Flying Blue, the joint frequent flyer program of Air France and Dutch carrier KLM, deserves a closer look even if you’ve never flown either airline. With tons of nonstop routes from the U.S. to Paris and Amsterdam (each carrier’s respective hubs), the program has great award ticket possibilities to Europe and beyond.
Here’s our overview of Flying Blue, as well as how to transfer your Bilt Points to the program so you can take advantage of award flights right away!
Perks of the Program
As stated above, Air France and KLM are the main founding airlines of the Flying Blue program. Both carriers are part of the greater SkyTeam alliance, which includes Delta Air Lines, Korean Air and Virgin Atlantic. It’s worth noting that Flying Blue also serves as the frequent flyer program for a few other SkyTeam and non-alliance carriers, such as Kenya Airways, TAROM and more.
Related: Fly to Europe for Half the Bilt Points This Rent Day
Flying Blue partner airlines
You can earn and redeem Flying Blue miles for [30+ total airlines](https://www.flyingblue.us/en/earn-spend/partners/airline) — which includes SkyTeam carriers, as well as a few non-alliance partners:
Aerolineas Argentinas
Aeromexico
Air Corsica
Air Europa
Air Mauritius
Air Baltic
Air France
Aircalin
Bangkok Airways
Chalair Aviation
China Airlines
China Eastern
China Southern Airlines
Copa Airlines
Czech Airlines
Delta Air Lines
Garuda Indonesia
GOL
Japan Airlines
Kenya Airways
KLM
Korean Air
Malaysia Airlines
Middle East Airlines
Qantas
Saudi Arabian Airlines
TAROM
Transavia
TwinJet
Vietnam Airlines
Virgin Atlantic
WestJet
Xiamen Airlines
Flying Blue destinations
Where can Flying Blue take you? Five different continents, to be exact. The mileage amounts stated below are the starting rates for one-way flights on Air France or KLM.
Additionally, you can play around with Flying Blue’s interactive rewards map to price out potential routes.
How to enroll in the Flying Blue program
Even if you’ve never flown with Flying Blue’s airlines, you can (and should!) sign up for a free account online. Once you receive a membership number, link your Flying Blue account in the Bilt app.
Earning Miles
You’ll earn 4-8 Flying Blue miles per Euro spent on your flight, depending on your Flying Blue elite status level (more on this below).
Regardless, you can only ever earn miles with one frequent flyer program at a time. For example, if you’re flying on Delta Air Lines and provide your Flying Blue membership number at the time of booking, you’ll earn Flying Blue miles for that ticket and not Delta SkyMiles.
Best of all, you don’t even need to be flying with Air France or KLM or any of its partner airlines to earn a stash of Flying Blue miles. You can always transfer your Bilt Points to Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio, and the transfers should process instantly.
Best Ways to Redeem Miles
Once you’ve used Flying Blue’s interactive map to price out the miles you need for your flight, the next step is to find the award availability to make this happen.
Fortunately, this process is made easier than ever with Bilt’s Transfer Partners tool powered by Point.Me. Simply head over to the “Travel” tab and toggle to “Transfer Partners” to enter your destination, desired departure date and fare class. Once you confirm the award space exists, you can then transfer the right amount of Bilt Points to Flying Blue to book the flight.
Here are just a few examples of the best ways to redeem your Flying Blue miles:
Economy between mainland U.S. to Hawaii on Delta for 35,000 miles round-trip
Economy between the U.S. to Europe/North Africa on Air France/KLM for 21,500-29,500 miles one-way
Business between the U.S. to Europe/North Africa on Air France/KLM for 53,000-72,000 miles one-way
You can expect to pay additional fuel surcharges, taxes and fees on award tickets. Economy tickets should be much more reasonable at less than $100 tacked on, while business class awards may require around $250 in fees at checkout.
Flying Blue Promo Rewards
Flying Blue kicks off the start of every month (like we do for Rent Day) with its monthly Promo Awards. You can get a 20-50% discount off flights in economy, premium economy or business class on certain routes. We’ve detailed the [best deals in May](biltrewards://rewards/editorial/148161630), which include:
Economy To/From Boston starting at 11,250 Flying Blue Miles one-way
Premium Economy To/From Washington-Dulles starting at 22,500 Flying Blue Miles one-way
Business Class To/From Newark starting at 41,250 Flying Blue Miles one-way
Elite Status & Perks
There are four tiers of Flying Blue elite status, which can grant you excellent perks when flying on Air France, KLM and its partner carriers. Flying Blue uses Experience Points, or XPs, to determine your level of [elite status](https://www.flyingblue.us/en/programme/more-info/status). Here’s a brief overview of the qualification requirements and benefits at each tier:
Explorer (base level; no status)
Earn 4x miles per Euro spent
10% discount on your first checked baggage
Silver (100 XP)
Earn 6 Miles per Euro spent
Priority check-in, baggage drop-off and boarding
Some free seat options 24 hours before departure
Free standard seat selection
One extra checked baggage item on Flying Blue and SkyTeam partner flights
Gold (180 XP)
Earn 7 Miles per Euro spent
Free access to SkyTeam lounges worldwide with a guest on international flights
SkyTeam Elite Plus status for benefits like SkyPriority boarding
Free seat options 72 hours before departure
Free standard seat selection
One extra checked baggage item on Flying Blue and SkyTeam partner flights
Platinum
Earn 8 Miles per Euro spent
Free access to SkyTeam lounges worldwide with a guest on international flights
SkyTeam Elite Plus status for benefits like SkyPriority boarding
Free access to seat options
One extra checked baggage item on Flying Blue and SkyTeam partner flights
Access to Platinum Service Line for dedicated assistance
Bottom Line
It’s easy to overlook international loyalty programs like Flying Blue, but that’s where you can find ample award travel opportunities to Europe, Africa and more. In fact, Flying Blue is one of our favorites thanks to its lucrative monthly Promo Rewards that are released at the start of every month. Not to mention, the ability to redeem about 55,000 miles for a business class flight to Europe is a worthwhile deal on its own — making Flying Blue one of our most valuable transfer partners yet!