Flying Blue is the mileage program of KLM and Air France, and it is an underrated gem of a program. Sure, they have fuel surcharges on KLM and AF flights, but it’s a minor con as those are fairly mild. There are six main reasons that I love the Flying Blue program:
Reason 1: Flying Blue Promos
You can often score rock bottom redemptions, such as a current (April 2023) special on flights from Montreal to Europe for 7,500 miles in economy via both published and unpublished sales. The published sales are known as Flying Blue Promos, and they come out at the beginning of every month. I always look forward to them because it is like opening a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re gonna get.
Reason 2: Flying Blue Points are Easy to Acquire
Non-flying options to earn Flying Blue points abound. In the US, Flying Blue partners with all the major credit card rewards programs: Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Capital One Miles, and American Express Membership Rewards. Points are transferable at a 1:1 ratio. In Canada, Flying Blue partners with Amex Membership Rewards, which transfer to FB at a 1:0.75 ratio.
Reason 3: Regular Conversion Bonuses
There are regular conversion bonuses to Flying Blue from credit card partners, allowing you to squeeze extra value from your flexible rewards currency. For example, between April 1 and May 15, 2023, Chase is offering a 25% bonus for transfers from Ultimate Rewards to Flying Blue. The past 12 months have also seen bonus offers from Capital One Miles (20%), Citi ThankYou Rewards (25%) and Amex Membership Rewards (25%).
Reason 4: Transparency
Although the program is technically dynamic, they seem to have “fixed” minimums that mimic an award chart, and there is often ample award inventory at these minimums (at least from Canada). This offers some transparency compared to truly dynamic programs like their alliance partner Delta, where you just don’t know how much you will pay for a flight and have no sense of what a “fair” price is.
Reason 5: Pretty Decent Point Sales
Once in a while, Flying Blue has an amazing sale on points with up to a 120% bonus, if you need to top off your account or have an immediate redemption in mind (purchasing points speculatively is never a good idea due to the risk of devaluation). More typically, the bonus ranges from 80-100%. Many savvy travellers stack offers by timing their purchases during these sales to redeem a promo reward (see Reason 1), allowing them to extract even more value from their Flying Blue points.
Reason 6: Free Stopovers on Awards
Flying Blue recently added free stopovers, allowing you to visit two cities on a one-way ticket, which increases tremendously the value of a redemption.
A sentimental Reason I love Flying Blue
Apart from these great benefits, there is a sentimental reason I love this program. KLM was the first time I flew in business class as a poor college student in 1994 from Singapore to Denpasar roundtrip. It was ridiculous flight. A travel agent suggested it as it was only a little more expensive than a coach fare on Singapore Air (booking travel through a travel agent is so passé!). The low pricing is due to KLM’s minor presence on the route: it is a fifth freedom tag from Amsterdam to Singapore. The route is politically and culturally significant due to the Netherland’s ties to its former colony. The plane was a humongous 747-400. The cabin was virtually empty in both main and upper decks. They couldn’t possibly have made a profit on this tag, but they maintain this route as well as another to Jakarta to this day.
