Air France-KLM’s Flying Blue programme has rolled out a new 100% bonus promotion on buying miles, and this is arguably one of the best promotions we have seen from the house of Flying Blue. Here are the details on how to buy Flying Blue Miles with a bonus.
Get up to a 100% bonus on buying Flying Blue Miles.
Through June 11, 2023, Air France – KLM’s combined loyalty programme, Flying Blue, has rolled out a new promotion on buying miles, which gets you up to a 100% bonus on the purchase of these miles. The bonus is tiered, in a sense and adds up to more miles in the bonus as you buy more miles. Here is the offer:
- On buying between 4,000 – 10,000 miles, get a 50% bonus
- On buying between 12,000 – 22,000 miles, get a 70% bonus
- On buying between 24,000 – 100,000 miles, get a 100% bonus
During the promotional period, Elite members can receive a maximum bonus of 300,000 Miles when buying Miles, while Explorer members can receive a maximum bonus of 100,000 Miles. Bonus Miles will be rewarded on transactions made between 22 May – 11 June 2023, 2359 CET +1, and credited to the recipient’s account when the transaction is complete.
Miles are sold in units of 2,000 Miles up to 100,000 Miles and in units of 25,000 from 100,000 to 300,000 Miles. Elite members may purchase an unlimited number of Miles. In contrast, Explorer members may only purchase or receive up to 100,000 Miles in any calendar year unless a promotion is active, in which case it is possible to either buy or receive Bonus Miles on top of the 100,000 Miles.
At the top end of the promotion (in the 100% bracket, whatever it might be for you), you can maximise the promotion by buying miles at the cost of 1.53 Cents (US)/ 1.4 Cents (Euro)/ INR 1.27 INR. That is the best price you’d get with this programme.
KLM Business Class on their 787
Which cards to use to buy these miles?
Typically, these point purchases are processed through Points.com and not directly by the hotel or airline. However, you will almost always pay in USD/EUR/GBP, not INR. So, the best cards to earn a bonus are Citi Prestige, Axis Reserve or American Express Platinum Charge Card, as these cards offer an international spending bonus. Beyond these, look at any card that provides a reduced foreign exchange spend conversion or one where you want to meet any minimum spend requirements.
Things to know
Flying Blue now offers dynamic award pricing. However, the benefit is that if you like KLM/Air France, you have access to more seats for redemptions over partners. However, it also offers Flying Blue Promo awards, some of the best use of the miles.
KLM/Air France took on a whole new set of routes from India after partner Jet Airways collapsed, so there are flights from Delhi/Mumbai/Bangalore and Amsterdam/Paris and onwards. A Business Class ticket one-way from India to the USA costs just 95,000 miles one-way. You can also use the miles to redeem on KLM/Air France and on Skyteam partner airlines and other associates such as Virgin Atlantic and Westjet. KLM Air France is a transfer partner with Citi, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and Marriott Bonvoy, so these are other ways of acquiring points in India.
Bottomline
Flying Blue is offering up to a 100% bonus on purchased miles through June 11, 2023, which is the best deal you could avail yourself of on Flying Blue Miles so far. The miles can be used to book tickets on Air France, KLM, Delta, Virgin Atlantic and all SkyTeam Airlines across the globe.
Do you plan on purchasing Flying Blue miles with a 100% bonus?
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Great Blog post. Really exciting. Keep up the good work.
Well I don’t see KLM Air France as transfer partner with in Citi Prestige rewards redemption page or am I missing something ?
Seriously this is crazy deal for the one who travel, I would love to buy. But, unaware if the miles exceed little more than the mentioned blue miles in between 8K to 9K, how a bonus can get & added-up. Is it still 50%?
@Avanthi, you need to check your specific offer. The one I listed was customised to my account. If you need 8K in the case of my account, you buy 6K and get 3K bonus. Then you have 9K and use 8K-9K out of that. I hope I answered your question.
What are the fuel surcharges Flying Blue charges on AF/KLM? For example on that trip to US? Also whats the availability in your experience on flights to Europe or US on saver level awards?
should we or shouldnt we? I would love to buy and hold but hope someone comes up with a package where we could purchase enough miles for a family of 4 🙂
It feels like with so many airlines raising money through this route and keeping the loyalists engaged, they may even devalue redemption as soon as normalcy prevails.
@Saurav, there is no one clear answer to your question and depends on your risk appetite. I do personally believe that a sane airline won’t upset the applecart for the next few years as travel comes back and normalcy is hopefully restored. But yes, small adjustments here and there will continue to happen.
Respectfully I’ll disagree.. in a way. They may not devalue the “face value” of the points but travel demand will increase dramatically which will drive up cash prices and therefore require many more points/miles to buy dynamically priced award seats. I’m considering buying the miles regardless but as a Flyblue elite, I have a long-term investment in this program. I would also be concerned over the financial stability of Air France. The French won’t let it go under but it could impact prices and fees.
@DaninMCI I agree with you, and I disagree as well. WRT to my part of the world, I don’t expect demand to go up for a couple of years, given the sad pace of vaccination we are at. Trust that helps you appreciate my viewpoint better.