Where Flying Blue Shines: Best Redemptions on Air France, KLM & Partners

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Flying Blue, the frequent flyer program for Air France and KLM, is one of the most versatile available thanks to its unusually broad list of transferable points partners. You can move points from nearly every major bank into Flying Blue, often at a 1:1 ratio and usually instantly.

That includes popular cards such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card (Rates & Fees), Citi Strata Premier^® Card (Rates & Fees), and the American Express Platinum Card^®. Additionally, you can take advantage of occasional transfer bonuses from Chase, Amex, Capital One, Bilt, or Citi to stretch your points even further, when the timing is right.

This level of flexibility makes it much easier to build the balance you need and unlock high-value redemptions across Air France and KLM (and their partners). With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at some of the program’s strongest sweet spots and why they’re worth considering for your next award booking.

But before we jump into the best uses of your Flying Blue miles, let's briefly cover some Flying Blue basics.

Flying Blue Award Basics

If you're not familiar with the Flying Blue program or the sweet spots that you can book with award miles, here are some key things to keep in mind:

1. Flying Blue passes along the fuel surcharges set by the operating airline on award tickets, including its own. Those added fees can drive up the out-of-pocket cost of what’s supposed to feel like a free flight. Some airlines tack on hefty surcharges, while others keep them relatively modest. Therefore, the final cost can vary quite a bit.
2. Flying Blue does not publish an award chart. You can see the minimum number of miles required for any city pairing by using its award calculator (scroll to near the bottom of the page). Keep in mind, however, that this calculator doesn't work for all partner routes.
3. You can book one-way awards in addition to round-trip awards.
4. You can book free stopovers on Flying Blue award tickets, now including partner awards.
5. Flying Blue releases Promo Rewards each month. Bookmark that link to see the latest offerings.

Related: Airline Programs that Don't Add Fees and Surcharges to Award Flights

Photo Credit: Sidhardha Kadamati, Unsplash

Flying Blue Promo Rewards

As we just mentioned, Flying Blue runs monthly Promo Rewards. 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. Taxes, fees, and surcharges for business class flights come out to around $200 to $300 each way.

Now, let's dig into some of the other Flying Blue award sweet spots.

Credit: Flying Blue

Flying Blue Sweet Spots

Partner awards between the U.S. and Mexico

You can leverage SkyTeam partners Delta and Aeromexico to redeem Flying Blue miles on flights between the U.S. and Europe for low rates. Generally, you'll find shorter routes like those between Texas airports and Mexico City (MEX) are the cheapest, but even longer flights like this one between New York (JFK) and Mexico City can be a great deal at just 12,5000 miles each way — or 25,000 round-trip.

Credit: Air France

Comparatively, United redemptions can vary, with up to 20,000 points commonly needed from 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 can also use British Airways Avios on nonstop American Airlines and Alaska routes for decent value.

But if you have Flying Blue miles and prefer to fly Delta or SkyTeam partner Aeromexico, using your miles for a trip to Mexico could be a solid choice.

Business class awards between the U.S. and Europe

Sadly, the days of booking Air France and KLM business class flights from anywhere in the U.S. to Europe for just 50,000 miles are gone. Like many other mileage programs lately, Flying Blue recently hiked award rates. But there's still plenty of value to be had for business class awards.

Flying Blue dynamically prices awards on its own flights (e.g., Air France and KLM), with many awards now costing well over 100,000 miles. However, you can still find awards as low as 60,000 miles to fly business class to Europe on some routes. Currently, 60,000 miles is the best price you can find for business class between the U.S. and Europe — unless you score a promo reward.

Credit: Air France

Prices generally climb the further you have to fly. However, you can find deals with seemingly random city pairings, such as Dallas to Budapest for 60,000 miles each way in business class:

Credit: Air France

Flying Blue occasionally throws business class tickets from North American airports in the Promo Rewards mix. But more often, you'll only find economy or premium economy in the list.

Business class awards on Delta 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. But these are a unicorn if you find them. You used to be able to find plenty of Virgin Atlantic awards via Flying Blue, but these seem to have dried up as well.

Economy awards between the U.S. and Europe

Even economy awards are a decent Flying Blue sweet spot — especially for cities where flights to Europe are generally expensive. Standard economy seats start at just 25,000 miles one-way — even from the West Coast connecting through to Rome (FCO):

Credit: Air France

You can also book Premium Economy for as low as 40,000 miles, but I will attest that it's not an especially appealing product. I'd honestly rather save the miles and fly economy.

The taxes and fees (around 100 euros each way in economy) cut into the value you get for your Flying Blue miles. So, check cash prices if you're departing a major hub like New York (JFK) or Los Angeles (LAX). But from other airports, you can often get a solid redemption rate.

Credit Air France

Intra-Europe flights on Air Europa

Flying Blue’s pricing on Air Europa’s short-haul routes within Europe isn’t widely talked about, but it can deliver sneaky value. Business class often appears for 15,000 miles one way with low taxes and fees — frequently a better return on your miles given that cash fares on these routes often run $300-$500.

Economy awards can drop to 7,500 miles, which is an easy, low-cost way to move around Europe, though the cents-per-point value is typically lower since cash tickets on these routes are usually inexpensive. The onboard product is perfectly serviceable rather than luxurious, but for travelers looking to preserve miles while still flying comfortably, Air Europa redemptions through Flying Blue can be a smart, efficient play.

Credit: Air France

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 25,000 miles one-way in economy.

Tickets to northern Africa are a great use of Flying Blue miles.

Premium economy and business are a great deal as well, charging 40,000 and 60,000 miles, respectively. But this pricing is less frequently available. Factor in the slightly dynamic award calculations, so sometimes you'll pay a bit more. Or much more, as you can see in the image above. 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.

Credit: Air France

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. Tickets on Air France and KLM are available from major East and Southeast Asia airports for 85,000 miles one-way in business class. Fees are around $200, like many other awards.

A decent deal, but not super useful if you're coming from the U.S.

In addition to Air France and KLM, you can book awards on SkyTeam carriers Vietnam Airlines, China Airlines, and Korean Airlines. These can be hit or miss, however, and often you'd actually be better off using Delta SkyMiles between these regions. This is one of the few areas where you'll get a decent premium cabin award deal. Delta will actually outdo Flying Blue in many cases, and can be one of the best ways to use Delta SkyMiles.

Credit: Delta Airlines

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 or from the U.S. start at only 40,000 Flying Blue 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. But, like so many other Delta routes, partner award availability can be extremely rare.

Even flying to Johannesburg won't break the mileage bank, as it's available for 40,000 Flying Blue miles on some dates. This is a decent deal, given how expensive tickets to southern Africa can be. The fuel surcharges for economy tickets average around $200, which stings. Award availability can be hit or miss at 40,000 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 award space on Kenya Airways as well to many destinations.

Credit: Air France

Decently priced business class awards can be a bit more of a challenge to find, not to mention more expensive. 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 115,000 miles one-way to some destinations about the best deal you can find. Seats between the U.S. and Accra at this rate were rare, though.

Flying Blue is your best Sky Team program for flying business to Africa, even though prices have increased.

If you find space on Delta, book it. You save the most, since there are no surcharges.

Kenya Airways flights within Africa

Flights within Africa can be mind-bogglingly expensive. Consider that Kenya Airways typically charges over $600 for an economy round-trip ticket between Malawi and Nairobi, and fares can climb above $800. In some cases, one-way tickets can be more expensive than a return. It's crazy.

A Google Flights search shows that the same flight would cost you $416 in cash or only 9,000 miles booked with Air France.

As you can see, you could get this same ticket for just 9,000 Flying Blue miles and ~$90 each way. Business class is a reasonable 32,000 miles. But for a mere 4-hour flight, that really isn't worth it.

Even paying 23,000+ miles for tickets on some destination pairs isn't terrible (e.g., Zanzibar–Lagos). Having Kenya Airways as a SkyTeam partner opens up some destinations you might not think of immediately, and it 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

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.

Credit: Air France

The downside is that where these tickets used to be reasonably priced, you'll now be lucky to find options that are a little more than 100,000 miles. In many cases, you'll have to pay far more miles, which really negates any savings on taxes and fees. Plus, you have to get to Brazil first. This is still a great option to keep in mind if you're trying to piece together an around-the-world trip. Plus, you'll want to work in the next use of Flying Blue miles.

Awards including a Europe stopover

Flying Blue allows free stopovers on one-way award tickets. It's one of a few programs — Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards being the other major one — 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 Flying Blue 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 moving 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 can also use the card to help boost your progress toward Flying Blue elite status:

• Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you make $2,000 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. If used for a Flying Blue business class sweet spot, these could be worth purchasing.

Final Thoughts

Flying Blue’s best award opportunities are well worth understanding, especially given how easy it is to build a balance through so many transferable points programs. While certain routes come with higher taxes and surcharges, the mileage savings can offset those added costs. And in many cases, out-of-pocket charges settle around $200, which remains fairly reasonable compared to what some other programs require.

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.

For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card (Rates & Fees), and Citi Strata Premier^® Card (Rates & Fees)