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Flying Blue is one of the only frequent flyer programs into which you can transfer nearly every type of points. With so many partnerships, it's easy to aggregate points from a variety of sources for the redemption you want. With this in mind, we'll take a look at some of the best KLM/Air France Flying Blue sweet spots.
The sheer number of partnerships provides the Flying Blue program with considerable value. Points earned on cards such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Citi Strata Premier℠ Card, and The Platinum Card® from American Express, among many others, can be transferred into Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio (and usually instantly). Additionally, you can take advantage of the occasional transfer bonus from Chase, Amex, Capital One, Bilt, or Citi to stretch your points even further.
These are the best uses of your Flying Blue miles.
Page Contents
- Flying Blue Award Basics
- Flying Blue Promo Rewards
- Flying Blue Sweet Spots
- Partner awards between the contiguous U.S. and Hawaii
- Partner awards between the contiguous U.S. and Mexico
- Economy-class awards between the contiguous U.S. and Colombia
- Awards between the U.S. and Europe
- Awards between the contiguous U.S. and Northern Africa
- Business-class awards between East/Southeast Asia and Europe
- Awards between the contiguous U.S. and Central/Southern Africa
- Kenya Airways flights within Africa
- South America to Europe and beyond — without massive surcharges
- Awards including a Europe stopover
- Best Ways to Accumulate FlyingBlue Miles
- Final Thoughts
Flying Blue Award Basics
Before we review the most attractive Flying Blue sweet spots you can book with award miles, you should keep some things in mind:
- Flying Blue passes on fuel surcharges imposed by the operating airline for award redemptions, including on its own flights. These can really increase the out-of-pocket costs of a “free” flight.
- Flying Blue does not publish an award chart. You can see the minimum amount of miles required for any city pairing by using its award calculator. However, this calculator doesn't work for many partner routes.
- You can book one-way awards.
- You can book free stopovers on Flying Blue award tickets — but only on Air France and KLM flights.
- Flying Blue releases Promo Rewards regularly. Bookmark that link to see the latest offerings.
Related: Airline Programs that Don't Add Fees and Surcharges to Award Flights
Flying Blue Promo Rewards
As we just mentioned, Flying Blue runs monthly Promo Rewards, which you can check here. These are KLM and Air France routes available at discounted award rates. The booking window for these awards is typically up to three months before the eligible travel period. Typical savings on Promo Rewards range from 25% to 50%, which can result in excellent deals during the promotional period.
Since only Air France and KLM flights are eligible for Promo Rewards, fuel surcharges are almost always a concern. However, many awards are still worth booking — especially if business-class awards are discounted. This is true even if you're paying $200 to $300 in taxes, fees, and surcharges.
Now, let's dig into some of the other Flying Blue award sweet spots.
Flying Blue Sweet Spots
Partner awards between the contiguous U.S. and Hawaii
Flying Blue only requires 17,500 miles each way for an economy-class award ticket to Hawaii on Delta. Best of all, there are no fuel surcharges on this route. You can book some of the same flights using Delta SkyMiles, though those often cost more. Hawaii has sweet spots across many programs, so Flying Blue isn't your only source of great value.
Lately, the main problem with this award sweet spot is the lack of award availability on the Flying Blue website. It can be difficult to find Delta partner award space. Large swaths of the calendar have no seat availability, making this a chronic exercise in frustration. If you can find space, though, it's a great deal.
Partner awards between the contiguous U.S. and Mexico
Flying Blue puts Mexico in the same award region as the contiguous U.S. This means you'll pay 10,500–17,500 miles for most tickets. The prices are generally based on the distance flown. That makes routes between Texas airports and Mexico City the cheapest. Redeeming Flying Blue miles provides a good opportunity to leverage SkyTeam partners Delta and Aeromexico.
Comparatively, United charges a minimum of 17,500 miles, with 19,300 miles being a common requirement from some major airports. American Airlines prices hover around 17,500 miles one-way, though you can find flights for as cheap as 10,000 miles through AA's dynamic award pricing. You also can use British Airways Avios on nonstop American Airlines and Alaska routes for good value.
If you have Flying Blue miles and prefer to fly Delta or SkyTeam partner Aeromexico, however, using your miles for a trip to Mexico may be a decent bet.
Economy-class awards between the contiguous U.S. and Colombia
Flying Blue awards start at 17,500 miles for a one-way economy ticket to Bogota, Colombia, with rates climbing the further north or west you go in the U.S. Prices are decent in the Midwest or Northeast. You'll pay 20,500 miles for the nonstop out of New York (JFK) — not bad for a six-hour international flight. Using Flying Blue miles for this route is a good bet considering the distance flown. Taxes and surcharges for this route are pretty reasonable at about $45.
If you want to travel around South America, starting in Colombia works well. You can make your way down the continent using other miles. If you do a quick scan, there is a lot of award availability. Singapore KrisFlyer is a decent option for Avianca and Copa flights. People don't realize how large of a continent South America is. In fact, Bogota is closer to New York City than it is to Buenos Aires.
Unfortunately, business class to northern South America isn't a great deal at 55,000 Flying Blue miles one-way from most U.S. airports.
Awards between the U.S. and Europe
With many programs increasing their award prices, Flying Blue remains a great option for flying business class to Europe. In fact, the program recently standardized award flights between the U.S. and Europe. While it used to cost 55,000 Flying Blue miles to fly business class to Europe on most routes, you can now book business class on Air France or KLM to many European destinations starting at 50,000 miles one-way. This is the typical price from the East Coast to Western Europe.
Prices generally climb the further you have to fly. However, you can find deals with seemingly random city pairings, such as Dallas to Budapest:
Flying Blue occasionally puts business-class tickets from North American airports in the mix of Promo Rewards.
Flying Blue also partners with Virgin Atlantic. While this has produced a host of new redemption opportunities for Flying Blue, it has specifically created a sweet spot for Virgin Atlantic Upper Class (business). Prices vary across U.S. airports but can cost as few as 56,000 Flying Blue miles and ~$200 in taxes and fuel surcharges to fly one-way to Europe.
Business-class awards on Delta Air Lines are rare, but they are a great deal if you can find them. Check for last-minute options. You may score a seat at a great price. Delta was asking 375,000 SkyMiles for this same ticket at the time of writing, though it's available for 67,500 with Flying Blue.
Even economy awards are a decent Flying Blue sweet spot — especially for cities where flights to Europe are generally expensive. Economy seats start at just 20,000 miles one-way. The taxes and fees cut into the value you get for your miles, so the value often isn't there if you're departing a major hub like JFK or LAX. But from other airports, you can sometimes score a deal.
Awards between the contiguous U.S. and Northern Africa
Flying Blue considers Northern Africa a part of Europe when it comes to award pricing — or at least the areas that were previously French colonies, such as Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. This can be advantageous for all cabin classes. Flights from New York to Morocco start at 15,000 miles in economy.
Premium economy and business are a great deal as well, charging 30,000 and 55,000 miles, respectively. Factor in some slightly dynamic award calculations, so sometimes you'll pay a bit more. Taxes and fees can still hit hard, too. Even though economy costs very few miles, sometimes using cash to book is the best option.
The same is not true for business class. It's overwhelmingly an excellent deal.
Business-class awards between East/Southeast Asia and Europe
This isn't so helpful for U.S. folks, unless you're trying to put together an around-the-world adventure. However, it's a good option if you want to fly SkyTeam carriers. Tickets on Air France and KLM are available from major East and Southeast Asia airports for 70,000 miles one-way in business class. Fees are around $200, like many other awards.
In addition to Air France and KLM, you can book awards on SkyTeam carriers Vietnam Airlines, China Airlines, and Korean Airlines. These aren't as great a deal. As an example, nonstop tickets in Vietnam Airlines' business class between Hanoi and Paris cost a minimum of 112,500 miles. I recommend using Delta miles between these regions — one of the few areas where you'll get a decent premium cabin award deal.
Awards between the contiguous U.S. and Central/Southern Africa
Africa can be hard to reach, but several regions make for additional Flying Blue sweet spots. Economy awards to/from the U.S. start at only 35,000 miles for a one-way ticket to destinations like Ghana, Senegal, and Gabon. If you can find space on the nonstop Delta flight from New York (JFK) to Accra (ACC), you'll save a ton of miles compared to what Delta charges.
Even flying to Johannesburg won't break the mileage bank, as it's available for 35,000 Flying Blue miles on some dates.
The fuel surcharges for economy tickets average around $160, which stings a bit. Award availability can be hit or miss at 35,000 miles. We found some award availability close-in, but your best bet is searching well in advance for award seats.
You may be able to find cheaper tickets with other airline alliances, but Flying Blue is the best SkyTeam program by far. The only thing that hurts for business class is the taxes, fees, and surcharges. You should expect to pay around $400 one-way. Business class award availability at reasonable rates is more irregular. But we consider 95,000 miles one-way to some destinations a good deal. You have your choice between flying nonstop Delta One business class for 100,000 miles or connecting in Paris to save 5,000 miles.
Personally, I'd pick Delta. You save a ton, since there are no surcharges.
Kenya Airways flights within Africa
Flights within Africa can be mind-bogglingly expensive. Consider that Kenya Airways charges over $850 for an economy round-trip ticket between Nairobi and Johannesburg.
You can get this same ticket for just 18,500 Flying Blue miles and ~$100 each way. Business class is 55,000 miles, though, which isn't really worth it for a four-hour flight.
Even paying 24,000 to 29,000 miles for tickets on some destination pairs isn't terrible (e.g. Nairobi–Accra or Zanzibar–Lagos). Having Kenya Airways as a SkyTeam partner opens up some destinations you might not think of immediately and is great since SkyMiles finds almost zero availability within Africa. United MileagePlus is another useful program for flights within Africa. This is because it partners with Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airways — major carriers on the continent.
South America to Europe and beyond — without massive surcharges
You might not know that flights departing Brazil are not subject to massive taxes, fees, and surcharges. Brazil is one of several countries that ban or limit additional surcharges on award tickets. What's cool is that this applies to your entire itinerary. So if you can find a business-class award that normally has high fees — say, to an African country — you'll pay far less out of pocket by departing from places like Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, or even Hong Kong. This is a great option to keep in mind if you're trying to piece together an around-the-world trip.
Awards including a Europe stopover
Flying Blue allows free stopovers on one-way award tickets. It's one of few programs — Alaska Mileage Plan being the other — that offer free stopovers on one-way award tickets. Some other programs, such as Air Canada Aeroplan and Singapore KrisFlyer, allow stopovers for a reasonable cost.
The catch with Flying Blue is that the stopover must be on either Air France or KLM flights. This is still an excellent benefit, though, as you can add a stint in Europe before continuing to Africa, for example. Or simply stop in Paris or Amsterdam for a few days before continuing to another European city. This is a great way to stretch the value of your Flying Blue miles, as it saves on the cost of the next flight.
Best Ways to Accumulate FlyingBlue Miles
Transfer Points to Flying Blue
It's pretty easy to get Flying Blue miles, considering that the program is a transfer partner of multiple reward types. You can use the following transfer partners:
The abundance of transfer options means you don't need to worry about building up a balance with Flying Blue. Instead, you can focus on a strategy to accumulate flexible points. Then, you can transfer to Air France or KLM when needed. And keep an eye out for transfer bonuses, where you may get 15%–25% bonus miles when sending your credit card points to Flying Blue.
Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®
In addition to the various bank transfer partners, you can earn Flying Blue miles directly with the Air France KLM Mastercard. The card earns 1.5 miles per $1 spent on all other purchases miles on everyday spending, which is better than many cards if you compare miles on a 1:1 basis. You also can use the card to augment earning Flying Blue elite status:
- Earn 70,000 bonus miles and 40 XP after you make $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of your account opening, plus 60 XP upon approval.
- Earn 3 miles per $1 spent directly on Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and SkyTeam member airlines purchases.
- Earn 1.5 miles per $1 spent on all other purchases per $1 spent on all other purchases.
- Receive 20 XP every year on your account anniversary.
- Receive 5,000 bonus miles each account anniversary after you spend $50 or more on purchases within the prior anniversary year.
- No foreign transaction fees.
- $89 annual fee.
Keep in mind that Bank of America issues the card and has a 2/3/4 rule for new card approvals.
Related: Understanding Rewards Credit Card Application Rules and Restrictions
Buying miles
We don't generally recommend buying airline miles, but there can be situations where this is advantageous. Examples include when you have nearly enough miles for a specific redemption or when you can immediately use miles for a ticket that would ordinarily cost a ton of money. Flying Blue occasionally sells miles at reasonable rates during promotions. A recent promotion offered 100% bonus miles, bringing the cost to around 1.53 cents per mile.
Bookmark this page for future deals to buy Flying Blue miles at a discount or with a bonus.
Final Thoughts
Knowing about the Flying Blue award sweet spots can prove valuable given the relative ease of earning miles through ubiquitous transfer options. You'll indeed pay hefty taxes, fees, and surcharges in some circumstances. However, if you're saving a significant amount of miles, the cost could be worth it.
Make sure you keep an eye on the monthly Promo Rewards and also look out for transfer bonuses to the Flying Blue program. Both of these will let you maximize the value of your hard-earned points and miles.
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