It’s rarely a good idea to speculatively move points from the safety of a program like Amex to the uncertainty of an airline program unless you plan to use the points immediately. However, if you tick a few of the following boxes, it can be a brilliant move, particularly when there’s a limited time transfer bonus, which allows you to turn 1 US based Amex Point into more than 1 airline mile. If you…
- Have date flexibility (not the tinder kind).
- Don’t mind a little moving around to get a better flight.
- Love luxury travel over guaranteed convenience.
You might want to consider transferring some American Express Membership Rewards Points over to FlyingBlue, because you never know when the next epic list of “special” promos will arise. No clue what I’m talking about? Fear not, we’ll get there…
FlyingBlue is the loyalty program of KLM and Air France. The program offers great rates on travel between the US and Europe using points to begin with, but each month it unveils a list of “promo” awards, where the number of points needed for a given flight is reduced. There are options under 40,000 points in business class between North America and Europe as we speak, but the extra special edition of promo awards brings even lower options! A promo just ended that offered…
- 32,000 points + $200 for one way business class.
- 36,000 points + $200 for one way business class from many more cities.
When you factor in this 25% bonus, this would mean paying as few as 26,000 Amex Points each way for a business class seat between North America and Europe. It’s important to note, the best deals quite often involve Canada, Mexico, or an East or West Coast USA hub. That’s why I noted a love of luxury travel, without minding a bit of hassle to set things up can be handy.
You’ll need to create a FlyingBlue account before you can transfer your points, as well as link it to your Amex profile. That’s pretty easy online.
As noted, it’s rarely a great idea to take points out of the safety of the big bank nest, unless you plan to redeem them immediately. However, if Europe – and yes, any city in Western Europe is available as a departure or destination using these regular monthly promos – is definitely on the list, and you have flexibility about exact dates when you travel, there’s very little to lose here.
You’ll see the bonus reflected before transferring points when you login to your US based American Express account…
Transferring over 26,000 points would get you 32,500 FlyingBlue miles, which could be enough for a one way, or leave you just 4,000 short, depending on the next special edition promo. Since promos come every month, it’s all a bit like surfing. You may miss a few waves, but eventually you should find a great one and can ride it all the way to a lovely business class experience across the pond on KLM or Air France.
You can also use FlyingBlue miles to book Delta flights, which can also be superb value, so perhaps have a look around for any golden opportunities you can take advantage of now, to make this deal even sweeter.
When I do an award search on Klm or Air France sites, their calendar shows some days require 150,000 miles while other days 29,000 miles. (Eze – ATL) Could my preferred travel day come down in miles if I wait or are these fixed?
It’s totally variable, so it can absolutely come down, based on what Delta gives them.