In 2004, Air France and KLM fashioned the Air France-KLM Group. Across the identical time, the corporate launched Flying Blue, a mixed loyalty program for the 2 airways.
This system shortly turned one of the crucial well-known airline loyalty packages due to its checklist of bank card switch companions, profitable Promo Rewards and collection of airline companions.
Consequently, Flying Blue is a well-liked program for vacationers who concentrate on incomes transferrable factors. However for those who’re new to this system, it may be a bit daunting — particularly given its unpredictable dynamic award pricing.
Right here is every thing it is advisable know concerning the Flying Blue program.
Associated: Is Air France premium economic system value it to Europe?
An outline of the Flying Blue program
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. A number of different airways — inside and out of doors of Europe — use this system for mileage incomes and elite standing:
- Aircalin
- Air France
- Kenya Airways
- KLM
- Transavia
- TAROM
If you happen to’re a Flying Blue member touring on one among these airways, you may add your Flying Blue member quantity to earn miles, Expertise Factors (XPs) for elite standing qualification and extra. When you attain elite standing, you should utilize your advantages on these airways and reciprocal advantages on different associate airways.
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However simply because these airways use Flying Blue as their default program doesn’t suggest you are restricted to incomes on these flights. Most associate airways that will let you earn Flying Blue miles are within the SkyTeam alliance, however there are an assortment of non-alliance companions, too. These embrace:
- Air Corsica
- Air Mauritius
- Bangkok Airways
- Chalair Aviation
- Copa Airways
- Gol
- Japan Airways
- Malaysia Airways
- Qantas
- Transavia
- Twin Jet
- WestJet
- airBaltic
Word that there could also be restrictions concerning which flights on which you’ll earn or redeem miles inside these partnerships. Evaluation the airline’s associate web page on the Flying Blue web site earlier than you propose your travels so you realize what to anticipate.
Associated: Your final information to looking award availability for the main airways
Flying Blue elite standing tiers
The airline gives three elite standing tiers: Silver, Gold and Platinum. You’ll be able to qualify by incomes Expertise Factors (XPs), which we’ll element out beneath.
Flying Blue Silver
Silver is the bottom tier of Flying Blue elite standing and requires 100 XPs. It contains some primary advantages, together with:
- 6 Flying Blue miles per euro spent on Flying Blue-issued tickets
- Free normal seat choice
- Precedence check-in and boarding
- SkyTeam Elite advantages (probably the most notable SkyTeam Elite profit is a free checked bag on all Flying Blue and SkyTeam associate flights)
Flying Blue Gold
Gold requires 180 XPs past Silver standing. You’ve entry to the Flying Blue Silver advantages and:
- 7 Flying Blue miles per euro spent on Flying Blue-issued tickets
- Entry to SkyTeam lounges on worldwide flights operated by a Flying Blue or SkyTeam airline (legitimate for you and a visitor)
- Entry to associate 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 Consolation+
Flying Blue Platinum
Flying Blue’s top-tier Platinum standing requires 300 XPs past Gold and contains all the Gold advantages we talked about earlier. Nevertheless, it 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 Economic system Consolation and extra-legroom seats on all SkyTeam flights and may entry Delta Consolation+ seats totally free.
Moreover, solely Flying Blue Platinum members can e-book award tickets in Air France La Premiere — the service’s famend first-class cabin. 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 having the ability to e-book with miles makes an in any other case unattainable ticket potential for a lot of flyers.
Associated: 10 issues that wowed me about Air France’s unimaginable La Premiere first-class
When you maintain Flying Blue Platinum for 10 consecutive years, you have acquired the standing for all times.
Qualifying for Flying Blue elite standing
You’ll be able to qualify for Flying Blue elite standing by incomes Expertise Factors, or XPs. Every tier requires a selected variety of these factors, and you’ll 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 |
You should attain this variety of XPs inside a yr of incomes your first XP. So, for those who take a paid flight in Might, you’ve gotten till Might of the next yr earlier than your XP counter resets. Present 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
| Home | Medium (0-2,000 miles, worldwide) |
Lengthy 1 (2,000-3,500 miles, worldwide) |
Lengthy 2 (3,500-5,000 miles, worldwide) |
Lengthy 3 (5,000+ miles, worldwide) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economic system | 2 XPs | 5 XPs | 8 XPs | 10 XPs | 12 XPs |
| Premium economic system | 4 XPs | 10 XPs | 16 XPs | 20 XPs | 24 XPs |
| Enterprise class | 6 XPs | 15 XPs | 24 XPs | 30 XPs | 36 XPs |
| Firstclass | 10 XPs | 25 XPs | 40 XPs | 50 XPs | 60 XPs |
Earn XPs by means of Flying Blue’s US bank card
Flying Blue has a cobranded U.S. bank card with Financial institution of America. I am going to go extra in-depth on the Air France-KLM World Elite Mastercard® within the subsequent part, however one among its standout advantages is incomes XPs through 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 happen to spend $15,000 on purchases (excluding charges, returns and changes), you will obtain an extra 40 anniversary XPs (totaling 60 anniversary XPs). That is greater than half the 100 XPs required for Silver with out stepping on a airplane.
The data for the Air France-KLM World Elite Mastercard has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.
Incomes miles with Flying Blue
Earn miles by flying with Flying Blue airways and SkyTeam companions
You’ll be able to earn Flying Blue miles by flying. The way you earn these miles varies by airline, although. While you e-book a flight on Air France or KLM, you will earn miles based mostly on how a lot you spend on the ticket (earlier than taxes). That is additionally true 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 will earn per greenback additionally depends 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 does not embrace taxes and sure charges charged on the ticket.
Associated: Is KLM premium economic system value it on the 787 Dreamliner?
Earn Flying Blue miles with associate airways
Incomes with SkyTeam and non-alliance Flying Blue companions on tickets not bought by means of 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
- Working airline
- Your elite standing tier
Every airline associate awards a distinct variety of miles for every fare class — you’ll find what number of miles your associate flight earns on the Flying Blue companions web page.
This is the Flying Blue incomes chart for Delta Air Strains tickets.
Spend on the Flying Blue cobranded bank card
One other method 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 instantly with a SkyTeam airline and 1.5 Flying Blue miles per greenback in every single place else.
The cardboard 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.
Moreover, you will earn 5,000 Flying Blue factors in your card anniversary date as long as you spend no less than $50 in your Flying Blue bank card every year. We worth the 5,000-mile anniversary bonus at $60, which will help justify the cardboard’s $89 annual payment.
Switch factors to Flying Blue
This system is a switch associate of:
So, if in case you have a card like The Platinum Card® from American Categorical, the Chase Sapphire Most popular® Card or the Capital One Enterprise X Rewards Credit score Card (amongst others), you may switch your factors or miles to Flying Blue.
Keep at Accor lodges and earn bonus factors
Flying Blue and Accor Motels — a French resort group that features manufacturers like Fairmont, Novotel and Ibis — have a partnership referred to as Miles+Factors. Flying Blue members earn Accor Reside Limitless factors when flying on member airways, due to this partnership. Conversely, you should utilize this system to earn Flying Blue miles when staying at Accor properties. These factors are earned along with the everyday rewards, so you may double dip.
Hyperlink your Flying Blue and Accor Reside Limitless accounts on the Flying Blue Miles+Factors web site to earn these bonus factors. Earnings begin instantly, so do it earlier than your subsequent Flying Blue member flight or Accor resort keep.
E-book different lodges by means of Flying Blue
If you happen to’re not staying at an Accor property, you may nonetheless earn Flying Blue miles if you e-book lodges. Flying Blue has a resort reserving platform referred to as lodges for Miles. Utilizing this portal, you may earn as much as 10,000 Flying Blue miles per evening booked by means of the portal, with promoted and costlier stays usually incomes extra miles.
For instance, a one-night $246 resort room on the Kimpton Resort Monaco, Washington, D.C., earns 6,100 Flying Blue miles per evening.
Moreover, you may earn 1 Flying Blue mile per 1 euro spent on Reserving.com for those who undergo Flying Blue’s Reserving.com portal. When you can nonetheless not use elite advantages and earn resort factors, Reserving.com generally has glorious offers on boutique lodges and bed-and-breakfasts that would not in any other case earn resort factors.
Redeeming miles with Flying Blue
Whereas there are numerous methods to redeem Flying Blue miles, I like to recommend sticking to award flights. This may virtually at all times provide the most worth to your miles.
Since 2018, Flying Blue has used dynamic pricing. This implies there is no set award chart, and a few tickets could be extraordinarily costly — suppose 200,000 miles for an economy-class flight from JFK to Europe. That stated, Flying Blue has revealed an interactive award map with entry-level award charges.
Even with dynamic pricing, Flying Blue typically has the most effective pricing for a lot of SkyTeam awards, beating out Delta, Korean Air and different main airways. The important thing to discovering these awards is to be versatile and watch for nice offers. For inspiration, take a look at TPG’s information to maximizing Flying Blue miles.
The second factor you need to know is that Air France and KLM cost average gasoline surcharges on some tickets. You’ll be able to anticipate to pay $200 to $350 on a one-way business-class award ticket throughout the Atlantic. Whereas these gasoline surcharges are considerably lower than these charged by airways like Emirates and British Airways, it is nonetheless one thing to recollect as you evaluate pricing throughout loyalty packages.
E-book Air France or KLM to Amsterdam, Paris and past
Whereas Flying Blue costs its awards dynamically, this system has now standardized saver-level pricing for all one-way flights between the US and Europe as follows, no matter origin or vacation spot, that means you may join at no additional price:
- 20,000 miles in economic system
- 35,000 miles in premium economic system
- 50,000 miles in enterprise class
Keep in mind that these charges are just for the bottom saver-level seats, that are restricted. We’ve discovered lots from the West Coast on the new decrease charges (together with these with European connections) within the economic system and premium economic system cabins.
Nevertheless, business-class seats at saver ranges stay very exhausting to search out, with just a few flights accessible on some routes over the complete subsequent 12 months. Reserving enterprise class from wherever within the U.S. to wherever in Europe for 50,000 Flying Blue miles is a implausible deal, so bounce on this for those who discover this worth on dates that be just right for you.
As well as, you might spend a number of days in Paris or Amsterdam utilizing the free Flying Blue stopover. It is a nice method to go to one other metropolis with out forking over further miles or money. To e-book Flying Blue stopovers, you will have to name Flying Blue at 800-375-8723.
Transatlantic Flying Blue award charges could be cheap, so it is value checking Flying Blue when planning journeys to Europe.
Associated: Non-public suites and high-tech touches: What it is like flying Air France’s new enterprise class
E-book first-class on choose SkyTeam companions
Flying Blue not too long ago introduced first-class redemptions have been accessible to e-book with miles on the next SkyTeam associate airways:
- China Jap
- Garuda Indonesia
- Xiamen Air
When you ought to have the ability to e-book these on-line, now we have discovered it nearly unimaginable to search out any availability, and excluding Garuda, these airways should not recognized to have the world’s greatest first-class merchandise anyway, so you could want to save your miles and search for Saver award area in enterprise class on Air France and KLM as an alternative.
Fly Delta between the US and Europe, South America and past
As talked about earlier, Delta does not cost gasoline surcharges, so you should utilize your Flying Blue miles to e-book Delta tickets with low charges. For instance, you may e-book an economy-class flight from New York to Dublin for simply 22,500 Flying Blue miles and $10.10 on many dates in 2023.
We’ve not seen any Delta premium economic system or enterprise class (Delta One) award availability utilizing Flying Blue miles.
Simply word that Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership generally is a higher deal for reserving Delta economic system class flights to Europe — particularly on nonstop routings.
Maintain a watch out for Promo Rewards
Each month, Flying Blue releases a batch of Promo Rewards. You’ll be able to solely e-book these deeply discounted award tickets throughout the identical month they’re launched. They’re extra restrictive than normal Flying Blue award tickets — they can not be modified, so be sure your plans are finalized. However for those who’re prepared to threat it, these promotions can present a wonderful deal on tickets to Europe and past (e.g., transatlantic enterprise class for underneath 40,000 miles).
You’ll be able to 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 firstly of every month with the newest offers.
You’ll want to keep watch over the Flying Blue Promo Rewards. There are some unimaginable offers available.
Fly Copa Airways to Panama Metropolis and past
Copa Airways is a Star Alliance member, however the airline has a non-alliance partnership with Flying Blue. This implies you may earn and redeem miles with Copa, additional increasing the attain of Flying Blue’s loyalty program. Pricing often begins round 21,500 miles for a ticket from North America to Copa’s hub in Panama Metropolis, and also you add connecting flights too.
Copa Airways flies to main Central and South American locations like Colombia, Brazil and Argentina.
Backside line
Flying Blue is an underrated frequent flyer program. You’ll be able to earn miles with all Flying Blue airways and their SkyTeam and non-alliance companions, that means you may e-book 1000’s of various routes together with your miles. Whereas its elite standing program is not probably the most rewarding, incomes standing is straightforward sufficient with the loyalty program’s U.S. bank card. It contains full SkyTeam elite standing advantages if you attain Platinum standing.
I believe the easiest way for most individuals to earn Flying Blue miles is with transferable-points bank cards just like the Chase Sapphire Most popular. Not solely will you earn extra factors on most purchases, however you will even have the pliability to redeem your factors with different companions.
