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Italy's revamped flag carrier has some news: you can now earn and redeem on ITA Airways with Air France-KLM Flying Blue.
The earning rates aren't bad and the award prices (and availability) are pretty good, so there's a fair bit to be excited about — as long as ITA remains a SkyTeam member. And that's not likely to be long.
Here's all you need to know about earning and redeeming Flying Blue miles on ITA Airways flights.
Earning Flying Blue Miles on ITA Flights
Until recently, you could only earn Flying Blue miles for ITA-operated flights marketed by Air France/KLM. Thankfully, this has changed — but it might be short-lived.
This past May, the Lufthansa Group acquired a 41% stake in ITA, leaving the possibility that ITA could jump the SkyTeam ship and join Star Alliance. This won't be the first alliance reshuffling in recent history, as SAS made a move in the opposite direction earlier this year.
We don't know if or when a move will be announced, but we'll post about it when we know more. But until that alliance shift happens, you can earn Flying Blue miles on ITA-marketed and -operated flights.
Flying Blue provides distance-based earnings on ITA flights, which simplifies the math. You can get a good idea of how many miles you'll earn on your next flight by multiplying the distance of the flight by the cabin bonus.
The cabin earning rates on these flights generally align with other Flying Blue partners:
- Business:
- J, C, E: 175%
- D: 150%
- I: 125%
- Premium Economy:
- P: 150%
- U:125%
- A: 100%
- Economy:
- Y, B, M: 100%
- H, K: 75%
- V, T, N, Q, S: 50%
- X, W, L, O: 25%
And if you're taking a short flight under 500 miles, Flying Blue applies a minimum mileage of 500 for its earnings calculations on ITA flights. On these occasions, you'll multiply 500 by your cabin earning percentage.
Earning Flying Blue XP on ITA Flights
XP, or experience points, are what you need to gain elite status with Flying Blue. You'll earn XP just as you would on other partner flights. That's different from the new rule limiting XP earnings on non-SkyTeam partners.
Redeeming Flying Blue Miles on ITA Flights
Earning miles is made a whole lot sweeter when you can redeem them, and you can now redeem Flying Blue miles for ITA flights.
There's no official chart for ITA award fares, so digging for one won't do you any good. On the bright side, pricing is streamlined across the board. So when you find space, you'll see it for the rates we've noted in the example itineraries below.
And on that note, the bulk of the pricing we've discovered is for business-class awards. We have yet to see widespread economy awards (especially on long-haul flights), but these tickets should price similarly to what you can find for Air France and KLM flights. The good news is that you can't throw a rock without hitting business-class availability.
Intra-Europe flights
ITA has a fairly extensive intra-European route map, and pricing is fair for short-haul flights. Depending on your destination, flights under a couple of hours range between 5,000 and 10,000 miles in economy and between 20,000 and 30,000 for business class.
For example, you can fly between Rome (FCO) and Madrid (MAD) in business class for 26,500 miles plus $33.70
For ultra-short flights, it may be worth comparing the cost of award travel to the cost of taking the train or other modes of transportation. There may be better uses for 5,000 Flying Blue miles (and $27.50) than a one-hour flight.
Transatlantic flights
We see the most award availability on transatlantic flights, which is great news if you want to try ITA's business class.
Additionally, the Flying Blue mileage requirement for these awards is super competitive with the rates you'd pay if you booked the same awards through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club — a fellow SkyTeam member that also lets you book ITA awards.
Generally speaking, the longer your flight is, the more miles you'll need to book it. New York (JFK) to Rome (FCO) is roughly an eight-hour flight, and you'd redeem 72,000 Flying Blue miles plus $10.10 in business class.
San Francisco to Rome is a touch shorter than Los Angeles to Rome, which is why you'd pay 106,000 Flying Blue miles plus $10.10 for the SFO–FCO route.
And redeem an extra 1,500 Flying Blue miles for the LAX–FCO itinerary.
Flights originating in ITA's hub in Rome price identically to the European-bound ones but command a few extra dollars in taxes and fees. For example, Miami (MIA) to FCO requires 87,500 miles plus $10.10 in taxes and fees, while FCO to MIA is also 87,500 miles, plus $80.10.
Still, the taxes and fees on these awards are substantially less than what you'd pay for Air France and KLM awards — which start at a recently standardized 50,000 Flying Blue miles plus a few hundred in taxes and fees.
Related: Flying Blue Standardizes Award Rates Between US-Europe
Fly from Rome (FCO) to other global destinations
Your Flying Blue miles can take you further than FCO — for prices comparable to what you'd otherwise redeem for Air France or KLM flights.
Whether you're planning to take advantage of a Flying Blue free stopover or simply scoping out creative routes that can take you all over the world, here are a few other ITA flights you can book with Flying Blue miles:
If Brazil is on your bucket list, you can redeem 96,500 Flying Blue miles plus $41.20 for a business-class award from Rome to Rio de Janeiro (GIG).
Or, if you want to head east from FCO, you can redeem 104,000 Flying Blue miles plus $41.20 for a business award to Tokyo-Haneda (HND).
And if you want to maximize the time you could spend in ITA's business class cabin, FCO to Buenos Aires, Argentina, prices at 117,500 Flying Blue miles plus $41.20.
ITA's route map is growing, which will hopefully power new redemption opportunities with Flying Blue miles. However, it's anyone's guess as to how long ITA stays a SkyTeam member and these awards remain bookable via Flying Blue.
Getting Flying Blue Miles
Numerous points and miles transfer to Flying Blue, making it easy to amass the miles you need for a redemption on ITA or other airlines:
Thus, any credit card earning these points also can help you earn Flying Blue miles. Additionally, Bank of America issues the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®, which you can use to earn Flying Blue miles with your daily purchases.
Final Thoughts
Thanks to ITA Airways, Flying Blue miles just got easier to earn and easier to use. You can now earn Flying Blue miles when you fly Italy's revamped flag carrier, and then you can redeem those miles for flights to many of the airline's global destinations.
If you're a Flying Blue mile collector, you'll want to act fast before ITA leaves SkyTeam for Star Alliance. These awards may no longer be bookable with Flying Blue miles when or if this alliance shift happens.
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