It’s the big question isn’t it? You’re off to a swimming start, collecting all those airline miles and credit card points- but which program should you use to maximize the whole “using your miles” part? We all want amazing trips and even better seats to get there- for the least amount miles, and the Air France/KLM “Flying Blue” program fits just about all the perfect checkmarks.
For Starters, You Can Instantly Create Points From Amex, Citi Or Chase…
This is huge. Right off the bat- you can turn any of your credit card earning from American Express Membership Rewards, Citi Thank You Points or Chase Ultimate Rewards into miles with Air France/KLM Flying Blue. Think of all your credit cards as a massive potential funnel into the program.
They’re Also A SkyTeam Partner, So You Can Earn Miles With Air France/KLM While Flying On Delta, Korean And Many Other Top Airlines…
So yeah, also good (if you fly with SkyTeam). In addition to your credit card points, US based customers can easily, constantly earn miles with Air France/KLM Flying Blue by crediting the miles from their Delta flights to Flying Blue, rather than Delta Skymiles. Same goes for Korean, China Eastern, Aeroflot, Alitalia and countless others. Every little helps, right?
And Perhaps Best Of All Air France/KLM Flying Blue Runs Monthly Promos, Where You Need Less Miles Than Usual For Flights You Want…
Yes, you did read that correctly. While most airlines are steadily raising rates, or making their charts disappear entirely, the Flying Blue program offers monthly discounts in economy and business class. You can find select US cities to Europe (even including Israel as well) for just 43,750 miles one way in these sales. Fantastic stuff. These deals are valid worldwide, from destinations and starting points all over. You’ll find promo awards on the first of the month- each month, here.
You Can Also Tap Into Delta’s Old Pricing For Flights Using Miles…
Delta is perhaps the most complicated of all frequent flyer programs. You need a PhD in miles just to comprehend what a flight could cost using points- and even then it’s only guesswork. FlyingBlue however is a very reliable program- and you can end up on Delta flights between Europe and the US for just 62,500 points in business class one way, a value which left Delta years ago. Similarly, economy flights within the US can be had for just 25,000 round trip, a value nearly impossible to achieve using Delta’s own miles.
So To Summarize, Lots Of Ways To Instantly Create Points, Discounts Using Miles And Decent Availability…
Flying Blue offers pretty excellent availability on many routes, compared to other transfer partners. With so many ways to create points, it’s a real no brainer for flight goals like business class to or from Europe, intra US flights and intra European flights. Enjoy. Most transfers complete within 24 hours, but it’s always good to do a test run in advance, so you’ll know what to expect when you find availability and need them. Also, open a FlyingBlue account ASAP if you don’t already have one, just so the account can be open and ready.
Absolutely agree. We redeem Delta awards using FlyingBlue quite often for Delta One BOS-LHR and PHL-LHR. The decent availability is fantastic (in advance and last minute, but more so last minute). 62,5K + €20’ish taxes is one of the best deals for business class to London, IMHO. And, you get the VS arrivals lounge as a bonus.
Flying Blue is my go-to program for flight to-from Europe, for exactly the reasons you mentioned. I would like to add that you can also transfer points from SPG to Flying Blue.
I disagree strongly. Lousy availability, very high redemption rates. I can use 80k UR miles to fly US to JNB on Star Alliance, or 100 to 325k for business class on AF, KLM or Delta. Virgin Atlantic is a touch better but with high fees. I keep trying to find something on Flying Blue, and being disappointed. I guess it depends on your travels, of course, but also your thinking. 62.5k as a bargain to London? Huh.
You might also want to point out, as other bloggers have reported repeatedly, that FlyingBlue has and continues to shut down accounts after miles are transferred in, when those members didn’t fly / fly regularly with KLM/AF.
There are some risks to earning miles with credit cards and transferring them to FlyingBlue!
I have to agree with Ella. I’m stuck with SkyTeam due to certain required routes so I took a strong look at each of the major airline partner’s programs. Flying Blue has some of the most expensive redemptions whereas Korean Air requires many fewer miles for the same routes. China Airlines has the best availability for rewards. At the highest level, Delta offers global upgrade certificates for their own flights and Flying Blue. Flying Blue doesn’t lead on any of those metrics except for being a transfer partner with many credit cards.
Not sure where you get your info about Delta, but I have had an entirely different experience. I flew from Austin, TX to Paris, business class, for 110k miles last year (July 2016) + $29.00. I’ve read all the stories about the Delta program, but have had a vastly different experience. Yes, it is frustrating that they don’t have published charts, but the charts don’t matter that much if they don’t have any availability for a reasonable amount of points (American Airlines?!?!?!?). What matters is what they have available when you want to travel! I booked that trip last year about 3 months in advance. BTW, I have almost 200k AA miles and could not find a business class ticket for that trip. The trip was 3 weeks long, so I had some flexibility with dates (a few days in either direction).