In April, many readers were excited by our report about scoring Premium Economy tickets for the price of coach. Well, let’s dial it up because Air France’s current bonus buy promotion is dealing you a hot hand. See it and raise it — to Business Class!
As we mentioned back then, Flying Blue is the joint loyalty program of Air France, KLM, and a few other European airlines. With aces still abundant, we’ve kept Flying Blue on our radar.
What’s the Deal With Fares?
Air France and KLM’s fares are often highest when booked within 14 days of departure. However, unlike other major airlines, they are not following the status quo by offering low summer fares on many routes.
- Air France
- Chicago to Paris: typical Business Class fares through late October range from $4,280 to $6,610+. From late October to April, fares range from $2,900 to $3,800.
- KLM
- Chicago to Amsterdam: typical Business Class fares through late August and in September range from $4,410 to $6,330+. From late August and late October to April, fares range from $3,280 to $4,480.
Consider positioning flights when lucky low fares are not offered on your route or when you don’t have the minimum-stay requirement.
What’s the Deal With Miles?
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. Now they’re starting at 50,000 miles each way on nonstop routes from the U.S.
Are the Big 3 Dealing Losing Hands?
American Airlines charges between 47,000 and 145,000 miles for Premium Economy and between 62,000 and 400,000 for Business Class from New York to Paris, each way.
Delta Airlines ranges from 90,000 to 160,000 miles for Premium Economy and between 255,000 and 375,000 for Business Class, each way.
United Airlines’ miles cost is between 76,400 and 120,000 for Premium Economy and between 140,000 and 175,000 for Business Class, each way.
Low on Chips? Just Buy Some More
Typical everyday mileage costs are around 2.44 cents each. But Flying Blue frequently offers mileage purchase bonuses. The current one runs through June 10 with a 70% bonus if you buy 100,000 miles (the maximum allowed per year) directly from the airline. This means you can get up to 170,000 miles with the bonus.
What does that mean, money-wise? Well, it works out to about 1.79 cents each. On KLM’s Chicago-Amsterdam route that’s a savings of up to $2,028 / 46% when compared to typical published fares. That’s a royal flush — using a strategy we love here at FCF.
We often talk about buying miles when published premium fares are high, specifically when prices are hovering at $4,000+ for Business Class international tickets. Here’s a look at the savings:
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A Table Full of Transfer Partners
Air France/KLM’s Flying Blue loyalty program has lots of 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 FCF’s How to buy American Express Membership Rewards points, and 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 last September was 25%. This brings the mileage transfer cost down from 100,000 to just 75,000 miles for a round-trip ticket in Business Class.
Mileage Award Taxes
Air France/KLM typically charges around $588 in taxes for Business Class awards, round-trip, although it varies by route.
It’s easy to search for award seats as we told you here. Below are the routes with award availability at the time of publication, but they will certainly change over time.
Aces in the Hole
Air France Award Availability
Between the U.S. & Canada and Paris
You can find wide-open four+ seat availability on their New York-Paris route outbound from January to March and November to May on the return flight.
You can find wide-open four+ seat availability on their New York-Paris route outbound from January to March and November to May on the return flight.
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KLM Award Availability
Between the U.S. & Canada and Amsterdam
You can find a handful of days with availability for four+ travelers both outbound and return in February on their Austin, Boston, Chicago, and Houston-Amsterdam routes.
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Not Flying to Paris or Amsterdam?
Call the Airline’s Bluff with a Connecting Flight
You can fly almost anywhere in Europe on one ticket. Air France and KLM offer awards that allow connections on the flights they operate, as well as their 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): Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, UK, and more. That’s a pretty nice European bucket list selection.
When booking a connecting flight, check 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). However, you will have to spend more miles to add these connecting flights.
Your Call
Travel is like poker. It’s not only about being dealt a great hand — it’s about leveraging that hand to snag a big win.