No need to feel blue: Air France and KLM save you up to 43% in Premium Economy
Flying Blue is the joint loyalty program of Air France, KLM, and a few other smaller European carriers. We’ve just shone our third-degree light onto Flying Blue to uncover some opportunities in Premium Economy.
First, let’s take a quick look at the current state of play for fares and awards.
Current Premium Economy Baseline Fare Trends
Air France and KLM’s fares are often highest when they’re booked within 14 days and between 30 to 60 days of departure; or when you don’t have the minimum-stay requirement. Consider positioning flights when special fares are not offered on your route.
- Air France
- Atlanta to Paris: typical fares range from $2,859 to $4,239+.
- KLM
- Atlanta to Amsterdam: typical fares range from $2,462 to $3,752+.
Current Premium Economy Baseline Mileage Trends
Air France and KLM both have a dynamic award pricing structure and have recently reduced the cost of awards on Air France to Paris and KLM to Amsterdam starting at 35,000 miles each way on many routes from the U.S.
For Comparison
American charges between 19,000 and 68,500 miles for Economy and between 47,000 and 145,000 for Premium Economy from New York to Paris, each way.
Delta ranges from 52,000 to 100,000 miles for Economy and 90,000 to 160,000 for Premium Economy, each way.
United is between 40,000 and 70,000 miles for Economy and 88,000 to 120,000 for Premium Economy, each way.
No Miles? Just Say Oui
Typical everyday mileage costs run about 2.44 cents each. But Flying Blue frequently offers mileage purchase bonuses, and the current one runs through April 25 with a 35% bonus if you buy 100,000 miles (the maximum allowed per year) directly from the airline. That means you can get up to 135,000 miles with the bonus.
On Air France’s Atlanta-Paris route, this works out to about 1.81 cents each and a savings of up to $1,242 / 43% when compared to typical published fares. That’s smart buying — using a strategy we absolutely love here at FCF.
We often talk about buying miles when published premium fares are high, such as when they’re $2,000+ for Premium Economy international tickets. Here’s a look at the savings:
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Transfer Partners
Air France/KLM’s Flying Blue loyalty program has many points-to-miles transfer partners including Amex Rewards, Capital One, Chase, and Citi.
You can buy up to 500,000 annually from Amex Membership Rewards for 2.5 cents each and transfer them to Flying Blue. Check out How to buy American Express Membership Rewards points, and FCF’s Beginner’s Guide: how to play the “Buy Miles to Fly In Style”.
Air France and Amex offer transfer bonuses periodically. Their most recent bonus in September 2023 was 25%. This brings the mileage transfer cost down from 70,000 to just 56,000 miles for a round-trip ticket in Premium Economy.
Mileage Award Taxes
Air France/KLM typically charge around $350 in taxes for Premium Economy awards, round-trip, however this does vary based on the route.
Below are the routes with award availability at the time of publication, but they will certainly change with time.
Current Premium Economy Mileage Availability Trends
Air France Award Availability
Between the U.S. & Canada and Paris
You can find four seat availability for both outbound and return travel from Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal, New York, Ottawa, Raleigh, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, DC.
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KLM Award Availability Between the U.S. & Canada and Amsterdam
You can find four seat availability for both outbound and return travel from Chicago, Houston, New York, and Toronto.
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Not Flying to Paris or Amsterdam? Get Connecting Flights Within Europe
You can fly almost anywhere in Europe on one ticket: Air France and KLM offer awards that allow connections on the flights it operates, as well as its partners. That means you can add on the following destinations as long as they’re available beyond Paris or Amsterdam with the airline or its partners: Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Bordeaux, Brussels, Bucharest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, London, Malta, Oslo, Porto, Prague, Rome, Split, Stockholm, Venice, Warsaw, and Zurich, to name a few.
When booking a connecting flight, we recommend checking each segment separately first, starting with the most important over-the-water flight. You can add a connection to your nonstop route (depending on availability). But be aware that you’ll have to spend more miles to add these connecting flights.
Easy Award Seat Searches
Air France/KLM have come a long way in terms of functionality. It is now possible to search for award space for many months at a time. The trick is to leave the calendar date blank as you see below and use the calendar as a guide to the lowest fares. Note that this calendar method seems to be a bit glitchy and sometimes the award amounts don’t match what’s on the calendar.
How to Search for Availability
Calendar View By Month
