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Guide to Air France/KLM Flying Blue

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Published on January 06, 2025 | 7 min read

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Air France A340 departing PJIA at Sunset
Alain M. Duzant/ Getty Images

Key Takeaways

  • Flying Blue is the frequent flyer program for Air France, KLM and Transavia.
  • Miles earned through the Flying Blue program can be used to purchase airfare, cabin upgrades, baggage fees, hotel stays and more.
  • Flying Blue airlines are also members of the SkyTeam alliance, which makes Flying Blue miles some of the most useful frequent flyer miles available.
  • In addition to earning miles on flights with Flying Blue and SkyTeam partners, several of the top credit card rewards programs allow you to transfer points to Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio.

The Air France/KLM Flying Blue program is one of the best frequent flyer programs for those who want to book affordable award flights to Europe in economy or business class. It’s also one of the easiest programs to accrue points in, thanks to the fact that it’s a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, HSBC Rewards and Wells Fargo Rewards. Flying Blue is also a partner of Bilt Rewards, which is a loyalty program that helps people earn rewards on rent payments.

This means you can earn points or miles with a range of flexible travel credit cards over time, then transfer them to your Flying Blue account and pool them all together when you’re ready.

If you are wondering what Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles are worth or the best ways to earn miles, you should know that this program is full of surprises and unique ways to extract additional value. Read on to get an overview of this program and the best ways to use your miles.

Flying Blue basics

First off, you should know that Flying Blue is the frequent flyer program of multiple airlines — including Air France, KLM and Transavia. Since Air France and KLM are considerably larger than Transavia, you’ll mostly see this program associated with these two airlines.

It’s also worth noting that Air France, KLM and other program airlines are part of the SkyTeam airline alliance, so you can seamlessly use rewards from this program to book flights with Delta Airlines and other partners within this alliance.

How to earn Flying Blue miles

There are quite a few ways to earn Flying Blue miles, which you can use to book for flight awards and a handful of other options.

Fly with Air France, KLM or partner airlines

Like other frequent flyer programs, Flying Blue lets you earn miles when you fly with an eligible airline. Generally speaking, you’ll earn miles based on your status level with Flying Blue and on each euro you spend on Air France and KLM marketed flights. For example:

  • Explorer members earn 4X miles per euro spent

  • Silver members earn 6X miles per euro spent

  • Gold members earn 7X miles per euro spent

  • Platinum members earn 8X miles per euro spent

  • Ultimate members earn 9X miles per euro spent

Book other types of travel with partners

The Flying Blue program also lets members earn miles when booking with various partners — including car rental companies, online excursion booking platforms, hotel brands and more.

Use a Flying Blue credit card

The Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®* is available to applicants in the United States, and it offers a generous welcome bonus as well as miles on all your purchases. This card currently offers 70,000 bonus miles and 40 Experience Points (XP) when you sign up and spend $3,000 on purchases within 90 days of account opening. You’ll also receive 60 XP upon approval.

In addition to the welcome bonus, this card earns 3X miles on direct purchases with Air France, KLM and SkyTeam members. All other purchases earn 1.5X miles, and you’ll also receive 5,000 miles each year on your account anniversary when you make $50 or more in purchases on your card within that year. Other cardmember benefits include priority check-in, free selection of standard seats, one free extra checked bag on SkyTeam flights and more. An $89 annual fee applies.

Transfer flexible travel rewards to Flying Blue

As mentioned, Flying Blue is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, HSBC Rewards and Wells Fargo Rewards. This means you can focus on earning flexible rewards with eligible credit cards from any of these programs, and then transfer your rewards to Flying Blue when you’re ready to make a redemption.

Shop through the online portal

You can also earn bonus Flying Blue miles through the Flying Blue Shop for Miles portal.

Book hotels with the Flying Blue Hotels for Miles platform

The Flying Blue Hotels for Miles portal lets you earn (or spend) miles for eligible hotel bookings. While offers vary by location and your travel dates, you can earn up to 10,000 miles for each night you book through the platform.

You can pay for your stay with cash to earn miles, use a combination of cash and miles for your booking or redeem Flying Blue miles to pay for your booking. Some partner hotel programs found in this portal include Accor Live Limitless, Hilton Honors, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Bonvoy, Radisson Rewards and more.

How to redeem Flying Blue miles

When it comes to redeeming Flying Blue miles, you won’t find a shortage of options. Here are the best ways to use miles in this program.

Book an award flight

Flying Blue is an excellent program to use for travel awards to and from the continental U.S. to Hawaii and the U.S. to the Caribbean. This is mainly due to the many routes you can access with this program through the SkyTeam alliance.

However, the program really shines when it comes to its affordable flight awards to Europe. You can frequently find one-way economy flights to cities like Amsterdam and Paris starting at 15,000 miles, as well as one-way Business class flights in lie-flat seats starting at around 69,000 miles.

Note that you can also use miles to upgrade a paid flight into a premium cabin, or to cover baggage fees, seat selections and more.

Look into Flying Blue Promo rewards

Flying Blue also offers even better value with its Promo rewards program, which is an ongoing flight deal program that offers awards for fewer miles than usual. While these offers change frequently, you can find deals like (accurate as of writing):

  • Amsterdam, Netherlands to Madrid, Spain starting at 5,625 miles one-way

  • Paris, France to Rome, Italy starting at 5,625 miles one-way

  • Europe to Seattle, Washington starting at 15,000 miles one-way

Shop in the Flying Blue store

You can also use miles to shop in the Flying Blue store, although this option isn’t recommended since you’ll get less-than-average value for each mile you redeem. But if you do choose this option, you can get items like a Sony Wireless BT Headset for 15,596 miles or an Yves Saint Laurent miniature fragrance set for 20,345 miles (accurate as of writing).

Book hotels through Hotels for Miles

As previously mentioned, you can use your miles to book hotels through the Flying Blue Hotels for Miles portal. Use your miles or pay using Miles & Cash to book rooms at over 400,000 properties around the world.

Donate, transfer or gift miles

You can also donate Flying Blue miles to a range of partner charities, including Miles4Migrants and UNICEF. You can also transfer miles to another Flying Blue member or gift them to a loved one.

How much are Flying Blue miles worth?

According to our points and miles valuations, Flying Blue miles are worth approximately 1.3 cents each, on average — although they may be worth significantly more or less depending on how you spend them and who you spend them with. This makes these miles worth more than American AAdvantage miles (about 1.0 cents each) and around the same as Delta SkyMiles (about 1.2 cents each).

How do Flying Blue miles compare to other programs?

The chart below shows how Flying Blue miles stack up against the rewards value of other popular frequent flyer programs.

Airline loyalty program Bankrate value
Air France/KLM Flying Blue 1.1 cents to 1.5 cents
Southwest Rapid Rewards 1.5 cents
Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles 0.7 cents
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles 2.9 cents
American AAdvantage 1.0 cents
Delta SkyMiles 1.2 cents
JetBlue TrueBlue 1.3 cents
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club 2.6 cents

Flying Blue elite status

Flying Blue elite status is determined based on how much you fly and spend with Flying Blue airlines and eligible partners, which leads to you earning a program currency called Experience Points (XP). Note that you can also get a boost toward elite status by earning XP with the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard (terms apply).

The chart below shows some of the main benefits you’ll get for reaching each elite status tier with Flying Blue.

Elite status tier Flying Blue Explorer Flying Blue Silver Flying Blue Gold Flying Blue Platinum Flying Blue Ultimate
Earning rate 4X miles per euro spent 6X miles per euro spent 7X miles per euro spent 8X miles per euro spent 9X miles per euro spent
Checked baggage benefit None 1 extra checked bag on eligible flights 1 extra checked bag on eligible flights 2 extra checked bags on eligible flights 2 extra checked bags on eligible flights
Lounge access N/A Access to some lounges for a fee; applies to international flights operated by a SkyTeam partner Free access for you and 1 guest on eligible same-day international flights operated by an eligible airline Free access for you and 1 guest on eligible same-day international flights operated by an eligible airline Free access for you and up to 8 guests on eligible same-day international flights operated by an eligible airline
SkyTeam status N/A SkyTeam Elite (includes priority service at check-in, baggage drop-off and boarding) SkyTeam Elite Plus (includes priority service at check-in, baggage drop-off, boarding, immigration, security, ticket offices, transfer desks and baggage delivery) SkyTeam Elite Plus (includes priority service at check-in, baggage drop-off, boarding, immigration, security, ticket offices, transfer desks and baggage delivery) SkyTeam Elite Plus (includes priority service at check-in, baggage drop-off, boarding, immigration, security, ticket offices, transfer desks and baggage delivery)
Access to premium seats on Air France/KLM N/A Free 24 hours before departure Free 72 hours before departure Free Free

Flying Blue partners

Some of the current partners you can earn (or spend) miles with include (but are not limited to):

Top credit cards for earning Flying Blue miles

Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card image

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Learn More in our Bankrate review
American Express® Gold Card image

American Express® Gold Card

Learn More in our Bankrate review
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card image

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

Learn More in our Bankrate review
Citi Strata Premier℠ Card image

Citi Strata Premier℠ Card

Learn More in our Bankrate review
Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card image

Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card

Learn More in our Bankrate review

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

The bottom line

Flying Blue is an excellent rewards program that offers members the opportunity to fly for less. With dozens of partners and multiple ways to earn rewards, earning and spending Flying Blue miles is super easy and extremely useful — especially if you frequently book flights to and from Europe.

One of the easiest ways to earn Flying Blue miles is through a credit card transfer partner. Most of the major credit card rewards programs partner with Flying Blue, so be sure to compare the best travel rewards cards before making a decision on which card is right for you.

*The information about the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuer.