Until October 18, 2023, the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard is offering a limited-time welcome bonus of up to 60,000 Flying Blue miles.
Flying Blue miles are one of the best points currencies for Canadians to accrue, since Air France and KLM have excellent coverage to cities across Canada and to destinations throughout Europe and beyond.
Let’s take a look at some of the best ways you can redeem 60,000+ Flying Blue miles.
Key Things to Know About Air France KLM Flying Blue
Before delving into redemption opportunities, we’ll go over a few key aspects of the Air France KLM Flying Blue loyalty program, in case you aren’t familiar with it just yet.
Flying Blue is the most accessible SkyTeam loyalty program in Canada, and it’s one of the few SkyTeam loyalty programs that’s available to North Americans through credit cards and transferable points currencies.
In Canada, you can earn Flying Blue miles directly from the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard, and the program is also a transfer partner with American Express Membership Rewards.
Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard
- Earn 10,000 Flying Blue miles upon first purchase
- Plus, earn 10,000 Flying Blue miles upon spending $5,000 in the first year
- Plus, earn 10,000 Flying Blue miles upon spending an additional $10,000 in the first year
- And, earn 30,000 Flying Blue miles upon renewing the card for a second year
- Get 60 XP towards Flying Blue Elite status in the first year, and 30 XP in subsequent years
- Earn up to 30x Flying Blue miles per dollar spent with select merchants
- Earn 5x Flying Blue miles per euro spent on Air France/KLM flights
- Earn 2x Flying Blue miles per dollar spent on food and drink
- Minimum income: $80,000 personal or $150,000 household
- Annual fee: $132
When used in tandem, you can fast-track your earning with the welcome bonus and daily spending on the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard, and then top up your account with transfers from American Express Membership Rewards as needed.
When it comes time to redeem, Air France KLM Flying Blue uses a form of dynamic pricing to govern awards.
For example, on one date, you may see a flight from Montreal to Paris for 15,000 miles, or you may see it for 65,000 miles or more on a different date.
In this article, we’ll only be focusing on the lowest price for awards, since it offers the best value in the program. It’s also worth noting that if you plan your trip in advance, or even at the last minute, there’s plenty of “Saver” level award availability, including multiple seats in different classes of service.
For Flying Blue redemptions, you’ll pay more in taxes, fees, and surcharges as you fly in higher classes of service. Generally speaking, you can expect to pay $100–350 (CAD) per person per direction, depending on the cabin into which you book.
Aside from the pricing structure, some of the key features of the Flying Blue program to be aware of include lucrative monthly Promo Rewards, and free stopovers on award bookings.
You can redeem Flying Blue miles for flights with Air France, KLM, and SkyTeam airlines, as well as other non-affiliated partners.
With the above in mind, let’s dive into some of the best ways to redeem 60,000+ Flying Blue miles. If you’re looking to learn the ins and outs of the program, head over to our guide to Air France KLM Flying Blue.
1. KLM Business Class to Europe
One of the best ways to use Flying Blue miles is to book a flight from Eastern Canada to many popular destinations in Europe in KLM business class.
For example, a flight between Toronto and Amsterdam in KLM business class costs as few as 55,000 Flying Blue miles, plus €222.39 ($320 CAD) in taxes and fees.
You could continue onward to a range of other destinations for the same amount of miles, and a similar amount of taxes and fees, including to destinations such as Dublin, Barcelona, Lisbon, and Istanbul, amongst others.
Most of these destinations cost under 60,000 Flying Blue miles if you depart out of Montreal as well.
If you’re up for an arctic adventure, you could fly from Toronto to Rovaniemi, Finland via Amsterdam, again for just 55,000 Flying Blue miles, plus €243.35 ($350 CAD).
Flying out of cities in Western Canada to which KLM also flies, such as Calgary, Edmonton, or Vancouver, increases the price to 65,000 Flying Blue miles. This is still a great deal, especially considering the lack of other options for direct flights to Europe.
Fortunately, on most routes, you shouldn’t have a problem finding multiple award seats at the lowest price, especially from Edmonton and Calgary.
In any case, if you were to fulfill the requirements to unlock the current welcome bonus on the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard, you’d have earned enough points to fly in business class from Canada to Europe with KLM.
2. Air France Business Class to Europe
Another great use of Flying Blue miles is to book Air France business class.
In Canada, Air France offers direct flights between Paris and Quebec City (seasonal), Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver.
From Montreal, you can fly to Budapest via Paris for 55,000 Flying Blue miles, plus €238.82 ($343 CAD) in taxes and fees.
Or, you could also fly from Montreal and continue onward all the way to Algiers, once again for 55,000 Flying Blue miles, plus €251.60 ($361 CAD) in taxes and fees.
From Vancouver to Paris, a one-way flight in business class prices out at 80,000 miles, plus €255.70 ($367 CAD) in taxes and fees.
Fortunately, Air France has operated its brand-new business class cabin on the Paris–Vancouver route, which comes complete with sliding doors for privacy, and cutting-edge technology throughout the seat.
Air France also offers competitive pricing from many major US hubs.
For example, you could fly from New York (JFK) to Berlin, which costs 55,000 Flying Blue miles and €226.14 ($325 CAD) in taxes and fees, as well as between Newark and Vienna for 57,000 Flying Blue miles and €234.76 ($337 CAD) in taxes and fees.
If you don’t find award availability at the lowest price from Canadian hubs on your date of travel, consider taking a quick positioning flight to the US, and then continue onward in comfort at a great price.
3. Economy Flights to Europe
Flying Blue offers some of the best prices for transatlantic economy flights, if you’d rather stretch your miles for more trips, instead of stretching out your legs in business class.
From Toronto, the vast majority of destinations in Europe can be reached for 15,000–18,500 Flying Blue miles. With the 60,000 Flying Blue miles earned from the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard, you could score two round-trip economy flights from Toronto to Europe.
For example, you could fly from Toronto to Geneva and back home for just 30,000 Flying Blue miles plus €216.92 ($311 CAD) in taxes and fees.
With Flying Blue, you can also book an open-jaw itinerary, and fly into Geneva and out of Brussels for the same price.
Alternatively, you can fly from almost anywhere in North America to destinations across Asia in economy for less than 60,000 Flying Blue miles.
Destinations such as Osaka, Manila, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bali, and Phuket all cost around 35,000–38,000 Flying Blue miles, depending on the route, and you can add a stopover of up to a year at your connection point at no additional cost.
Keep in mind that if you’re short by a few miles for a round-trip award or a one-way flight, you can always top-up with American Express Membership Rewards points, too.
One of the strongest features of the Flying Blue program is Promo Rewards.
Promo Rewards are a monthly rotation of city pairs that enjoy a discount on the amount of Flying Blue miles required for a redemption.
Generally speaking, the discount range is between 25–50%, which applies to economy, premium economy, or business class awards, depending on what’s released each month.
For example, in December 2022, there was a 50% discount on KLM business class awards between Europe and Montreal.
This reduced the cost to just 27,500 Flying Blue miles for a one-way flight, which was an outstanding deal.
Therefore, with 60,000+ Flying Blue miles earned from the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard, you’d have enough for a round-trip ticket in business class to Europe, as long as we see a Promo Reward like this again.
Promo Rewards can offer excellent value for flights in economy class, too.
In April 2023, we saw a 50% discount on economy awards between Europe and Montreal, which reduced the one-way cost to just 7,500 miles.
At just 7,500 Flying Blue miles, you could theoretically get eight one-way flights to Europe with 60,000 Flying Blue miles, which is equivalent to four round-trip bookings between Eastern Canada and Europe.
For October 2023, Flying Blue is offering a 25% discount on economy, premium economy, business class flights from Ottawa to Europe with Air France. With the Promo Reward applied, the cost per flight drops down to the following prices per direction:
- 15,000 miles in economy
- 30,000 miles in premium economy
- 52,500 miles in business class
Furthermore, you can score a 25% discount on KLM economy or business class flights between Montreal and Europe with the Promo Rewards in October 2023.
With the discount applied, you can find one-way flights for the following amounts:
- 11,250 miles in economy
- 41,250 miles in business class
As you can see, by taking advantage of Promo Rewards, you can stretch your miles even further than usual.
5. Book with Flying Blue’s Partner Airlines
While Air France KLM Flying Blue miles are best used for booking tickets on either Air France or KLM, they can also be used for booking tickets on partner airlines, including Delta, China Airlines, and more.
If you’re able to find award space, booking flights with Delta can prove to be a great use of Flying Blue miles, and you’ll also likely get better pricing than what’s available through Delta SkyMiles.
For example, you can fly in economy from Vancouver to Salt Lake City for 26,500 Delta SkyMiles, plus $64 (CAD) in taxes and fees.
Or, you could book the same flight for just 11,500 Flying Blue miles, plus $90 (CAD) in taxes and fees.
Another intriguing partner redemption available through Flying Blue is with China Airlines between the West Coast and Taipei.
If you’re up for a bit of a splurge, a one-way business class award ticket prices out at 83,500–95,000 Flying Blue miles, plus around $100 USD ($135 CAD) in taxes and fees, depending on your city pairs.
While this is a bit over the threshold of 60,000 miles, you can always top up your account with Amex Membership Rewards points as needed.
In economy class, a one-way ticket with China Airlines costs between 42,000–45,000 Flying Blue miles.
Get Inspired
The routes listed above are just a small sample size of popular and interesting redemption opportunities for Air France KLM Flying Blue miles.
If you’re looking for some more inspiration, or if you want to see how far your miles can take you, be sure to check out the Flying Blue Rewards Map.
The interactive map allows you to input your departing destination, the maximum amount of points you’d like to redeem, and your preferred class of service. The map then populates with all of the destinations that you’ll be able to fly to with your given parameters.
When it comes time to search for flights, use the price you see on the map as your target, since it represents the lowest amount you’ll pay for any given route.
Conclusion
Air France KLM Flying Blue offers members plenty of options to redeem miles at excellent prices. This includes flights in economy, premium economy, and business class, to destinations across Canada, Europe, and beyond.
By leveraging the current welcome bonus on the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard, and topping up your account with American Express Membership Rewards points as needed, you’ll find yourself flying in style in no time.
By also stacking your Flying Blue miles with a Promo Reward, or by booking a free stopover of up to a year, you can stretch your miles even further.
If any of the above routes have piqued your interest, be sure to apply for the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard by October 18, 2023, and start planning out how you’re going to redeem your miles in the months and years to come.
