Hands down, the best time to book an award ticket on Air France or KLM with Flying Blue miles is by taking advantage of a Flying Blue Promo Award. If you’re new to Flying Blue, this program offers discounted award rates from 20-50% off every month on select routes. If you time your booking right, you can save a ton of points.
How To Earn Flying Blue Miles
You probably already have access to Flying Blue miles but, just in case you don’t, there are plenty of ways to earn them. In fact, you can transfer points from all 4 transferable points programs including American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Points.
You can transfer Amex, Chase and Citi points to Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio while Capital One miles transfer at a 2:1.5 ratio. Any of the following cards (and more) can help you get your hands on some Flying Blue miles:
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
- Chase Ink Business Preferred Card
- American Express Gold Card
- American Express Business Gold Card
- Capital One Venture
- Capital One Spark Miles
- Citi Prestige
- Citi Premier
You can also top off your Flying Blue account by earning points directly with the co-branded Bank of America card or transfer Marriott Bonvoy points (3:1 ratio) to your account.
In the UK, you can get Flying Blue miles by transferring Membership Rewards points to your account.
Flying Blue Promo Award Details
To book the August round of Flying Blue promo awards, you need to book your trip by August 31, 2019 and you must fly between October 1 and November 30, 2019. You must book online via Air France or KLM unless you’re traveling with an infant (under 2 years old) in which case you need to call to book.
Medium and short-haul flights must start or end in either Amsterdam or Paris while long-haul flights may start/end in Europe. You can the exact countries included on the promo page.
Promo Award space is limited so it’s best to start your search right away. However, unlike other Flying Blue awards, Promo Awards cannot be changed, canceled or refunded so make sure you can travel before you book.
Our Favorites Deals For August
As is usually the case, our favorite deals are on long-haul flights where you can really stretch your miles for some great value. While there are plenty of great ways to use Flying Blue miles on an everyday basis, these Promo Awards can make the same bookings even better. Here are a few of our favorites that you can book during the month of August.
Business Class Between Europe And North America
This is probably our absolute favorite for August. You can get a 25% discount on the award rate for business class award tickets to or from the following cities:
- Calgary (YYC) on KLM
- Chicago (ORD) on Air France and KLM
- Edmonton (YEG) on KLM
- Vancouver (YVR) on Air France and KLM
While you can book simple non-stops to Amsterdam (on KLM) or Paris (on Air France), you can save even more points and miles by booking a trip to another European city. For example, you can book a trip between Chicago and any of several European cities for only 39,750 Flying Blue miles instead of the usual 53,000 miles.
Some of the cities that can be booked at this rate include Budapest, Dublin, London, Munich and Prague. At 39,750 Flying Blue miles for a one-way business class ticket, you’ll really be maximizing this promo.
Business Class Between Europe And The Caribbean
The normal business class award rate between Paris and Fort de France in Martinique is usually 67,500 Flying Blue miles. With the 25% discount, you’ll only need 50,625 miles to book a one-way ticket.
While the 8+ hour flight on Air France is operated by an aircraft with angled-flat seats in a 2-3-2 cabin layout instead of lie-flats, you’ll still be able to stretch out quite a bit more.
Just keep in mind that if you connect to/from other cities in Europe that this flight is operated out of Paris Orly (ORY) rather than Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) which means you might have to change airports to connect.
Economy To Between Europe And The U.S.
For those looking to use the absolute fewest miles possible on a trip between the U.S. and Europe, there are a couple of options with a 25% discount on economy awards. These include:
- Boston on Air France and KLM
- Houston on Air France and KLM
Out of these 2 cities, you can find economy awards for as few as 21,500 Flying Blue miles. When you throw in the 25% discount, that drops the rate down to a super low 16,125 miles. Think about that, a round-trip would be just over 32,000 miles while many programs charge 30,000 miles for a one-way economy ticket between the U.S. and Europe.
Final Thoughts
While the dates you can travel are limited, it’s tough to beat the amazing redemption rates that Air France-KLM Flying Blue offers with its Promo Awards. If you can find dates that work, you’ll not only get a great deal on the flights but you’ll save a ton of points and miles for your next trip.
