Chase recently announced a 25% transfer bonus to Flying Blue, the frequent flyer program of Air France and KLM. This transfer bonus will be active until April 30, 2024. For example, if you transfer 1,000 Chase points, you will receive a total of 1,250 Flying Blue miles.
This brief article will run through some of the key terms & conditions and cover some of our favorite Air France/KLM redemptions.
Key Terms
- All Ultimate Rewards points transferred to your Flying Blue account will be subject to the Terms and Conditions of Flying Blue and cannot be transferred back to your Chase Ultimate Rewards account
- Chase is not responsible for the availability of specific flights, routes, travel dates or other promotions or considerations of the Flying Blue Program
- Minimum transfer is 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points
- Bonus miles will be awarded by Flying Blue in your Flying Blue account up to 7 days after the points transfer is completed
Notably, the bonus points are not guaranteed to arrive in your Flying Blue account instantaneously. If you have a time-sensitive booking, it is important to bake this delay time in.
Example Air France Redemptions
USA <> Europe In Business Class (Normally 50k One Way, Just 40k With Transfer Bonus)
Flying Blue has a fantastic travel deal: 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. With this transfer bonus, that deal becomes even better—just 40,000 miles each way.
The only thing to be wary of is that award taxes/fees can be high when leaving Europe. For reference, a nonstop flight from Paris to Boston that only costs 50k miles will carry $370 USD in fees—yikes.
USA <> Europe In Economy Class (Normally 20k One Way, Just 16k With Transfer Bonus)
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. And with this particular transfer bonus, these flights will only cost 16,000 miles one way!
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.
Does The Transfer Bonus Stack With Air France's Monthly Promo Deals?
Yes! The transfer bonus is offered by Chase, not Air France. So this means that the points being transferred to Flying Blue miles can then be used to book promotional awards. Combining the two offers together can lead to some incredible deals. For instance, here are the current "long-haul" promotional awards as advertised by Air France:
BRAND
Route
Fare Class
Promo Cost (Starting)
Amsterdam <> Dubai
Economy
15,000
Paris <> Houston
Economy
15,000
Paris <> Accra
Economy
18,750
Amsterdam <> Guayaquil
Economy
18,750
Paris <> Nairobi
Economy
18,750
Paris <> Detroit
Premium Economy
26,250
Paris <> Delhi
Premium Economy
30,000
Paris <> Mauritius
Premium Economy
30,000
Paris <> Antananarivo
Premium Economy
30,000
With a 25% transfer bonus, you could fly to Paris from Houston for just 12,000 miles one way. That's awesome!
Air France Stopovers Program
Got a layover on your flight? Air France has one of the most powerful stopover policies around: 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 details the process in significant detail.
Conclusion
This is an extremely exciting, unprecedented offer. While Bilt is set to lose American Airlines as a transfer partner, it sets to gain another exclusive relationship never before seen in the points/miles space. We will have to wait and see if Bilt offers a transfer promotion to Alaska in the coming weeks/months, but nevertheless, this relationship is very favorable to folks like us.
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