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The vast majority of flights from North America to Europe are overnight red-eyes. These flights typically depart in the evening and land in Europe the following morning. Getting a whole night's sleep (or any sleep) can be challenging for economy-class passengers. But flying business class makes the journey much more comfortable.
Flying up front makes a huge difference, and contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t have to drain your points and miles balance. Below, we explore some of the most affordable ways to fly business class to Europe using points and miles.
Page Contents
- 29,000 Virgin Points One-Way From the East Coast to the U.K.
- 40,500 Iberia Avios One-Way From the East Coast and Chicago to Madrid
- 45,000 Alaska Atmos Rewards Points From North America to Europe
- 48,500 Virgin Points From North America to Amsterdam or Paris
- 50,000 ANA Mileage Club Miles from the U.S. to Europe
- 55,000 Avianca LifeMiles From North America to Europe
- 60,000 (Or Fewer) Flying Blue Miles From North America to Europe
- 60,000 Air Canada Aeroplan Points From North America to Europe
- Earn Transferrable Points to Take Advantage of These Sweet Spots
- Final Thoughts
29,000 Virgin Points One-Way From the East Coast to the U.K.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club uses dynamic pricing, but that shouldn't deter you from earning and burning Virgin Points. The key is finding Saver rates through Virgin. When you do, you can book Upper Class from several U.S. cities to London (LHR) or Manchester (MAN) for as little as 29,000 Virgin Points.
Unfortunately, Virgin has raised the taxes and fees again ($581 in the example below). While that’s still less than the $1,000 plus these flights used to cost in surcharges, it's still a hefty out-of-pocket expense.
This 29,000-point pricing is most commonly found on routes from the East Coast, including New York (JFK), Boston (BOS), and Atlanta (ATL). The airline also flies to the West Coast, where Upper Class awards start at around 40,000 points.
Virgin Points are among the easiest to accumulate, as Flying Club is a transfer partner of nearly every major transferable points program. And frequent transfer bonuses can make these redemptions even more affordable.
40,500 Iberia Avios One-Way From the East Coast and Chicago to Madrid
Iberia offers one of the most cost-effective ways to fly to Europe on points. The Spanish airline flies from several North American destinations to Madrid. However, a recent devaluation bumped the rates up and now prices these flights at 40,500 miles one-way, but that is still a great deal for business class.
This low rate applies to flights that cover less than 4,000 miles and depart on off-peak dates. Routes from Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C., to Madrid meet these criteria. Despite exceeding the 4,000-mile threshold, flights from Chicago to Madrid come in at 40,500 Avios each way, too.
Iberia Avios are easy to earn and transfer freely between British Airways, Finnair, Qatar Airways, Loganair, and Aer Lingus. This flexibility allows you to optimize transfers and use periodic transfer bonuses.
45,000 Alaska Atmos Rewards Points From North America to Europe
At AwardWallet, we love to harp on the value of Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards points. Thanks to the program's distance-based award charts, you can fly multiple carriers to Europe, in business class, for outstanding value.
One such example is on Aer Lingus, Condor, or American Airlines-operated flights. Flights between 1,501 and 3,500 miles cost just 45,000 Alaska points in business class. If you'd like, you can also add a connection (or a stopover), for no extra cost if your itinerary remains in that distance band. Otherwise, you'll redeem more miles to jump to the next-highest distance band.
How far 45,000 Atmos Rewards points can take you in business class might surprise you. Here's a small snapshot of the routes where we've found 45,000-point pricing:
With the right strategy, earning a lot of Alaska Airlines points is easy. Some of the best ways include transferring points 1:1 from Bilt Rewards or earning a sign-up bonus on the Atmos™ Rewards Ascent Visa Signature® card.
- Earn unlimited 3 miles for every $1 spent on eligible Alaska Airlines purchases
- Earn unlimited 2 miles for every $1 spent on eligible gas, EV charging stations, cable, streaming services and local transit (including ride share) purchases
- Earn unlimited 1 mile for every $1 spent on all other eligible purchases
48,500 Virgin Points From North America to Amsterdam or Paris
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club isn’t just useful for booking Virgin Atlantic flights. It also offers solid redemptions on partner airlines like Air France and KLM.
Direct transatlantic flights on Air France or KLM between North America and Paris or Amsterdam cost as few as 48,500 points and $297 through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.
This pricing applies to some of Air France's more interesting routes as well, like Havana (HAV) and Paris (CDG):
Taxes and fees are reasonable for this redemption, given the low award cost. However, you will not find as much award availability as you would with Air France-KLM's Flying Blue loyalty program.
Related: How to Find Partner Award Availability
50,000 ANA Mileage Club Miles from the U.S. to Europe
Now that ANA Airlines has begun allowing one-way bookings, this once-overlooked program should now be top of mind for booking Star Alliance awards to Europe. At 50,000 miles each way, ANA is now among Europe's cheapest business-class award options.
Remember our United flight above from Newark (EWR) to Frankfurt (FRA), costing 80,000 Air Canada miles? That same flight is only 50,000 miles and $5.60 when booked through ANA.
Be advised that awards on certain airlines — such as Lufthansa Group airlines — incur a sizable cash surcharge. Luckily, other airlines (such as United, as shown above) do not charge fuel surcharges.
Amex Membership Rewards transfer 1:1 to ANA Mileage Club. Transfers typically take about one day, according to available AwardWallet data points. You can also transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to ANA at a 3:1 ratio and earn 5,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 points you transfer over. However, these transfers take significantly longer.
Whenever possible, put awards on hold before transferring your points.
55,000 Avianca LifeMiles From North America to Europe
Avianca LifeMiles is a quirky program, but it offers excellent value if you're willing to put up with it and know where to look. In February 2025, LifeMiles devalued many awards and took the axe to some of its best European sweet spots, but there's still plenty of value to be found.
One of the best and most accessible LifeMiles sweet spots to Europe is SWISS business class between New York (JFK) and Zurich (ZRH), which costs just 55,000 LifeMiles each way. This award requires less than $60 in taxes and fees when departing the U.S.
You can also unlock outsized value by departing from Mexico City (MEX) and flying to the eastern half of Europe. However, we'll caveat that the LifeMiles award chart (or lack thereof) is illogical. For example, you can fly from Mexico City (MEX) to Athens (ATH) via Munich (MUC) for 70,000 miles — 10,000 miles less than ending your journey in Munich.
If you're willing to put up with the program's quirks, earning LifeMiles is easy, thanks to multiple transfer partners.
60,000 (Or Fewer) Flying Blue Miles From North America to Europe
Flying Blue — the loyalty program of Air France and KLM — often offers excellent award rates. Business-class redemptions start at 60,000 miles, but Flying Blue runs monthly Promo Rewards that discount select routes by 25% or more, which can potentially drop the price to 45,000 miles one-way in business class.
Unlike some programs, Flying Blue allows connections within Europe without increasing the award price. This makes it an appealing option for reaching destinations beyond Amsterdam or Paris.
While you can occasionally find the “starting at” pricing from other airports, here's a snapshot of the gateways we most consistently see this pricing from:
For those short on Flying Blue miles, Flying Blue partners with all major transferable points programs:
60,000 Air Canada Aeroplan Points From North America to Europe
Like Atmos Rewards, Air Canada Aeroplan also utilizes distance-based award charts. If you fly Air Canada's partner airlines to Europe (the ones not subject to dynamic pricing), you'll pay a fixed 60,000 points for business class itineraries up to 4,000 miles in total distance.
This covers routes such as Washington, D.C. (IAD) to Lisbon (LIS) or Philadelphia (PHL) to Frankfurt (FRA) — plus dozens of others. Additionally, you can add a stopover for just 5,000 extra points, which makes it possible to add an extended layover en route to your final destination.
Note that since United was added as a “select partner” subject to dynamic pricing, their flights are no longer locked in at the fixed 60,000 mile price. However, if you combine United flights with other Star Alliance partners within Europe, you can get the price pretty close.
For example, this transatlantic United business-class flight, when adding a leg on Lufthansa, comes in at 70,000 Aeroplan points. By comparison, the Newark to Frankfurt leg alone costs 80,000 miles, so you can see the discount by adding another partner. Just beware of mixed-cabin awards as Air Canada likes to indicate a flight is business-class in their search results when the long-haul segment may in fact be in economy.
Air Canada has several transfer partners, which makes stockpiling points a breeze.
Another quick way to amass Aeroplan points is by earning the sign-up bonus on the Aeroplan® Credit Card.
- Earn 60,000 bonus points
- Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open.
- $95 Annual Fee
- Redeem points for both international and domestic flights with the Aeroplan® Credit Card.
- Fly to another continent and travel the world with the Aeroplan® Credit Card.
- Earn 3X points for each dollar spent at grocery stores, on dining at restaurants, and Air Canada directly. Earn 1X point for each dollar spent on all other purchases.
- 500 bonus points for every $2,000 you spend in a calendar month - up to 1,500 points per month.
- Member FDIC
- 3x points directly with Air Canada
- 3x points on dining, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- 3x points at grocery stores
- 1x point on all other purchases
Earn Transferrable Points to Take Advantage of These Sweet Spots
Most U.S. travelers aren't organically earning Flying Club points, Flying Blue miles, or ANA Mileage Club miles. And the good news is that you don't have to in order to take advantage of these sweet spots. Instead, focus on earning a flexible points currency that transfers to the program you want to utilize.
Earn Amex Membership Rewards points
Arguably, earning Membership Rewards points is the best way to earn points to take advantage of these business class sweet spots to Europe, as highlighted by the ANA option. Membership Rewards points transfer to most of the programs highlighted above:
Here are some top options for earning Membership Rewards points through credit cards:
(Terms apply)
- 4X Membership Rewards® Points at restaurants worldwide, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S. (on up to $50,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
- 4X Membership Rewards® points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year in purchases, then 1X)
- 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
- 2X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotels and other eligible travel booked on amextravel.com
- 1X on other eligible purchases
(Terms apply)
- Earn 5X points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® (up to $500,000 in purchases per calendar year).
- Earn 5X points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel®.
- Earn 5X points on Fine Hotels + Resorts® and The Hotel Collection bookings.
(Terms apply)
- Earn 5X points on flights and prepaid hotels on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 2X points on each eligible purchase of $5,000 or more.
- Earn 2X points on each eligible purchase with U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers.
- Earn 2X points on each eligible purchase with U.S. electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers.
- Earn 2X points on each eligible purchase with U.S. shipping providers.
- 2X earning rates are subject to a cap of $2 million in purchases per calendar year.
Earn Chase Ultimate Rewards
Chase Ultimate Rewards is another excellent flexible point currency for taking advantage of these sweet spots. You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to the following programs highlighted above:
And here are the best ways to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards through credit cards:
- 5X points on Lyft rides through September 2027
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide
- 3X points on eligible streaming services
- 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 2X points on all other travel
- 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases
- 8x points on all purchases through Chase Travel℠
- 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly
- 3x points on dining worldwide
- 1x points on all other purchases
- 3X points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year
- 1X point per $1 on all other purchases
Earn Bilt Points
Bilt Rewards' addition of several airlines partners in recent months makes it a formidable currency as well. As the only program to transfer to Alaska Airlines as well as the home of lucrative Rent Day transfer bonuses, Bilt Points are perfect for these routes to Europe. Here are its airline transfer partners:
For now, you can earn Points with The Bilt Mastercard® (Rates & Fees), with more card offerings coming in the near future.
Earn Capital One Miles
Last but not least, earning Capital One miles can help you unlock great business class flights to Europe. Here's a shortlist of Capital One transfer partners useful for these sweet spots:
You can earn Capital One miles through the following credit cards:
- 5X miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment
- 5X miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per dollar on all other purchases
- 10X miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on purchases through Capital One Entertainment
- 5X miles per $1 on flights when booking via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on vacation rentals booked via Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per $1 on all other eligible purchases
- 10X miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on purchases through Capital One Entertainment
- 5X miles per $1 on flights booked via Capital One Travel
- 5X miles per $1 on vacation rentals booked via Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per $1 on other eligible purchases
Final Thoughts
Flying business class to Europe doesn’t have to be out of reach. With points and miles, travelers can enjoy lie-flat seats and premium service at a fraction of the cash cost. Whether it’s a 40,500-mile Iberia redemption, a 60,000-mile Air Canada booking, the new, one-way ANA flights at 50,000 miles or an ultra-cheap 29,000-point Virgin Atlantic Upper Class award, options abound.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Aeroplan® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), American Express® Gold Card (Rates & Fees), American Express Platinum Card® (Rates & Fees), The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees), and The Bilt Mastercard® (Rates & Fees)
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I’m interested in the reverse (UK/EU to USA) but what are the best options between SanFran & EU/UK.
Thanks for all the great info.
B.
The best option would likely be to try to find a cheap Flying Blue biz award. These awards start at just 50k Flying Blue miles from anywhere in the U.S. to anywhere in Europe. However, you’ll likely need to be flexible to score one of these deals.
We dive into how to find these deals here: https://awardwallet.com/airlines/flying-blue/award-calendar/
Unfortunately most of these are dead now. Time to update?
Hi Gigi, this post is in the process of being updated!
Since I have these miles, havne’t decided what to with them, and they are about to expire. I’m giving readers a chance to win one of two AwardWallet Plus upgrades by sharing what is the best way to use these miles.
Time to write a new post. Air Berlin doesn’t exist anymore. Also Alaska is no longer cheaper on most route to Europe than AA. In fact since losing FlyingBlue as a partner they offer less space than AA since Iberia isn’t an option so with nearly No premium cabin space on AA to Europe much of the year almost all Alaska premium awards are BA with YQ charges and through LHR since Icelandair never seems to release premium (subpar saga) seats to Alaska awards.
Dan, we’re working on getting this guy updated, thanks!
AFAIK the “British Airways Business Class Awards with Aer Lingus between Ireland and Boston” has not priced at the 37,500 level for a couple years (I think it was around Dec 2016 when they fudged the geography and bumped this redemption up into the next distance band).
Also, it would be helpful if you would provide more detail regarding YQ/YR instead of just saying “Do keep in mind that awards on some of these airlines incur fuel surcharges with the exact amount varying by airline.”
For example, it’d be much better if you then provided a rough estimate along the lines of:
UA: ~$200-350
AA: $75-125
CX: $900-1000
Note: these are completely made up numbers/airlines.
Thanks for the comment and I’ve adjusted the mileage for BA — yes, they have gone up. We’re going to do a larger update of this post and will figure out how to best add surcharge data.
How can one keep signing up for and qualifying for new credit card bonuses etc. if one already has signed up and qualified for a bunch of them? Or do people just sign up, qualify and then jettison the card?
Check out the rules here: https://awardwallet.com/credit-cards/rewards-card-application-rules/
I have 300,000+ points in my Gold Amex account. What is the best way to use these points for myself and my family to purchase round trip tickets to Rome next July 2018 ?
Thanks
You might reach out to our Award Booking service for a hand: https://awardwallet.com/awardBooking/add
Thanks for this article! The thing I don’t get is how to I book to fly airline X with airline Y’s miles. Which website do you start with? Thanks! 🙂
like this? https://awardwallet.com/airlines/find-airline-partner-award-availability/
Umm, yeah..how embarrassing. LOL Thanks!!!
Thanks for your quick responses!
I replied too soon. Tried JFK to ATH with exact dates and got the same responses.
Your best bet is to give Korean a call then. Their web interface, while functional, isn’t the best. I’ve had luck, but also have put in more hours than most fiddling with it. I’ll often search on Delta.com or AirFrance.us to find flights that are available for partners and then piece it together at Korean’s website.
Is Korean Air Roundtrip Partner Business Class Awards still available? I just went on the website and it said “Airport Advisory. Please note that the selected itinerary is a transpacific route via Korea (Seoul/Incheon)” then it said I’d have to call.
When I checked the Korea Air website award chart they had no awards from North America to Europe.
Thanks,
Robin
You need to book through a different page on Korean’s site: https://awardwallet.com/news/airlines/book-skyteam-awards-korean-skypass/
Thank you!
Howie
In this article, you state that Delta flights booked using Korean miles will not incur fuel surcharges. I believe that is incorrect. When I do a dummy booking on Korean’s site it quotes me 80,000 points along with $400+ in YQ fees on a RT flight (ATL to FRA to ATL). What am I missing?
Matt, it should read “awards on Delta wholly within the US won’t incur surcharges” (which I’ve updated the text to read). The YQ you’re seeing from ATL-FRA-ATL is correct. Sorry about that, you’re not missing anything.
HI, really useful post. I live in Minneapolis (I’m planning to take my family yo Europe next year), so far I have 50k point on Delta, Lufthansa and United. What would be best choice for MSP airport?
Artur, keep in mind both Lufthansa and United are members of Star Alliance and redemptions can be made for flights on one another’s aircraft. For your family you’ll want to focus on a single alliance, so with Delta it’d be SkyTeam and United/Lufthansa it’d be with Star Alliance. I’d personally focus on United.
Thanks so much for your advice. I focused on MilagePlus and mariott. Do you think is there a way to consolidate Lufthansa, Delta or Etihad miles onto MariottHilton or any other reward program? then have them transferred on Mariott or MilagePlus?
Artur, each program has their own specific transfer options available. Look at each program, their transfer partners and see what you can do. You could also look to points.com to convert your points but the ratio on transfers that you’ll receive are not particularly lucrative — that said, if you’re not going to otherwise use those miles, absolutely take advantage of this opportunity.
Thanks, Howie!
Suggestions for the best way to use miles for a round trip ticket JFK to Athens Greece?
Peggy, it all depends on your dates of travel, class of service, what points/miles you actually have and your level of flexibility. If you made me choose one and only one program, I’d pick Chase Ultimate Rewards. If you’re looking for a hand with the booking, reach out to the experts we work with through the Bookings option (https://awardwallet.com/awardBooking/requests) in your AwardWallet account.
Hi Howie,
I’m flying to Morocco and back from Spain (most) likely BCN next June or July. I am having a hard time figuring out getting to Morocco, using miles. I usually fly UA, since I live in San Francisco, but have a ton of UR points I can use. Most likely CMN, but could do RAK. looks like might be best to fly to Europe and then use one of the low-cost carriers to get to Morocco. Any thoughts? Thank you.
Petra, for your scenario, I’d recommend reaching out to the folks through the Booking tab in your AwardWallet account (https://awardwallet.com/awardBooking/requests). They’re pros at figuring out how to get the best value from your points and miles for a specific scenario.
This is great info. Can you please publish ways which include economy class? I have a family of four and don’t have enough points for business or first class. Thank you!
Jeff, stay tuned. We’re working on such a post. 🙂
We are planning to take the entire family (5 of us) to Europe in 2-3 years. I am racking up a fair amount of Chase UR points (around 150k points) and American Airlines points (about 240k points between my wife and I), as well as some Delta points. We are in the midwest, probably fly out of KC and we have the SW companion pass and a fair amount of Rapid Rewards points that could get us to a major hub if needed. My question is should I continue to rack up UR and AA points or should I start considering another reward program and transfer some of our accumulated points to that program given we have some time and maybe the possibility of some sign up bonuses during that time for other programs? Any help or advice would be appreciated.
Chris, for me, I’d stick with what you’re doing. Focus on building up UR as they’ll give you more options than AA alone.
Thanks. Any other Airline reward cards that I should consider that are partners with AA that could be good options for sign-up bonuses to accumulate more miles? Appreciate your help.
Chris, I’d look at the AA cards from Citi or the SPG cards from Amex — as SPG points can be transferred to AA at a ratio of 1:1 and for every 20k you transfer you get 25k miles.
I’ve got the most miles saved in Chase Ultimate Rewards and would like to fly from San Antonio TX to Rome next year, preferably business class. Looks like Korean Air would be my best choice at 80K R/T, but I can’t figure out how to do it. Their website doesn’t list San Antonio as a departing airport. Skyteam member Delta does fly out of San Antonio. Any suggestions?
Jon, you’ve got it. Korean’s website, unfortunately, doesn’t display award availability for Delta, but you can still cash in your miles for flights with them and their partners. If you check out the bookings tab in your AwardWallet account (https://awardwallet.com/awardBooking/requests) you can submit a request for assistance, but the right start is finding the lowest level award prices on Delta and other SkyTeam partners.
[…] When it comes to international travel, Europe is arguably one of, if not the most popular destination. A common question we receive is what are the best points and miles to use for Europe? The challenge is that there is not one specific rewards currency that is better than all for travel to Europe. However, there are specific awards within many of the most popular rewards programs that provide fantastic redemption opportunities for travel to Europe. These programs include British Airways Executive Club (Avios), Korean Air SKYPASS, Delta Air Lines (SkyMiles), American Airlines (AAdvantage), ANA, Air Canada (Aeroplan), Singapore Airlines (KrisFlyer), Virgin Atlantic (Flying Club) and Alaska Airlines (Mileage Plus) Read More! […]
How do I use Delta miles to book on other flights? If I search Delta, limited options are given that might include KLM or Air France, but no other partners show up. I need basic info on how to use the credit card points. Currently I use Delta American Express for all flights. Should I be using something else?
Sue, the points/miles you should accumulate should line up with your goals. When in doubt, we like flexible points such as Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points and Starwood Preferred Guest Points — the reason for these is they can all transfer to many different airline partners.
Delta’s site is pretty good for displaying all airlines/partners to Europe — what airlines are you not seeing?
It would be very useful to have more specific clarity on routes that have surcharges. For instance, United is a popular US airline. Europe is a popular destination for US citizens to visit. United does not charge fuel surcharges on award flights. But which, if any, of the Star Alliance partners do charge fuel surcharges when using their program’s miles for United award flights? I can never get a straight answer to this question. Does Singapore?
Singapore will pass along surcharges. It isn’t so much the route, but the operating airline and the airline with which you’re redeeming. United never passes on fuel/carrier-imposed surcharges.
Hi Howie,
I would have loved if you had also include the amount of miles for economy class. I read the beginning of this post and was looking forward to it but then it just didn’t apply to me at all. With a family of three and only one of us being able to get credit card with bonuses it just doesn’t work.
Leticia, completely understand! in *many* cases the same programs have superior rates in economy class as well
Same here. Who the heck flies business class if they’re not on an expense account?!! This makes this totally uninteresting for most people. We’ll just have to guess that the economy prices scale evenly for all of them..
Howard, I’m certainly not on an expense report and I fly business/first class all the time with miles. The incremental cost in miles to fly Business or First Class, when you’re flexible, can be small when otherwise compared to the relative cost in cash.
That said, we’re working on a post just about economy class travel as well.
Hi, my major airport is PHL or EWR. What would be my best option to fly to BCN? With AA devaluation and routing all MileSaver routes through London on BA ( read large fuel charges and not direct) it makes me look for other alternative. Thank you in advance.
Slava, we’ve found Delta having the best award availability — and while it wouldn’t be non-stop, it could be your best option.
Thank you. Delta out of PHL/Ewr or Ypu mean JFK?
Slava, definitely out of JFK, but you might also find flights originating in PHL that work.
Isn’t Flying Blue (KLM/Air France) now a transfer partner from Chase Sapphire Preferred/Reserve. How about extending this post to include possibilites using this program?
Indeed it is. One great option, specifically with Flying Blue would be travel to Israel as that program considers it part of Europe!
The Flying Blue scheme is great for intra Europe travel. Last autumn I flew ZRH-ROM-TLV for 12,500 FB points. I left Zurich early evening, got to Rome in time for dinner with friends and had a meeting in Rome the next morning before flying out at midday. As I have a Priority Pass the lounges were taken care of and the seats on most short leg European flights are the same whether you are in Business or Economy so paying hundreds and hundreds of $ doesn’t make sense nor does using many more points. Paying is not smart either as these one way trips are usually disproportionately expensive.