#6 Among Airlines
Point Value
1.30 ¢
Hobby Score
7.7
We don’t recommend actively collecting Flying Blue points, but their monthly Promo Rewards are worth monitoring
Flying Blue (Air France-KLM) associated alliance is SkyTeam Alliance
Visit SkyTeam Alliance
Flying Blue is unique because it serves as the combined loyalty program for two airlines — Air France and KLM. The fastest ways to earn Flying Blue miles are by flying either airline or one of their SkyTeam or non-alliance partners. You can also earn miles with their co-branded credit card, and Flying Blue partners with all major transferable points programs.
Miles earned on Air France or KLM are tied to how much you spend on your ticket and your Flying Blue status level. Qualifying spend includes the fare and carrier surcharges but excludes government taxes and fees.
Flying Blue has only one co-branded credit card — the Air France/KLM World Elite Mastercard. You can use it to earn Flying Blue miles that can be redeemed for flights on Air France, KLM, or any of their many partners.
Flying Blue is a transfer partner of Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, and Wells Fargo. This gives travelers plenty of opportunities to transfer points for top ups or full award bookings, which helps offset the limited co-branded card options.
Flying Blue is part of the SkyTeam alliance and has quite a few partner airlines outside the alliance. You can earn Flying Blue miles when flying with any of these partners. The number of miles earned depends on several factors, including distance flown, fare class, and your elite status tier. See the miles earning structure for each partner here.
Air France/KLM World Elite Mastercard
Special Offers Related to Flying Blue (Air France-KLM). Click the arrow to see more.
Flying Blue Air France KLM Mastercard has a 70,000 sign up offer right now. Plus get 40 XP after earning $2000 in 90 days and another 60 XP after approval. $89 Annual fee.
- IHG extends anniversary night certificates until 12/2022 & Elite Status until 02/2023.
- Citi Thank You Rewards adding Wyndham as a transfer partner.
- Expiration of AAdvantage Miles paused until 3/31/2022.
- Earn Flying Blue Elite Status twice as fast through June 2022.
- JetBlue added 6 more transfer partners effective October 7, 2021: Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France KLM, British Airways, Emirates Skywards, Singapore & Turkish Airlines.
- JetBlue and Capital One are breaking up, starting October 24, 2021 you will no longer be able to transfer your Capital One points to TrueBlue.
- Get ready for AAdvantage Program simplifying their loyalty program, beginning 2022 no more EQ's, just loyalty points.
- Marriott Bonvoy extends Elite status once again for all of us, this time until February 2023.
- Don't forget to activate your Chase Freedom Q4 2021 Category.
Redeeming Flying Blue points for flights on Air France, KLM, or any of their partners is the best use of your points. Since all major credit card programs transfer to Flying Blue, you’ll have plenty of flexibility for topping up or booking award flights.
Searching for award flights is straightforward:
Flying Blue uses dynamic pricing rather than a traditional award chart. Even so, there are still strong sweet spots, and the program often offers some of the best pricing for SkyTeam airlines. The main drawback is that Flying Blue passes along fuel and airline surcharges, which can be significant (though generally lower than programs like British Airways and Virgin Atlantic).
You can also redeem Flying Blue miles for:
These options provide poor value and should generally be avoided unless you need to use a small number of leftover miles.
Discover your points' highest-value redemption options. Use the filters to find the optimal sweet spot for your next trip.
When searching for award availability, Air France and KLM only show a week at a time, but there is a hack to see it by month instead. When searching, do not enter a date in the search field, and only search for one passenger. Enter your city pairs, then click search to view results by month
Unfortunately Flying Blue can have very high surcharges on award bookings. The low number of miles to book, compared to the same route on other programs, may be worth it, but it’s important to know this before getting excited about the low mileage cost of an award ticket. Surcharges are high in each direction, but often double on return flights
Flying Blue is best for more advanced points users who have been in the hobby for a while. You need to understand how to navigate partner bookings to take full advantage of award redemptions, since many of the best sweet spots come from SkyTeam partners. The program uses dynamic pricing, but it does have standardized minimum redemptions for saver awards, which are more common in economy than in premium cabins.
If you’re flexible with travel dates, Flying Blue can be especially valuable. Their monthly Promo Rewards often discount award prices by as much as 25%, frequently on routes between North America and Europe. These deals can bring business class redemptions below what competitors typically charge. While Flying Blue does pass along surcharges, they are lower than programs like British Airways or Virgin Atlantic. Being a transfer partner of every major credit card system also boosts its value, making it easy to top up for high-value redemptions.
Flying Blue has four elite status levels beyond the basic Explorer tier you receive when you sign up. Each level offers different perks and benefits. To reach each tier, you must earn Experience Points (XPs).
You can earn XPs on eligible flights with Air France, KLM, and SkyTeam partners. The number of XPs you earn depends on the partner airline, your cabin class, and the type of flight. You can also earn XPs through spending on the Air France/KLM World Elite Mastercard.
Below are the Elite Status levels, what it takes to reach each one, and what you receive with each level
Flying Blue miles expire after 2 years of inactivity. If you plan to cancel the Air France/KLM World Elite Mastercard, remember that it’s the only co-branded card available. Fortunately Flying Blue partners with all major credit card rewards programs, so it’s easy to transfer points from other systems and continue booking award flights on Air France, KLM, and their many partners.
