It is possible to buy miles and points for luxury travel. The Air France-KLM Flying Blue program has just launched a promotion on purchased miles, which is in line with the best offers we have seen from the program.
The Air France-KLM Flying Blue program is offering up to a 100% bonus on purchased miles. You get a bigger bonus when you buy more miles.
You have to log into your Flying Blue account to see what your offer is for different accounts. My understanding is that the above is the standard offer.
You can buy Flying Blue miles for 2.75 cents each, before any discounts or bonuses. If you maxed out the promotion and purchased 100,000 Flying Blue miles before the bonus, you will receive a total of 200,000 miles at a cost of 2,750 euro. Today's conversion rate is 1.45 cents per mile.
This is an excellent promotion from Flying Blue, and is in line with the best offers we see from the program. That's especially true if you're looking at it in terms of the price in the US Dollar.
Those without status in the Flying Blue program are limited to 100,000 Flying Blue miles per year. There may be limits on how many bonus miles can be earned during promotions, but elite members can purchase an unlimited number of miles.
Flying Blue mileage purchases are not counted as airfare purchases for credit card spending. I recommend using a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending if you're trying to reach minimum spending.
The Capital One Venture rewards credit card has no foreign transaction fees and offers 2x miles. The Chase Freedom unlimited is a good option for maximizing everyday spending, but the cards have foreign transaction fees, so it wouldn't be a good option.
For more on which credit cards are best for buying points, see this post.
The Air France-KLM Flying Blue program has dynamic award pricing. The cost of an award can vary based on a number of factors, such as time of flight, date, and so on.
The Flying Blue program has a selling point that Air France and KLM make more award seats available to members of the program than to members of partner airline frequent flyer programs.
It's hard to beat the value proposition of booking through Flying Blue if you're looking to book a business class award ticket. There is a good amount of availability, and both Air France and KLM offer solid transatlantic business class products. I get great value with Flying Blue miles.
My preferred use of Flying Blue miles is for travel in business class on Air France or KLM across the Atlantic. It seems like business class awards start at 55,000 miles one-way, and that is quite a good value.
You can fly Air France business class from Paris to Miami.
Or Air France business class from New York to Paris.
Or Air France business class from Los Angeles to Edinburgh.
Or a business class from Chicago to Amsterdam.
Flying Blue miles are pretty tough to beat when you combine the value and availability of business class flights.
Flying Blue miles have some other niche redemptions available, but I think this is where the most value lies.
Flying Blue has imposed fuel surcharges on award tickets. They are mild in comparison to what you would pay for a British Airways business class award. If you want a business class award on Flying Blue, you'll have to pay a surcharge of around $200 one-way.
I think Air France is the best place to redeem directly on. Flying Blue miles can be used on other airlines.
I value Flying Blue miles at 1.3 cents each. I value points conservatively, and there are many ways to get more value from Flying Blue miles than that.
If you don't have credit card activity in your account for more than a year, Flying Blue miles are no longer valid. If you have a co- branded Flying Blue credit card, you can extend the expiration of miles by crediting any eligible flights to Flying Blue.
Buying points directly from Flying Blue or transferring them from a Flying Blue transfer partner wouldn't extend the miles.
Buying Flying Blue miles could be a great deal, but there are many other ways to earn Flying Blue miles. Flying Blue has transfer partners with American Express Membership rewards, Brex, Capital One, Chase Ultimate rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy. There are a lot of ways to get points with the program.
Air France-KLM Flying Blue is giving members the chance to buy miles with up to a 100% bonus on purchased miles.
This is comparable to promotions from Flying Blue. There is a lot of value to be had with Flying Blue miles, especially for business class redemptions, where award pricing is reasonable and availability is good.
I remind people that there are many ways to earn Flying Blue miles, so it's not necessary for a lot of people to buy them.
Are you going to purchase Flying Blue miles with a 100% bonus?
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