Flying Blue discounted redemptions for September-October travel released

Flying Blue, the Air France / KLM loyalty scheme, has launched a new batch of discounted redemption routes.

The list of destinations is far smaller than the July-August list, especially in business class.

The Flying Blue promo awards website is here.

I have not listed the economy or premium economy deals.  Some of the interesting long-haul business class deals include:

Europe to Brasilia – 50% off at 100,000 miles return

Europe to Caracas – 50% off at 87,500 miles return

Europe to Montreal – 50% off at 62,500 miles return

Europe to Fort de France – 50% off at 112,500 miles return

Europe to Ho Chi Minh – 50% off at 100,000 miles return

Europe to Mumbai – 50% off at 75,000 miles return

Europe to Wuhan – 50% off at 100,000 miles return

If you know your Avios reward chart by heart, you will have spotted that – even with a massive reduction – not all of these routes offer a great deal, certainly nowhere near 50% less than an Avios ticket.  Such is the poor value that Flying Blue now represents. That said, not many of these routes are easily available on Avios.

However, on the upside, taxes are now capped on redemptions. Whilst I cannot access the detailed tax data, as I don’t have an active Flying Blue account, you should find that the numbers look better than the equivalent BA redemption.

You need to book by July 31st for travel in September or October.  One way bookings are available for 50% of the miles shown above.

Remember that Flying Blue is an American Express Membership Rewards partner if you need to top-up your account.

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How to earn Flying Blue miles from UK credit cards (September 2024)

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.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 40,000 Flying Blue miles

• 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 Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it, with any airline.