Buy Air France KLM Flying Blue Miles with a 70% Bonus

The Air France KLM Flying Blue loyalty program is popular for its monthly Promo Rewards in select markets on Air France and KLM flights, unique redemptions on partner airlines, and more.

Flying Blue has just launched a new promotion for purchasing miles, which can be a great opportunity to buy Flying Blue miles and redeem them for higher value. 

Buy Flying Blue Miles with a 70% Discount

From now until April 25, 2024, Flying Blue members can buy miles and get up to a 70% bonus on their purchase.  

This time, the maximum bonus applies as long as you purchase at least 2,000 miles:

• 70% bonus when you buy at least 2,000 miles

The standard rate is 3.05 cents per mile (USD), before any discounts or bonuses. That’s a very expensive rate for acquiring miles, and it’d rarely make sense to buy Flying Blue miles without a promotion in play.

However, during a 70% bonus event, you’re effectively purchasing points for 1.79 cents per mile (USD), which is equivalent to about 2.42 cents per mile (CAD).

That’s above our current valuation of Flying Blue miles at 1.5 cents per point (USD) / 2 cents per point (CAD); however, it’s certainly possible to still get outsized value if you have a specific redemption in mind.

Note that the offer in your account may differ from this offer. Login to your account to find out the specific offer available to you.

How many Flying Blue miles can you buy?

Flying Blue members without elite status are limited to purchasing 100,000 miles per calendar year, before counting any promotional bonus. There’s no limit as to how many miles members with elite status can buy; however, they’re limited to a maximum bonus of 210,000 miles with this promotion.

If you were to max out this current promotion as a non-elite member, it’ll cost $3,050 USD (~$4,116 CAD) for 170,000 Flying Blue miles.

Which credit card should you use to buy Flying Blue miles?

Flying Blue sells its points through an external vendor, Points.com. Purchases made through Points.com don’t count as a travel purchase as you aren’t buying directly through the airlines.

Instead, you should use any card with a high base earning rate, or perhaps one on which you’re working on meeting the minimum spend requirement.

Importantly, since Points.com is a Canadian-based company that’s obligated to levy GST/HST on purchases by Canadian residents, it’s best to pay with a US credit card with a US billing address to avoid the added tax amounts, which would dilute the value of your purchase.

Should You Buy Flying Blue Miles with a 70% Bonus?

Buying points can be very useful when you’re short on points for booking a flight and need to top up your account on a somewhat urgent basis.

Additionally, for premium cabin award tickets where cash rates are expensive, buying points and then redeeming for an award ticket can offer a significant discount.

Flying Blue Promo Rewards

Flying Blue’s rotating Promo Rewards routinely offer up some fairly interesting deals.

For example, during the month of April 2024, flights between Montreal and Europe are bookable at a 25% discount to the usual price in business class.

With Promo Rewards like these, you can book a transatlantic business class flight to Europe for only 37,500 miles.

Let’s say you were interested in a Montreal–Europe round-trip redemption in business class for one passenger. That’d cost 75,000 miles under the Promo Rewards deal, which is 25% of the usual cost, plus a moderate amount of taxes and fees.

By leveraging the current 70% bonus promotion, you could buy 76,000 miles for around $1,403 (USD), or about $1,893 (CAD). 

Even after factoring in Flying Blue’s surcharges, the total out-of-pocket expense is a neat discount compared to the price you’d pay in cash for the same flights.

You’ll also find good bargains on economy class seats through Promo Rewards, and you’ll find better availability in economy if you’re travelling as a family or group.

For instance, as part of the April 2024 Promo Rewards, you can book a one-way flight from Ottawa to Europe for just 15,000 miles in economy class.

Keep an eye out for future Promo Rewards like these, which rotate monthly, as there’s always some value to be captured if the deals align with your upcoming trips. 

Booking an Aspirational Flight

Even without Promo Rewards, Flying Blue can offer some convenient routing options at reasonable price points when travelling in business class.

For example, KLM operates one of the only direct transatlantic flights out of Edmonton, and it’s priced at 50,000 Flying Blue miles for the one-way journey to Amsterdam, or 100,000 miles for a round-trip.

If you’re eyeing the quickest route to Europe as an Edmontonian, buying 102,000 Flying Blue miles for $1,830 USD (~$2,469 CAD) brings the business class flight much closer within reach when compared to paying cash.

The same principle applies to Air France and KLM’s other North American routes, including Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City, all of which cost as few as 50,000 Flying Blue miles for a one-way flight in business class. 

Other Ways to Earn Flying Blue Miles

Before deciding to acquire Flying Blue miles with a 70% bonus, keep in mind that there are other slower, but cheaper, ways to get Flying Blue miles, which may be worth considering if you aren’t in a rush to book.

Canadian Credit Cards

There are plenty of ways to earn Flying Blue through credit cards we have in Canada.

American Express Membership Rewards can be transferred to Flying Blue at a 1:0.75 ratio. Any of the Membership Rewards cards would be a good choice, with the high annual fees representing an opportunity to effectively “buy” miles.

Brim Financial also offers the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard, with which you can earn Flying Blue miles on your daily purchases. Currently, the card doesn’t offer a welcome bonus in the form of miles.

US Credit Cards

In addition to the cards issued by Amex Canada, the major US credit cards offer a multitude of ways to rack up Flying Blue miles.

Amex US Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Capital One Miles can all be transferred to Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio. With ample welcome bonuses across the board, you can earn points with each of the four major issuers and pool them into a single Flying Blue account.

Additionally, Bank of America issues the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard in the US. The card currently offers 50,000 Flying Blue miles in exchange for an $89 (USD) annual fee.

With Bank of America, you’ll need to visit a branch to apply if you’re using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).

Marriott Bonvoy

Marriott Bonvoy points can be transferred to Flying Blue at a 3:1 ratio, with a bonus of 5,000 miles when transferred in chunks of 60,000 Bonvoy points.

Using our present valuation of 0.8 cents per point (CAD), we’d value 60,000 Bonvoy points at $480 (CAD). When transferred to Flying Blue, this is equivalent to buying 25,000 miles at 1.92 cents per mile (CAD).

That’s quite a bit higher than the current promotional cost to buy miles outright at 2.42 cents per point (CAD). However, buying miles directly from Flying Blue could actually be the better choice, since you can redeem Bonvoy points for great value at aspirational hotels.

Previous Promotions

As you weigh whether this promotion is a good opportunity for you to meet your travel goals, here’s a snapshot of Air France KLM Flying Blue’s previous offers on mileage sales, covering all promotions during the past year:

Conclusion

Buying Flying Blue miles during one of the program’s bonus events can be an attractive strategy if you’re eyeing a transatlantic reward flight with Air France, KLM, or one of their SkyTeam partners.

This current 70% bonus promotion is a bit lower than the program’s recent promotional bonuses and discounts, and we’ve seen it go as high as a 120% bonus before. If you’re interested in the 70% bonus, be sure to take action before the deal ends on April 25, 2024. 

However, if you don’t have a specific use of Flying Blue miles in mind, then it’d be better to gradually collect transferable points like Amex Membership Rewards instead, and convert them to Flying Blue miles when it’s time to book.