one way to/from Europe via the contiguous 48 United States, Canada, and Mexico. The value of this deal really shines when looking at it from the West Coast/Midwest US, where roundtrip economy flights to Europe can oftentimes run for about $800+
USA <> Africa In Economy Class
Flying from the US to Africa can be a very long, expensive trip, but Flying Blue generally has some good deals available. For instance, you can get to Johannesburg from Boston for just 35,000 miles one way in economy (28,000 with the ongoing bonus).
Or, maybe you're flying in from the West Coast to Kenya. Economy seats start at just 35,000 miles one way for this trip, which is really good all things considered.
Monthly Promo Awards
Flying Blue offers monthly promo awards that allow you to get 25–50% off award tickets for economy, premium economy, and business class. This can be an excellent way to really maximize the value of your Flying Blue miles. In the past, we've seen a variety of awesome offers (all one-way pricing):
- Atlanta <> Europe in Economy: 15k Miles
- Boston <> Europe in Economy: 15k Miles
- Washington DC <> Europe in Economy: 15k Miles
- Chicago <> Europe in Economy: 15k Miles
- Montreal <> Europe in Business: 37,500 Miles
- Houston <> Paris in Economy: 15k Miles
- Detroit <> Paris in Premium Economy: 26,250 Miles
- Delhi <> Paris in Premium Economy: 30,000 Miles
- Austin <> Amsterdam in Economy: 15k Miles
- San Francisco <> Paris in Economy: 15k Miles
- Los Angeles <> Paris in Economy: 15k Miles
Air France Stopover Program
Do you have a layover on your flight itinerary? Air France has a powerful stopover policy: you can add stopovers for "free" on award tickets. Pricing varies by the actual carriers of the flight, but you can do a lot of incredible things with the stopover program:
- You could fly from San Francisco to Zurich with a stopover in Paris (SFO-CDG-ZRH) and only have to pay for the cost to fly from the origin (SFO) to final destination (ZRH)
- You could fly from Barcelona to Athens with a stopover in Amsterdam (BCN-AMS-ATH) and only have to pay the price to fly from BCN-ATH
- You could fly from Paris to Bali with a stopover in PVG via China Eastern
The only way to book free stopovers is via the phone. To learn more about this process, navigate to this article that walks through the process.
Air France Cancellation Policy
Air France updated their award cancellation policy at the beginning of February 2024 to be a slight harsher than times past:
- Change Fees: 70 euros
- Cancellation Fees: 70 euros
- Deadline: Latest check-in time
Conclusion
Air France and KLM's Flying Blue program offers many opportunities for those willing to dive into it at both a shallow and deep level. Whether it's through snagging a Promo Award or charting a multi-city journey with a stopover, the potential for adventure and savings is boundless.
