Flying Blue (Air France-KLM)

The Highlights

We don’t recommend actively collecting Flying Blue points, but their monthly Promo Rewards are worth monitoring

• They are partners with all major point systems, making it easy to jump on a Promo Reward or top off
• You can transfer Flying Blue Rewards to all SkyTeam partner airlines
• Flying Blue offers free stopovers to Paris or Amsterdam to maximize your point redemption
• United is still our go-to for international flights, but Flying Blue Rewards offer competitive redemptions on long haul flights

What to Know About This Point System

Air France is the main booking site for Flying Blue Points, which is the combined reward system for Air France, KLM and Kenya Airways (among a few others). Flying Blue trades with all of the major point systems, including Amex, Citi, Chase, and Bonvoy. This makes it a great place to combine balances that might be too low on their own. Avianca Air is similar (except no Chase) and usually has slightly lower point prices.

Air France is also part of the SkyTeam Alliance (with one of the best point values), so you can book flights to most major cities across the globe. As you get deeper into the hobby, it's probably worth creating a free account and checking out the point prices for international flights.

How to Redeem

Redeem for Airfare

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:

• Log in to your Flying Blue account
• Select “Book with Miles” to display eligible award options
• Review results by week, including partner availability
• Use the month-view workaround described in our Booking Tips to hunt for better pricing

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).

Redeem for Hotels, Cars, and Other Options

You can also redeem Flying Blue miles for:

• Hotel stays
• Car rentals
• Shopping portal purchases
• Duty-free merchandise

These options provide poor value and should generally be avoided unless you need to use a small number of leftover miles.

Visit Flying Blue (Air France-KLM)