In 2004, Air France and KLM shaped the Air France-KLM Group. Around the identical time, the corporate launched Flying Blue, a mixed loyalty program for the 2 airways.
The program rapidly grew to become one of the well-known airline loyalty applications due to its checklist of bank card switch companions, profitable Promo Rewards and number of airline companions.
As a outcome, Flying Blue is a well-liked program for vacationers who concentrate on incomes transferrable factors. But in case you’re new to this system, it may be a bit daunting — particularly given its unpredictable dynamic award pricing.
Today, I’ll take you thru the ins and outs of the Flying Blue program. First, I’ll provide you with an outline of the loyalty program, after which we’ll transfer on to incomes and redeeming Flying Blue miles.
Let’s get began.
An overview of the Flying Blue program
As talked about, Flying Blue is the joint loyalty program of Air France and KLM, however these aren’t the one carriers that use Flying Blue as their default loyalty program. Several different airways — inside and out of doors of Europe — use this system for mileage incomes and elite standing. Here’s a have a look at all of the airways that use it:
- Aircalin.
- Air France.
- Kenya Airways.
- KLM.
- Transavia.
- TAROM.
If you’re a Flying Blue member flying one in all these airways, you possibly can add your Flying Blue member quantity to earn miles, Experience Points for elite standing qualification and extra. Once you attain elite standing, you’ll be capable to use your advantages on these airways and reciprocal advantages on different accomplice airways.
But simply because these airways use Flying Blue as their default program doesn’t imply you possibly can’t earn Flying Blue miles with different airways. Most accomplice airways that permit you to earn Flying Blue miles are within the SkyTeam alliance, however there’s an assortment of non-alliance companions, too. These embrace:
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- Air Corsica.
- Air Mauritius.
- Bangkok Airways.
- Chalair Aviation.
- Copa Airlines.
- Gol.
- Japan Airlines.
- Malaysia Airlines.
- Qantas.
- Transavia.
- Twin Jet.
- Virgin Atlantic.
- WestJet.
- airBaltic.
Note that there could also be restrictions concerning which flights you possibly can earn or redeem miles on inside every of those partnerships. Review the airline’s accomplice web page on the Flying Blue web site earlier than you intend your travels so you realize what to anticipate.
Related: Your final information to looking award availability for the key airways
Flying Blue elite standing tiers
Like many airways, Flying Blue presents elite standing to its most frequent flyers. The airline at present presents three elite standing tiers: Silver, Gold and Platinum. Each of those presents various advantages, and whereas they’re not as profitable as advantages with many U.S. airways, the advantages are useful for European flyers or anybody who continuously flies Air France or KLM.
Flying Blue Silver
Silver is the bottom tier of Flying Blue elite standing. It consists of some fundamental advantages, together with:
- 6 Flying Blue miles per euro spent on Flying Blue-issued tickets.
- Free customary seat choice
- Priority check-in and boarding.
- SkyTeam Elite advantages (essentially the most notable SkyTeam Elite profit is a free checked bag on all Flying Blue and SkyTeam accomplice flights).
Flying Blue Gold
Gold, however, consists of extra premium advantages. With this standing tier, you’ve entry to the Flying Blue Silver advantages and another ones, together with:
- 7 Flying Blue miles per euro spent on Flying Blue-issued tickets.
- Access to SkyTeam lounges on worldwide flights operated by a Flying Blue or SkyTeam airline (legitimate for you and a visitor).
- Access to accomplice lounges on airways like Virgin Atlantic, Qantas and Air Mauritius.
- SkyTeam Elite Plus (advantages like SkyPriority boarding, fast-track immigration and extra).
- 50% low cost on most well-liked seats and Delta Comfort+.
Flying Blue Platinum
Flying Blue’s top-tier Platinum standing consists of all the Gold advantages we talked about earlier however sweetens the deal by upgrading some advantages and including others. Platinum members earn 9 Flying Blue miles per euro spent on Flying Blue-issued tickets, have entry to free Economy Comfort and extra-legroom seats on all SkyTeam flights and might entry Delta Comfort+ seats totally free.
Additionally, efficient Jan 1, 2023, solely Flying Blue Platinum members can ebook Air France La Premiere’s first-class award tickets. That stated, they arrive at a reasonably hefty price. La Premiere tickets typically price greater than $10,000 when flying from Europe to North America, Asia or Africa, so with the ability to ebook with miles makes an in any other case unattainable ticket doable for a lot of flyers. In the previous, Flying Blue Gold members may additionally ebook these awards, however that modifications in 2023.
Once you maintain Flying Blue Platinum for 10 consecutive years, you have bought the standing for all times.
Qualifying for Flying Blue elite standing
You can qualify for Flying Blue elite standing by incomes Experience Points, or XPs. Each tier requires a selected variety of these factors, and you may earn them by flying and thru bank card spending. All Flying Blue (besides Transavia) and SkyTeam companions are eligible for incomes XPs, in addition to some non-alliance companions like Qantas.
| Silver | Gold | Platinum |
|---|---|---|
| 100 XPs. | 180 XPs. | 300 XPs. |
The chart above reveals what number of XPs are required to earn every elite standing tier. You want to succeed in this variety of XPs inside a yr of incomes your first XP. So in case you take a paid flight in May, you’ve till May of the next yr earlier than your XP counter resets. Current Flying Blue elite members should requalify by incomes sufficient XPs to take care of or improve their standing tier inside one yr.
Earn XPs by flying
| Domestic | Medium (0-2,000 miles, worldwide) |
Long 1 (2,000-3,500 miles, worldwide) |
Long 2 (3,500-5,000 miles, worldwide) |
Long 3 (5,000+ miles, worldwide) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economy | 2 XPs. | 5 XPs. | 8 XPs. | 10 XPs. | 12 XPs. |
| Premium economic system | 4 XPs. | 10 XPs. | 16 XPs. | 20 XPs. | 24 XPs. |
| Business class | 6 XPs. | 15 XPs. | 24 XPs. | 30 XPs. | 36 XPs. |
| First class | 10 XPs. | 25 XPs. | 40 XPs. | 50 XPs. | 60 XPs. |
Earning XPs on flights is surprisingly easy, however there are some quirks.
I posted a duplicate of Flying Blue’s XP incomes chart above. You can see that you simply earn XPs primarily based on distance and the category of service you’re flying, and miles are earned no matter your ticket’s fare class. A reduction economic system ticket earns the identical XPs as a full-fare economic system ticket.
Easy sufficient, proper? This chart has benefits: It’s simple to earn factors within the Medium XP tier in case you take worldwide flights inside Europe. Per the award chart, a fast 211-mile flight from Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) to London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) would earn 5 XPs in economic system class or 15 XPs in enterprise class.
But issues get bizarre when incomes XPs in bigger nations just like the U.S. or Canada. A 2,994-mile flight from Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) to Honolulu’s Daniel Okay. Inouye International Airport (HNL) would earn 2 XPs in economic system class as — per the above chart’s a home flight. So in case you fly mid- or long-haul flights inside the U.S. typically and are chasing SkyTeam elite standing, it’s in all probability in your greatest curiosity to credit score your mileage elsewhere.
Thankfully, U.S.-to-Canada flights are thought-about worldwide, so the 214-mile jaunt between Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) and Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ) would earn 5 XPs in economic system class. Better but, you possibly can earn XPs on these routes when flying Delta or WestJet, so there are alternatives for U.S.-based Flying Blue elite members to prime up their XP balances.
Another fascinating quirk of Flying Blue is that you simply earn factors primarily based on segments. So in case you fly from Frankfurt Airport (FRA) to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) by way of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) on KLM in enterprise class, you’ll earn 15 XPs for the FRA-to-AMS leg and 30 XPs for the three,643-mile AMS-to-JFK phase. This equals 45 XPs for the one-way journey, already getting you virtually midway to Silver standing.
Earn XPs via Flying Blue’s US bank card
This might shock some, however Flying Blue has a cobranded U.S. bank card with Bank of America. I’ll go extra in-depth on the Air France-KLM World Elite Mastercard® within the subsequent part, however one in all its standout advantages is incomes XPs by way of bank card spending.
You obtain 60 XPs if you open your account for the primary yr. In subsequent years, you earn 20 XPs yearly in your account anniversary. If you spend $15,000 on purchases (unique of any charges, returns and changes), you will obtain a further 40 anniversary XPs (totaling 60 anniversary XPs). That’s greater than half the 100 XPs required for Silver with out stepping on a aircraft.
How to earn Flying Blue standing on a budget
U.S. flyers can earn Flying Blue standing fairly simply with a mixture of XPs earned with the Air France-KLM World Elite Mastercard and flying. If Silver is your aim, you possibly can apply for the cardboard and take a few short-haul hops to Canada or Mexico to earn standing rapidly.
On the opposite hand, Gold or Platinum will take a bit of extra work. Gold requires 180 XPs. You can shave this right down to 120 XPs with the cobranded bank card and earn these via a mixture of short-haul worldwide hops and flights to Europe.
For instance, you possibly can earn the remaining 120 XPs by taking two round-trip business-class flights to Canada from the U.S. for 60 XPs, one round-trip premium economic system flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Paris (CDG) for 48 XPs and 6 one-way home flights on Delta for the rest. And since there’s no set spending requirement, you possibly can ebook low-cost fares to earn the required XPs.
The similar goes for Flying Blue Platinum standing — in case you plan your flights proper, it’s fairly simple to acquire standing. Regardless, you will have to spend fairly a little bit of time on a aircraft to earn the standing, however the cobranded bank card helps by taking a few flights out of the combination.
Related: The least expensive business-class awards throughout all 3 alliances
Earning miles with Flying Blue
So, Flying Blue elite standing is nice, however what about incomes miles?
Thankfully, there is not any scarcity of how for U.S. vacationers to earn Flying Blue miles by flying, via bank cards and extra. Below is a listing of the perfect methods to earn Flying Blue miles — use these strategies together with each other, and also you’ll be properly in your option to incomes sufficient miles on your subsequent Flying Blue redemption very quickly.
Earn miles by flying with Flying Blue airways and SkyTeam companions
Naturally, you possibly can earn Flying Blue miles by flying. How you earn these miles varies by airline, although. When you ebook a flight on Air France or KLM, you’ll earn miles primarily based on how a lot you spent on the ticket (earlier than taxes). This can also be the case for Flying Blue-marketed tickets (i.e., booked on a Flying Blue airline web site however operated by one other service).
The variety of miles you’ll earn per greenback additionally is dependent upon your Flying Blue standing tier. Flying Blue Explorer members (these with out standing) earn 4 miles per euro spent, whereas Silver, Gold and Platinum members earn 6, 7 and eight miles per euro spent, respectively. This incomes doesn’t embrace taxes and sure charges charged on the ticket.
For instance, a Flying Blue Platinum elite member would earn 3,200 miles on a ticket operated by KLM that prices 400 euros (about $424) earlier than taxes. On the opposite hand, a Flying Blue member with out elite standing would earn 1,600 miles. If you place your Flying Blue membership quantity on an eligible fare, miles are routinely deposited into the traveler’s account inside just a few days after finishing the journey.
Earn Flying Blue miles with accomplice airways
Earning with SkyTeam and non-alliance Flying Blue companions on tickets that have not been bought via Flying Blue is a distinct story. For tickets which might be marketed by one other airline and credited to Flying Blue, you will earn miles on the next standards:
- Distance flown.
- Fare class.
- Operating airline.
- Your elite standing tier.
Each airline accomplice awards a distinct variety of miles for every fare class — you will discover what number of miles your accomplice flight earns on the Flying Blue companions web page.
Here’s the Flying Blue incomes chart for Delta Air Lines tickets.
Once you’ve discovered your accomplice, have a look at your ticket, discover your fare class and match it to the mileage-earning price on the Flying Blue web site. Then, multiply the flight size (in miles) by the share subsequent to your fare class. For instance, in case you’re flying Delta Air Lines from New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) — a 733-mile flight — in I-fare home firstclass, you’d earn 1,099 Flying Blue miles, because the fare class earns 150% miles flown. The math appears to be like like this: 733 occasions 1.50 equals 1,099.50.
This is similar course of for SkyTeam and non-alliance companions, so you possibly can earn Flying Blue miles primarily based on the gap flown for a number of different airways. Non-alliance companions embrace Copa Airlines, Japan Airlines and Qantas.
Spend on the Flying Blue cobranded bank card
Another option to earn Flying Blue miles is with the beforehand mentioned Air France-KLM World Elite Mastercard®. This card earns 3 Flying Blue miles per greenback spent on SkyTeam airfare purchases purchased straight with a SkyTeam airline and 1.5 Flying Blue miles per greenback in every single place else.
The card additionally has a strong welcome bonus of fifty,000 Flying Blue miles after spending $2,000 on the cardboard within the first three months of account opening. TPG values Flying Blue miles at 1.2 cents every, so this bonus alone is value $600.
Additionally, you’ll earn 5,000 Flying Blue factors in your card anniversary date as long as you spend a minimum of $50 in your Flying Blue bank card every year. We worth the 5,000-mile anniversary bonus at $60, which may help justify the cardboard’s $89 annual charge.
Transfer factors to Flying Blue
Many U.S.-based flyers earn Flying Blue miles through the use of a transferable-points card. You can switch factors from American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou and Marriott Bonvoy to Flying Blue. Outside of Marriott, all these switch companions provide conversions at a 1:1 ratio. Marriott Bonvoy transfers, however, are at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-mile bonus awarded for each 60,000 Marriott factors transferred.
More typically than not, you’re higher off placing your on a regular basis purchases on a transferable-points card than the Flying Blue cobranded card we talked about earlier. This is as a result of playing cards that earn these factors typically earn bonus factors in particular spending classes like journey, eating, groceries and extra.
For instance, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card earns factors on the following charges:
- 5 factors per greenback on journey bought via Chase Ultimate Rewards and on Lyft rides.
- 3 factors per greenback on eating.
- 2 factors per greenback on all different journey purchases.
- 1 level per greenback on all different purchases.
While the cardboard has a $95 annual charge, there is a 60,000-point welcome bonus after you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
Another well-liked transferable-miles bank card is the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. Here’s what this card earns:
- 10 miles per greenback on motels and rental automobiles booked via Capital One Travel.
- 5 miles per greenback on flights booked via Capital One Travel.
- 2 miles per greenback on all different purchases.
While this card has a $395 annual charge, it comes with a plethora of perks like an annual $300 Capital One Travel portal credit score; Plaza Premium, Capital One Lounge and Priority Pass lounge entry (which incorporates many Air France lounges); and Hertz President’s Circle standing. Plus, it has a 75,000-mile welcome bonus if you spend $4,000 on the cardboard within the first three months of account opening.
If you are a renter, you would possibly take into account opening the Bilt Mastercard® to earn Bilt Rewards factors you could switch to Flying Blue. You will earn 1 level per greenback if you pay hire to any landlord via Bilt with no added charge. Plus, you will earn 3 factors per greenback on eating; 2 factors per greenback on airfare, motels, rental automobiles and cruises; and 1 level per greenback on all different purchases. Better but, the cardboard has no annual charge.
Related: Luxury perks for an affordable annual charge: A evaluation of Capital One Venture X
Stay at Accor motels and earn bonus factors
Flying Blue and Accor Hotels — a French lodge group that features manufacturers like Fairmont, Novotel and Ibis — have a partnership referred to as Miles+Points. Flying Blue members earn Accor Live Limitless factors when flying on member airways, due to this partnership. Conversely, you need to use this system to earn Flying Blue miles when staying at Accor properties. These factors are earned along with the everyday rewards, so you possibly can double dip.
Make certain to hyperlink your Flying Blue and Accor Live Limitless accounts on the Flying Blue Miles+Points web site to earn these bonus factors. Earnings begin instantly, so do it earlier than your subsequent Flying Blue member flight or Accor lodge keep.
Book different motels via Flying Blue
If you are not staying at an Accor property, you possibly can nonetheless earn Flying Blue miles if you ebook motels. Flying Blue has a lodge reserving platform referred to as motels for Miles. Using this portal, you possibly can earn as much as 10,000 Flying Blue miles per night time booked via the portal, with promoted and dearer stays usually incomes extra miles.
For instance, a one-night $246 lodge room on the Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington DC earns 6,100 Flying Blue miles per night time.
Just be aware that you could be not all the time get the perfect deal if you ebook via this portal, so evaluate the listed price with the value of reserving your lodge straight. Furthermore, you usually received’t be capable to use lodge elite standing advantages or earn lodge factors on these stays; you typically must ebook straight to make use of these advantages.
Additionally, some lodge bookings are charged in euros, so be sure to make use of a bank card that doesn’t cost overseas transaction charges. If you don’t, you possibly can pay as much as 5% in charges in your reserving, offsetting the worth of any miles earned.
Additionally, you possibly can earn 1 Flying Blue mile per 1 euro spent on Booking.com in case you undergo Flying Blue’s Booking.com portal. While you possibly can nonetheless not use elite advantages and earn lodge factors, Booking.com typically has glorious offers on boutique motels and bed-and-breakfasts that would not in any other case earn lodge factors.
Related: How I saved over $16,000 on my 1st worldwide business-class flight utilizing factors and miles
Redeeming miles with Flying Blue
Now it’s time for the enjoyable half: redeeming Flying Blue miles.
While there are numerous methods to redeem Flying Blue miles, I like to recommend sticking to award flights. This will virtually all the time provide the most worth on your miles.
You needs to be conscious of some implications earlier than redeeming your miles, although. Since 2018, Flying Blue has used dynamic pricing. This means there’s no set award chart, and a few tickets might be extraordinarily costly — assume 200,000 miles for an economy-class flight from JFK to London. That stated, Flying Blue just lately revealed an interactive award map with entry-level award charges.
Even with dynamic pricing, Flying Blue typically has the perfect pricing for a lot of SkyTeam awards, beating out Delta, Korean Air and different main airways. The key to discovering these awards is to be versatile and maintain an eye fixed out for excellent offers. For inspiration, take a look at TPG’s information to maximizing Flying Blue miles.
The second factor try to be conscious of is that Air France and KLM cost average gas surcharges on some tickets. You can anticipate to pay $200 to $350 on a one-way business-class award ticket throughout the Atlantic. While these gas surcharges are considerably lower than these charged by airways like Emirates and British Airways, it is nonetheless one thing to remember as you evaluate pricing throughout loyalty applications.
Thankfully, this system doesn’t cross on gas surcharges for all airways. You can redeem Flying Blue miles on Air Europa, Delta Air Lines and Copa Airlines and pay nominal taxes and costs. For instance, whereas transatlantic Delta One business-class award area is a rarity, in case you discover it on Flying Blue, taxes and costs usually don’t exceed $15 when departing the U.S.
Even with gas surcharges, paying $250 (on prime of your miles) to redeem miles for a $2,500-plus Air France ticket on a transatlantic Air France or KLM flight remains to be a superb deal, particularly in case you’d in any other case pay for the flight out of pocket.
So with all that out of the way in which, let’s have a look at a few of the perfect Flying Blue redemptions.
Related: Book this, not that: SkyTeam award tickets
Book Air France enterprise class to Europe with a free stopover in Paris
While Flying Blue costs its awards dynamically, you possibly can normally rating a ticket from the U.S. to Europe on Air France or KLM for simply over 55,000 miles in enterprise class in case you’re versatile. This consists of nonstop and one-stop connecting flights — within the screenshot beneath, I discovered a flight from Washington’s Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD) for 56,500 miles and $215.80 in taxes and costs.
Since this flight has a connection in Paris, you possibly can spend a few days in Paris utilizing the free Flying Blue stopover. This is a good way to go to one other metropolis with out forking over extra miles or money. To ebook Flying Blue stopovers, you will must name Flying Blue at 800-375-8723.
Transatlantic Flying Blue award charges might be cheap, so it’s value checking Flying Blue when planning journeys to Europe.
Fly Delta between the US and Europe, South America and past
As talked about earlier, Delta doesn’t cost gas surcharges, so you need to use your Flying Blue miles to ebook Delta tickets with low charges. For instance, you possibly can ebook an economy-class flight from New York to Dublin for simply 22,500 Flying Blue miles and $10.10 on many dates in 2023. Alternatively, you possibly can ebook the identical flight in enterprise class for 56,500 Flying Blue miles with the identical low taxes, however award area is considerably extra restricted in enterprise class.
Just be aware that Virgin Atlantic Flying Club typically has higher offers on Delta flights to Europe. Earlier this yr, Virgin Atlantic had wide-open award area on Delta One to Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) for 50,000 miles and minimal taxes and costs. So when you have transferable factors, cross-check different airways and ebook with whichever one presents the perfect value.
Keep an eye fixed out for Promo Rewards
Every month, Flying Blue releases a batch of Promo Rewards. You can solely ebook these deeply discounted award tickets inside the similar month they’re launched. They’re extra restrictive than customary Flying Blue award tickets — they’ll’t be modified, so be sure your plans are finalized. But in case you’re prepared to threat it, these promotions can present a superb deal on tickets to Europe and past (e.g., transatlantic enterprise class for underneath 30,000 miles).
You can view an up-to-date checklist of Promo Rewards on the Flying Blue web site, and TPG updates our Flying Blue Promo Rewards web page in the beginning of every month with the most recent offers.
Be certain to keep watch over the Flying Blue Promo Rewards. There are some unbelievable offers available.
Fly Copa Airlines to Panama City and past
Copa Airlines is a Star Alliance member, however the airline has a non-alliance partnership with Flying Blue. This means you possibly can earn and redeem miles with Copa, additional increasing the attain of Flying Blue’s loyalty program. Pricing normally begins round 21,500 miles for a ticket from North America to Copa’s hub in Panama City, and also you add connecting flights too.
Copa Airlines flies to main Central and South American cities like Bogota, Colombia; Sao Paulo; and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Copa’s flights are operated by a Boeing 737 or Embraer 190, so it’s not normally value paying extra miles to ebook business-class tickets. However, passengers get pleasure from lie-flat seats on Copa’s Boeing 737 MAX 9 flights. Business-class awards to the U.S. on Boeing 737 MAX 9s typically price round 55,000 miles.
To improve the chances of a lie-flat seat deep into South America, take into account reserving a ticket on Delta Air Lines.
Related: The final information to Delta One suites
Bottom line
Flying Blue is among the world’s largest frequent flyer applications. You can earn miles with all Flying Blue airways and their SkyTeam and non-alliance companions, which means you could ebook hundreds of various routes along with your miles. While its elite standing program isn’t essentially the most rewarding, incomes standing is simple sufficient with the loyalty program’s U.S. bank card, and consists of full SkyTeam elite standing advantages if you attain Platinum standing.
I believe that one of the simplest ways for most individuals to earn Flying Blue miles is with transferable-points bank cards just like the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Not solely will you earn extra factors on most purchases, however you’ll even have the pliability to redeem your factors with different companions.
See Bilt Mastercard charges and costs right here.
See Bilt Master card rewards and advantages right here.
Additional reporting by Kyle Olsen.