[Expired] Air France-KLM Reduces Award Costs on Europe Flights [50K Points for Business!]

Update:The offer mentioned below has expired and is no longer available.

In a move seen rarely nowadays in the award travel universe, Flying Blue, Air France-KLM’s joint frequent flyer program, has significantly lowered award costs to Europe. This means it’s possible to book economy class tickets for 15,000 miles and business class tickets for 50,000 miles — from anywhere in the U.S. to Europe.

Here’s the inside scoop on how you can book these excellent award tickets in the future.

Flying Blue Lowers Saver-Level Redemption Costs

If you’re looking for award space to get to Europe, chances are you’re looking at Flying Blue early in your search, as this program offers award seats on dozens of transatlantic flights. Even as a dynamically priced program, you’ll get an extraordinary deal with your miles if you can find a saver-level redemption. Here’s a look at the previous saver rates (one-way):

• Economy class: 15,000 to 24,000 miles
• Premium economy class: 30,000 to 40,000 miles
• Business class: 55,000 miles to 80,000 miles

As first reported by Thrifty Traveler, Flying Blue has now standardized its saver-level redemption awards that charge the same amount no matter your origin city:

• Economy class: 20,000 miles
• Premium economy class: 35,000 miles
• Business class: 50,000 miles

Clearly, business class tickets are the winner here. The saver-level redemption rate is 50,000 miles, whether you’re flying from the East or West Coast. Taxes and fees should remain around $220 when you book a business class ticket, but that pales compared to the cash rate of these highly coveted lie-flat seats.

How To Earn Flying Blue Miles

These rates to Europe are that much more impressive since it’s so easy to earn Flying Blue miles. The program partners with all of the major transferable point programs: American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Rewards.

Not to mention, you can often find active transfer bonuses to the Flying Blue program. Through November 30, 2023, you’ll receive a 25% transfer bonus when transferring your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to the Air France-KLM Flying Blue program. In other words, you can book a saver award business class flight for just 40,000 Ultimate Rewards points.

Final Thoughts

The clear sweet spot with these changes is for business class flights to Europe. While saver award space can be hard to come by, if you do stumble upon it, you’ll get one of the best deals to fly to Europe using points and miles.