Filed Under: Flying Blue, FlyingBlue
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Air France-KLM's Flying Blue program has just rolled out its latest promotion on purchased miles. Not only is it the best promotion we've ever seen from the program, but it's valid all the way through the end of the year.
The Flying Blue program has just launched its latest bonus on purchased miles, valid through December 31, 2020. With this, Flying Blue is offering up to a 100% bonus on purchased miles, which is the best offer we've ever seen from the program.
It's possible that different accounts may be targeted for different bonuses, as you do have to log into your Flying Blue account to see what your offer is. However, it's my understanding that the 100% bonus is the standard offer.
The 100% bonus is tiered, as follows:
Redeem Flying Blue miles for Air France's 777 business class
Non-elite members can purchase up to 75,000 miles per year, while elite members can purchase an unlimited number of miles. However, elite members are still capped at earning up to 100,000 bonus miles during this promotion.
If you're a Flying Blue non-elite member, then you can max out this promotion by buying a total of 75,000 miles pre-bonus. With a 100% bonus you'd earn a total of 150,000 miles for 2,062.50EUR (~2,420USD), which is a cost of 1.61 cents (USD) per mile.
While that's not a rate at which everyone should pick up Flying Blue miles, I'd say that's a solid price.
The terms of this promotion are as follows:
*During the promotional period, elite members can receive a maximum bonus of 100,000 Miles, while Explorer members can receive a maximum bonus of 75,000 Miles. Bonus Miles will be rewarded on transactions made between 27 July and 31 December 2020, 2359 CET +1, and will be credited to the recipient's account when the transaction is complete.
Miles are sold in units of 2,000 Miles. Elite members may purchase an unlimited number of Miles, while Explorer members may only purchase or receive up to 75,000 Miles in any calendar year, unless a promotion is active in which case it is possible to either purchase or receive Bonus Miles on top of the 75,000 Miles.
Miles are sold to you by Points Inc. Miles will be deposited into your account within 72 hours of purchase. You have the right to withdraw your purchase within 14 days as provided in the Buy and Gift Miles Program Terms and Conditions. To exercise the withdrawal right or to obtain assistance with the Buy and Gift Miles Program, please contact the Customer Service Centre.
Flying Blue mileage purchases are processed by points.com, meaning they don't count as an airfare purchase for the purposes of credit card spending. Therefore I'd recommend using a card on which you're trying to reach minimum spending, or otherwise, a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spend.
Ordinarily I'd say that would be a card like the Chase Freedom Unlimited® ( review) or Citi® Double Cash Card ( review), though that's not the case here, since those cards have foreign transaction fees.
See this post for more on which credit cards are best for buying points.
Flying Blue nowadays has dynamic award pricing and roughly distance based award pricing. While I wouldn't say it's one of my favorite frequent flyer programs, it is one that I get quite a bit of use out of.
In addition to the great value that can be had through Flying Blue Promo Awards, Flying Blue also has the advantage of having access to more award seats for travel on Air France and KLM metal.
In other words, Flying Blue makes more award seats available to members of its own program than to members of partner programs. So even when their pricing isn't the best, there are situations where it could make sense to book through Flying Blue.
Redeem miles for KLM's 787 business class
Remember that Flying Blue is transfer partners with American Express, Capital One, Chase, Citi, and Marriott, so there are lots of ways to acquire their points.
Do you plan on purchasing Flying Blue miles with a 100% bonus?