Air France KLM’s Flying Blue program should be interesting to U.S. frequent flyers for several reasons.
- They offer one-way awards
- They are an American Express Membership Rewards and a Citi Thank You points transfer partner.
- They have far more award space on their own flights than Delta has access to.
- They have most of their partners available for online booking
Unfortunately their call centers are frustrating, their website can be too (and has been known to show ‘phantom’ award availability, seats that look available but aren’t really here to book).
And they add fuel surcharges onto award tickets.
One of the great values, historically, has been their ‘promo awards’ — a rotating set of cities for discounted travel. You can fly from any featured city through Paris (if Air France) or Amsterdam (if KLM) to anywhere in Europe for fewer miles.
A few things have made these awards less valuable than they used to be, though.
- The award chart got more expensive.
- Promo awards used to be uniformly half off, they’re frequently now 25% off. Raise prices, then discount them a little bit, and you’re really looking at ‘regular price’
- Promo awards tend to be available for fewer destinations, at least for business class.
Indeed, the new promo awards list is out for May bookings and travel in July and August, and these become bookable on Sunday. North America options are limited, but you can book discounted awards between Boston and anywhere Air France flies in Europe for 46,875 miles each way.
There are other awards between Europe and the rest of the world that are discounted, such as premium economy awards between Europe and the Caribbean and strong discounts to Asia.
Even with fuel surcharges, 25% off business class to Europe and back from Atlanta will be useful to some. Some will buy separate tickets to and from Boston to take advantage as well. Note though that bookings must be made online, and cannot be changed or cancelled.
How much were the fuel surcharges on that booking?
As a self proclaimed “thought” leader, I would have expected some basic info.
Like how much is a J redemption BOS to Europe? And no, I don’t want to click on your other links and find the information myself.
Can you attach a domestic US segment (probably on DL) to the AF promo award for BOS-CDG?
i.e. Can you book ABC-BOS-CDG on one ticket using the AF award promotion?
If you are too lazy to find the information yourself by clicking, then buzz off and let the rest of us appreciate his “thoughts.”
You don’t even have to click a link. It’s all directly above.
@Tom no. But you can attach a segment beyond Paris in Europe.
@John it’s all in the post. I give you the 25% off price in the post. I assume my readers can calculate the base price given that information. Because, math.
Sure, many of us can add and subtract using a calculator. Some of us can even do that just in our heads.. But multiplying, especially when it involves fractions, that’s a whole different matter. 😉
Thanks for this heads up on this one Gary. Though more miles and moderate fuel surcharges (~$300 one way), AF biz class awards out of IAD are hard to beat just due to sheer availability. They seem to ALWAYS be available, which when your travel dates are constrained, can be worth paying a premium for. Huge value add to the Citi Prestige/TY Premier cards.
Beware however; as they are nonrefundable.
Gary,
Why are fuel surcharges higher for premium cabin awards versus economy? Thanks
@Francisco C – because airlines want them to be. fuel surcharges aren’t about fuel, though in fairness if they were a premium cabin traveler takes up more footprint on the aircraft
@Zach as noted at the end of the post 🙂
“To Europe and back from Atlanta? ” I followed the link and read the piece 2x–where is the ATL part?
‘Cause I can make atl work, but not BOS.
Can you assist bus class to Asia when we are only using cash- I assume you would charge a fee
Thanks
Bob