That’s not a lot of points…
Some days, the points game feels like a never ending grind. Other days – it feels like sweet, sweet victory. Business class on points is a simply glorious feeling. A fantastic opportunity has emerged, where you can enjoy the delights of flat beds, champagne and enough baggage for any diva, all for under 60,000 points round trip. If you’re now panicking, sure that you won’t have the right points, don’t. You’ll be thrilled to know that Amex, Citi, Chase or FlyingBlue points can get it done, and it’s really easy…
Flying Blue is the loyalty program of Air France/KLM. FlyingBlue is a great loyalty program, in part because you can instantly make FlyingBlue Points by transferring your Amex, Citi or Chase credit card points. The other reason it’s a great loyalty program, is because it offers monthly “promo” awards, where select flights are reduced, dropping the number of miles you need. Yes, for once an airline is interested in charging fewer miles on some dates.
For travel from December 1st 2018 thru January 31st, 2019, this is your lucky day. Air France has put Vancouver and Seattle on 50% off business class promo sale, with other options including Washington DC and Toronto both at 25% off. Via the promo, round trip flights between Vancouver or Seattle and Europe, starting in either direction are a mere 53,000 points. Some dates, you can even find flights for 18,000 points one way.
You can find available seats online easily via this link. You must have a FlyingBlue account to search, so make one here if you don’t already have one. Simply search between SEA or YVR and your European destination of choice. Again, you can start in either direction, and one ways are fine too. In fact, if you want the best pricing, search one way. If you want the round trip, just book two of them. You can also search Toronto or Washington DC, but the rates won’t be quite as low, and will run in the 80,000’s round trip – not that that’s too shabby at all! Using London as a European starting point or destination seems to offer increased availability…
You’ll be faced with surcharges between €130-€220 each way, which eats into these deals a bit, but we have a hard time complaining about almost 20 hours of business class for under €400 round trip, or 10 for around €200. More and more airlines are moving to surcharges, and these are far from the worst offenders. These deals are steals, almost any way you cut it.
Let’s hope they continue these Promo Awards after Virgin Atlantic is bookable with Flying Blue miles.