There's a lot to like about Flying Blue, the joint loyalty program for Air France and KLM. One of our favorite things about Flying Blue is its monthly Promo rewards, where it offers discounted award rates for Air France and KLM flights on select routes around the world.
What Are Flying Blue Promo Rewards
On the first of every month, Flying Blue releases its monthly Promo rewards, offering discounted award rates for certain routes. The offers cover both Air France and KLM flights, and include both short-haul and long-haul flights.
Promo rewards are valid for bookings during the month they're announced and valid for travel over the next six months. For example, Promos announced on November 1, 2022 must be booked by November 30, 2022 and are valid for travel between November 1, 2022 and April 30, 2023. In the past, Promo Rewards were valid for a shorter window of travel, but six months is becoming the standard.
Promo rewards cover economy, premium economy, and business class awards. Unfortunately, business class Promo rewards are not guaranteed every month as there are months where all the promos are for economy travel or a mix of economy and premium economy.
The discount offered through Promo rewards range between 20% and 50% off award flights. Granted, Flying Blue does use dynamic pricing instead of a fixed award chart, so it can be tough to know what the discount is being calculated off of in the first place. But this nuance doesn't really matter, because Flying Blue's search results just show you the award price already reflecting the discount. For example, this screenshot of a recent Promo shows a discounted rate of 42,735 miles for a one-way business class flight from Chicago to Amsterdam:
What Makes Promo Rewards So Good
Just about any discount to award travel is welcome news. But Flying Blue Promo rewards can create some incredible sweet spots under the right circumstances. This is because the Flying Blue program actually has a lot going for it.
First, Flying Blue has the best access to Air France and KLM flights. This isn't really a surprise, since it's their own program. But it's nice to see Flying Blue regularly offering discounts where you don't need to rely on some other airline making saver space available to partners.
Second, Flying Blue is one of the easiest miles to earn. You can get Flying Blue miles by transferring points from Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, Capital One, Bilt Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy. That's right, Flying Blue is a transfer partner of every single partner listed in our handy Partner Transfer Tool! No points traveler can ever be out of Flying Blue miles.
Third, and perhaps most important, Flying Blue's transfer partners regularly offer transfer bonuses to Flying Blue. Chase, Amex, and Citi have each offered transfer bonuses to Flying Blue at least once per year over the last few years. Transfer bonuses typically range from 15% to 30%. We keep the Partner Transfer Tool on our website up to date with current transfer bonuses. When a transfer bonus coincides with a juicy Promo, magical things can happen.
How to Book Promo Rewards
Flying Blue makes it very easy to book Promo rewards. The process is no different from booking a regular award flight. You don't need to check any boxes in your search terms or go to a different website. The only difference is that the search results will show any discounted rates associated with Promo rewards.
For example, Promos for November 2022 include 25% off economy flights between Atlanta and Amsterdam on KLM. The Promo rewards page shows that these awards start at 22,500 miles one-way. Searching for flights between Atlanta and Amsterdam on KLM indeed shows results for 22,500 miles. Note how the search results also show 30,000 miles on a different date; that is the standard price for this flight, since 22,500 miles is a 25% discount on 30,000 miles.
Final Thoughts
Flying Blue's Promo Rewards can lead to some incredible redemptions. The discounted rates are even better when you consider how easy it is to earn Flying Blue miles. Combine these easy-to-earn miles with the occasional transfer bonus and the fact that Flying Blue has lots of availability on Air France and KLM, and you'll find yourself flying to Europe far more often than you ever expected!
Have you redeemed miles for Flying Blue Promo rewards? Come share your favorite redemptions in our Facebook group!
