No Flying Blue qualifying flights with CityJet CitySaver fares

This is a rather niche topic, but many Heads for Points readers with Flying Blue status are likely to have achieved it by shuttling around Europe with CityJet, Air France / KLM‘s UK offshoot, from London City Airport.

I received an email from a reader who flies CityJet on a regular basis.  CityJet, with CitySaver being the easyJet equivalent – no free checked baggage, no advance seat choice, non refundable and non changeable etc.

CitySaver also offers no Flying Blue miles.  More importantly, though, the reader pointed out that these fares are also not treated as ‘qualiflying’ flights with Flying Blue.

This has two impacts:

The first is that you need to fly once with a Flying Blue airline or another SkyTeam member every 20 months to stop your miles expiring.  A cheap CityJet will no longer do the trick here, so don’t waste your money.

Secondly, if you live in the UK and do mainly short-haul flights with Air France / KLM / CityJet, you will earn status more quickly based on segments (15 one-way flights for Silver) rather than miles flown.  However, CityJet CitySaver flights will not now count towards status either.

I’m not sure if this is old news or not, although it is not something I had come across before.  It is certainly something to bear in mind when booking CityJet flights.

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How to earn Flying Blue miles from UK credit cards (April 2025)

Air France and KLM do not have a UK Flying Blue credit card.  However, you can earn Flying Blue miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

These cards earn Membership Rewards points:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 20,000 Flying Blue miles. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 50,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 50,000 Flying Blue miles

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 10,000 Flying Blue miles. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:1 into Flying Blue miles which is an attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 1 Flying Blue mile.

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it, not just with Air France and KLM but with any airline.