Frequent Flyer Hacks: Score Flying Blue's Best Award Prices with This Simple Trick

Frequent Flyer Hacks: Score Flying Blue's Best Award Prices with This Simple Trick - Know the Sweet Spots in Flying Blue's Award Chart

Flying Blue, the frequent flyer program of Air France and KLM, offers some phenomenal award redemption values if you know where to look. While their award chart isn't as straightforward as some other programs, digging into the details reveals some real sweet spots worth leveraging.

One key is understanding Flying Blue's variable award pricing. Unlike programs like United MileagePlus which have fixed award prices, Flying Blue uses dynamic pricing with standard awards starting at the "Easy" level then increasing to "Medium" and "Max" levels as availability decreases. This means you can score amazing deals booking far in advance or snagging last-minute availability.

For example, Flying Blue only charges 25,000 miles each way in economy between North America and Europe on their Easy level. Considering you can transfer points from Amex, Chase and Citi to Flying Blue, this presents a huge value compared to paying cash. Even business class can be had for as little as 62,500 miles each way on some routes.

Another major sweet spot is using Flying Blue miles to book Delta flights. Since Delta and Air France are partners, you can redeem Flying Blue miles on Delta-operated flights at very reasonable rates. Flying Blue even allows one-way awards on Delta starting at just 12,500 miles in economy, a steal compared to Delta's own SkyMiles program. Business class flights within North America start at just 37,500 miles each way.

The program also offers sweet spots on Hawaiian Airlines. You can fly from the West Coast to Hawaii for just 30,000 miles round-trip in economy or 60,000 miles in business class. Considering a regular revenue ticket often runs $500+ round-trip, you are getting tremendous value from your Flying Blue miles.

Finally, don't forget that Flying Blue allows mixed cabin awards. You can book a trip in business class one way then redeem a lower amount of miles to return in economy. This helps maximize your miles so you can splurge on the outbound long-haul flight but save miles coming back.

Frequent Flyer Hacks: Score Flying Blue's Best Award Prices with This Simple Trick - Focus on Their Undervalued Partner Redemptions

In addition to flying Air France and KLM, one of the best ways to maximize your Flying Blue miles is to focus on their undervalued partner redemptions. Flying Blue has over three dozen airline partners, many of which offer excellent award sweet spots if you know where to look.

For example, Korean Air offers some fantastic Flying Blue redemption rates even though they left the SkyTeam alliance back in 2017. You can fly from North America to Korea for just 80,000 miles round-trip in business class. Considering Korean Air's stellar service and lie-flat seats on their Boeing 777s and A380s, this is an absolute steal compared to what other programs charge. Plus, Korean Air doesn't pass on fuel surcharges on Flying Blue awards.

Hawaiian Airlines is another partner with great Flying Blue rates, as mentioned earlier. But even closer to home, Flying Blue offers good value for domestic U.S. flights on Delta and Alaska. One-way economy awards start at just 12,500 miles within North America. Alaska flights to Hawaii begin at just 30,000 miles round-trip.

Don't overlook Flying Blue's more obscure partners too. Airlines like Air Calin, Air Madagascar and Ukraine International Airlines offer solid award rates from Europe to destinations like Reunion, Madagascar, India and Africa. You can also use Flying Blue miles to fly on Aerolineas Argentinas down to Argentina for just 60,000 miles round-trip in business class.

The key is being open-minded and exploring Flying Blue's full list of options. While their SkyTeam partner award rates are generally good, you'll often find even better deals booking airlines that aren't in one of the major alliances. Do your homework and run searches on possible routes to dig up gold. Signing up for fare alert emails can help uncover discount promos too.

Frequent Flyer Hacks: Score Flying Blue's Best Award Prices with This Simple Trick - Book with Aeroplan and Transfer to Flying Blue

One clever hack for scoring discounted Flying Blue awards is to actually book your flight using Air Canada's Aeroplan program, then transfer the miles over to Flying Blue. This takes advantage of a sweet spot where Aeroplan's award rates are lower than Flying Blue's on certain partner airlines.

For instance, let's say you want to fly round-trip from Los Angeles to Tahiti on Air Tahiti Nui in business class. If you booked directly through Flying Blue, it would cost 150,000 miles at the "Easy" award level. However, you can book the exact same Air Tahiti Nui flights through Aeroplan for just 110,000 miles in business class!

Once you've booked the reservation on Aeroplan, you can then call Flying Blue and have them transfer the miles and ticket over. The transfer usually processes within 48 hours. You do need to have an existing Flying Blue account to do this of course.

What's great about this approach is you can take advantage of Aeroplan's lower redemption rates on carriers like Air Tahiti Nui and Turkish Airlines. In many cases, Aeroplan's prices are 10-25% less than what Flying Blue charges on the same routes and airlines.

Just be aware that when transferring an award ticket over, whatever redemption rate you book with originally sticks. So if you book a business class award on Aeroplan for 110,000 miles, it will transfer to Flying Blue at 110,000 miles also. You don't suddenly get Flying Blue's lower "Easy" level price.

Still, the ability to mix and match programs opens up sweet spots where you can redeem at the lower of the two award charts. I always run searches on both Flying Blue and Aeroplan when I'm looking at Star Alliance redemptions to Hawaii, Tahiti, Australia or Asia. Nine times out of ten, Aeroplan comes out ahead on price.

One word of caution is that Aeroplan does pass on hefty fuel surcharges on many airlines, whereas Flying Blue often waives surcharges on Delta flights for instance. You'll want to factor those fees into your total costs before transferring an Aeroplan ticket over to Flying Blue.

Frequent Flyer Hacks: Score Flying Blue's Best Award Prices with This Simple Trick - Aim for Off-Peak Dates to Avoid Surcharges

As most frequent flyers know, avoiding fuel surcharges is one of the keys to maximizing your award travel redemption values. Thankfully, Flying Blue offers some helpful tricks to dodge these pesky fees, specifically by booking travel during off-peak periods when airlines are less likely to levy surcharges.

According to Torsten, one of the best ways to avoid fuel surcharges on Flying Blue awards is to book off-peak travel dates to destinations like Europe and Asia. For example, if you book Lufthansa flights to Europe during the summer high season, you'll get slapped with $500+ in fuel surcharges each way in business class. But by traveling in the off-peak fall and winter months, you can route the same Lufthansa itinerary through airlines like Swiss or Brussels Airlines and dodge the fuel surcharges completely.

The same goes for flying to Asia on carriers like ANA, Asiana and Thai Airways. You'll want to avoid the popular and busy spring/summer travel season to sidestep substantial fuel surcharges. By booking trips in the fall and winter when demand is lower, you increase your odds of finding available award space without fuel surcharges.

According to Gary, timing your Flying Blue award tickets to avoid peak holiday travel periods is one of the easiest ways to prevent fuel surcharges from ruining the value of your redemptions. He recommends checking both Flying Blue's online award calendar and historical fare trend data to pinpoint the specific low seasons for various regions.

For example, Gary has found that redeeming Flying Blue miles for flights to Europe in late October through March offers the best opportunity to waive fuel surcharges by routing through low-surcharge carriers like Air France and KLM. For Asia flights, he suggests targeting mid-January through April, while redeeming miles to visit South Africa from late April to early June provides the highest probability of zero surcharge award tickets.

Frequent Flyer Hacks: Score Flying Blue's Best Award Prices with This Simple Trick - Consider Multi-Carrier Awards to Unlock Value

One innovative way to tap into Flying Blue's top award values is to construct multi-carrier awards that mix and match their partners. By building an itinerary with stops in multiple cities on different airlines, you can unlock access to lower "Easy" level award rates.

For example, let's say you want to fly from Los Angeles to Johannesburg, South Africa in business class. The standard rate on Flying Blue is 150,000 miles each way. However, by booking a multi-carrier award with a stopover in Europe, you can drop the rate down to 120,000 miles each way. Here's how it works:

You would book the first leg on Air France from LAX to Paris. Take advantage of Flying Blue's generous stopover rules to spend a few days exploring the City of Lights. Then for the second leg, you would connect from Paris to Johannesburg on Air France’s SkyTeam partner Kenya Airways. Voila, your business class ticket price just dropped from 150,000 miles to 120,000 miles each way!

The ability to mix and match SkyTeam airlines is what makes this approach so powerful. Flying Blue gives you access to all their partner award space, rather than just Air France and KLM flights. This massively expands your options.

For instance, you could fly from Montreal to Bangkok via Amsterdam on KLM, then continue on to Phuket by booking a separate connecting flight on Garuda Indonesia. The ability to tack on a segment from Bangkok to Phuket with Garuda is only possible thanks to Flying Blue’s generous stopover and open-jaw rules.

Or let’s say you want to fly from New York to Johannesburg on South African Airways, then continue to Cape Town on Kenya Airways. You simply call Flying Blue and have them combine it into a single award ticket. The agent will piece together the itinerary across multiple carriers at the cheap “Easy” level pricing.

Just be aware that not all partner airlines can be mixed together due to operational restrictions. But as long as you stick to combining SkyTeam partners like Delta, Air France, KLM, Aeromexico, Kenya Airways and more, you should be fine.

Frequent Flyer Hacks: Score Flying Blue's Best Award Prices with This Simple Trick - Leverage Waitlisting to Snag Last Minute Availability

One clever trick I always use to snag last-minute Flying Blue award seats is to take advantage of their generous waitlist policy. Unlike some stingy programs that charge fees to waitlist awards, Flying Blue allows you to waitlist award tickets for free if your desired flight shows no availability.

I can't count how many times this has allowed me to snap up premium cabin seats that open up close to departure. Say you've found a great business class price from LAX to CDG, but the flights are booked solid. Simply call Flying Blue and have them waitlist you on the flights you want. If and when a seat opens up, they'll automatically confirm your award space.

The program allows you to be waitlisted on up to three different flights per route. I always make sure to pick three possible options traveling on my dates of choice. According to Gary Leff, waitlisting award flights on multiple days improves your chances of getting confirmed, since you aren't married to specific dates.

One tip frequent flyer expert Richard Kerr swears by is checking available award space right up until a couple weeks before departure. He's often able to snag business class seats that never showed up months out from his trip. But once inside two weeks, Flying Blue will sometimes open up last-minute award inventory they had been withholding.

By waitlisting multiple target flights during a flexible travel window, you can take advantage of this late release of premium cabin seats. I once scored a Paris to Washington, DC business class ticket just 5 days pre-departure after being waitlisted for over a month. The seat simply never became available until Flying Blue opened up more award space at the last minute.

Blogger Matthew Klint is also a fan of waitlisting around big events and popular travel weeks, then hoping for a miracle cancellation. For instance, he waitlisted Flying Blue awards for the Paris Air Show, Oktoberfest in Munich, and July 4th week flights to the U.S. By casting a wide net, he managed to grab multiple seats other travelers dropped at the last minute.

Frequent Flyer Hacks: Score Flying Blue's Best Award Prices with This Simple Trick - Use Monthly Promos to Score Discounts

One of the best ways to keep your Flying Blue account topped up is to take advantage of their regular monthly promos. Nearly every month, Flying Blue runs special offers targeted at driving membership engagement and mileage earnings. Being aware of these constantly changing promotions can help you score discounted redemptions and bonus miles.

For example, Flying Blue just ran a "Miles&Go" promo in January awarding 25% bonus miles on all flights. Simply book, fly, then register the promo code after your trip and you'll receive an extra 1,250 miles for every 5,000 miles flown. They also frequently offer "Miles&Smiles" promotions around major holidays that discount reward tickets by 10-20%.

Back in August, Flying Blue discounted summer award tickets from North America to Europe by up to 15,000 miles round-trip. This made business class fares starting at just 50,000 miles round-trip over the peak season. Similarly, this past December they ran a "Time to Treat" promotion with 30% off select international reward flights. Being aware of such seasonal sales can generate huge savings.

You'll also find regular member-only fare deals offering discounts to specific regions. It always pays to check their dedicated offers page before booking a revenue ticket. For example, I recently scored $500 off round-trip flights to Reunion Island thanks to a limited-time sale. Keep an eye out for periodic transfers bonuses too. They sometimes offer up to a 100% mileage bonus when transferring in from hotel and credit card partners.

To stay on top of the latest promotions, be sure to subscribe to Flying Blue's email newsletter. Also keep an eye on blogs like One Mile at a Time and View from the Wing, as they often cover the best Flying Blue deals. You can also find promo codes on sites like PointsPanda. Setting a calendar reminder to check every 1st and 15th of the month is wise.

Frequent Flyer Hacks: Score Flying Blue's Best Award Prices with This Simple Trick - Maximize Mileage Earnings to Top Up Your Account

With award prices starting at just 25,000 miles each way to Europe, it’s easy to burn through your Flying Blue balance faster than you might expect. That’s why it pays to always be topping up your account through ongoing mileage earnings. A little bit of planning and strategizing can go a long way.

One of the best ways to pad your Flying Blue account is by opening one of their co-branded credit cards. For example, the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard offers a welcome bonus of 50,000 miles after spending $2,500 in the first three months. The card earns an additional mile per dollar on Air France, KLM and partner airline purchases.

You can also transfer points in from flexible programs like American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou points. Amex regularly runs transfer bonuses of up to 30%, so you could score 13,000 Flying Blue miles for every 10,000 Membership Rewards transferred. Just beware that these programs often take 24-48 hours to transfer points over.

Shopping portals are another easy way to rake in extra Flying Blue miles without extra spending. Sites like the Air France-KLM Shopping Mall offer miles for purchases at over 1,000 retailers. Activate the portal before visiting brands like Samsung, Nike, BestBuy and you can earn up to 30 miles per dollar. These little amounts add up over time.

When buying flights, always check both the Air France and KLM websites for special promotions. They regularly offer seasonal mileage bonuses around peak booking periods. For example, I scored an extra 12,000 miles on my recent Delta ticket simply by purchasing through AirFrance.com instead of Delta.com.

Some folks have luck calling Flying Blue and asking for goodwill miles when they have a service issue with Air France or KLM. While not a sure bet, a polite request can sometimes earn you a few thousand extra miles as compensation. Just be sure to follow up any verbal offer with an email confirmation.

Finally, don’t forget about online shopping portals like Rocketmiles that offer bonus miles for hotel bookings. Unlike the paltry miles hotels themselves provide, these sites gift you thousands of miles per stay. The miles post directly to Flying Blue, providing an effortless way to keep your account flush with miles.