19 Best Ways To Earn Lots of Flying Blue Miles [2023]

Q: What airlines can I earn Flying Blue miles on?

You can earn Flying Blue miles on the following airlines: Flying Blue Partner Airlines Aerolíneas Argentinas Chalair Aviation Japan Airlines Transavia Aeromexico China Airlines Kenya Airways Twin Jet AirBaltic China Eastern KLM Vietnam Airlines Air Corsica China Southern Airlines Korean Air Virgin Atlantic Air Europa Copa Airlines Malaysia Airlines WestJet Air France Czech Airlines Middle East Airlines Xiamen Airlines Air Mauritius Delta Air Lines Qantas Aircalin Garuda Indonesia Saudi Arabian Bangkok Airways GOL TAROM

Flying Blue is the loyalty program of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (the national airline of the Netherlands) and Air France. KLM and Air France merged to form Air France-KLM Group back in 2004, and — shortly after this — combined their loyalty programs. Nowadays, Flying Blue is still shared by the 2 airlines and other airline partners like Kenya Airways and TAROM.

Plus, both KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Air France are a part of the SkyTeam alliance. With this in mind, you can use Flying Blue miles to book flights on over 20 different partner airlines, including Delta Air Lines and Czech Airlines.

This makes Flying Blue miles extremely valuable — especially if you’re flying to Europe. But before you can redeem miles, you need to earn them first. In this article, we’ll take a look at the many ways you can earn Flying Blue miles.

First, we’ll discuss how to earn by flying with Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and their various partners. Then, we’ll look at other earning methods like credit cards, hotel stays, and more.

Table of Contents

Flying Blue Frequent Flyer Program
- 1. Fly With Flying Blue Partner Airlines
Earn Miles With Flexible Credit Cards
Earn Miles With Flying Blue Travel Partners
Other Ways To Earn Flying Blue Miles
Final Thoughts

Flying Blue Frequent Flyer Program

First things first: you need to create a Flying Blue account before you can start earning Flying Blue miles. Note that once you have an account, you can use the same credentials to sign in on both Air France and KLM’s websites, and your mileage balance will carry over to both airlines.

You can join Flying Blue by simply creating an account on the Flying Blue website. Once created, you can view your mileage balance, manage your profile, and book flights. You’ll also be assigned a Flying Blue number that you can use to earn miles on flights operated by Air France, KLM, and their SkyTeam partners.

1. Fly With Flying Blue Partner Airlines

The number of miles you’ll earn on a paid ticket depends on how much you paid for the ticket, not how long the flight was.

Currently, you earn miles based on ticket price (excluding taxes) and elite status level. Here’s how many miles each status tier earns:

Explorers (general members, previously known as Ivory): 4 miles per euro
Silver: 6 miles per euro
Gold: 7 miles per euro
Platinum: 8 miles per euro

KLM business class male passenger lie flat — Image Credit: KLM

So, if you booked a €750 trip from New York (JFK) to Amsterdam (AMS) and back, you’d earn 3,000 miles without any sort of Flying Blue status. Alternatively, Platinum members would earn a whopping 6,000 miles for the same ticket.

However, not all flights credited to Flying Blue earn miles based on how much you spend. Crediting partner flights to Flying Blue will earn miles based on their respective fare class and distance flown — you can view rates for each partner and their respective fare classes.

For example, if you flew from Prague (PRG) to Košice (KSC) on Czech Airlines in I class, you’d earn 125% of the miles flown. The cities are 328 miles apart, meaning that you’d earn a total of 410 Flying Blue miles on this route.

Since Flying Blue is a SkyTeam member, you can earn miles with its 20+ alliance partners, such as Delta Air Lines and Korean Air. Flying Blue also has a handful of non-alliance partner airlines such as Japan Airlines (JAL), Air Corsica, and others.

Hot Tip: For more information on crediting miles to Flying Blue, check out this in-depth guide on where to credit your airline miles.

Earn Miles With Flexible Credit Cards

You can transfer points to Flying Blue from nearly all transferable points programs, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Brex Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy.

Here’s a quick overview of how to earn points with each program and transfer them to Flying Blue.

2. American Express Membership Rewards Credit Cards

American Express Membership Rewards is one of the best ways to earn Flying Blue miles. The bank issues a suite of Membership Rewards-earning cards, each with different benefits, welcome bonuses, and earning rates on specific categories. For example, some American Express cards earn bonus points on dining and groceries and others on airfare.

As discussed earlier, you can transfer Membership Rewards points to Flying Blue. Points transfer at a 1:1 transfer ratio and usually process instantly, so it’s a quick and easy way to book Flying Blue award tickets. Just note that you can only transfer in increments of 1,000 points.

Further, make sure the first and last names on your Membership Rewards and Flying Blue accounts match. If they don’t, your transfer may not process.

You can earn Membership Rewards points with these Amex cards:

Recommended Amex Cards (Personal)

3. Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card

Bilt Rewards is a niche program aimed at those who pay monthly rent. You can earn Bilt points and transfer them to Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio, with a minimum of 2,000 points transferred.

4. Brex Rewards Cards

Brex Rewards is marketed towards startups, and you can earn Brex Rewards points by making purchases on its cards.

You can then transfer Brex Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio to Flying Blue. These transfers take up to 1 business day.

5. Capital One Miles Credit Cards

Capital One Miles has been upping its game in the realm of transfer partners and this includes its relationship with Flying Blue. You can transfer over your Capital One miles to Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio.

You can earn Capital One Miles with a variety of personal and business credit cards.

Recommended Capital One Cards (Personal)

6. Chase Ultimate Rewards Credit Cards

Likewise, Chase Ultimate Rewards also allows you to transfer points to Flying Blue. You can transfer a minimum of 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for 1,000 Flying Blue miles, and points also transfer instantaneously.

Here are some personal and business cards from Chase you can use to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points (and in turn, transfer to Flying Blue):

Recommended Chase Cards (Personal)

If you’re a business owner, see our list of the best Chase business credit cards.

7. Citi ThankYou Rewards Credit Cards

Just like with Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points transfer in increments of 1,000 points for 1,000 Flying Blue miles. There’s a maximum of 500,000 miles per transfer, and transfers can take up to 48 hours to complete. One of our favorite Citi ThankYou-earning credit cards is the Citi Premier® Card:

8. Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points and transfer those to Flying Blue at a transfer rate of 3:1. Plus, for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points that you transfer, you’ll receive an extra 5,000 Flying Blue miles bonus. Check out our favorite ways to earn Marriott Bonvoy points in our complete guide to earning Marriott Bonvoy points.

Recommended Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards (Personal)

9. Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®

Finally, you can earn Flying Blue miles with the Air France-KLM co-branded credit card from Bank of America. This card — the Air France KLM World Elite card — earns 3x miles on Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and SkyTeam member airlines purchases and 1.5x miles on all other purchases.

Earn Miles With Flying Blue Travel Partners

You can also earn Flying Blue miles when booking hotels and rental cars. Here’s how many miles you can earn.

10. Partner Hotel Miles

Whether earning miles per stay or per dollar spent, staying at partner hotels can mean lots more miles in your Flying Blue account! Click on a hotel to learn more about what they offer for Flying Blue members.

Hotel	Miles Earned	Hotel	Miles Earned
the48dots	Varies	IHG	Up to 2 miles/€1
ALL – Accor Live Limitless	1 mile/€1	Marriott Bonvoy	Up to 2 miles/$1
Best Western	250 miles/stay	Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts	500 miles/stay
Booking.com	2 mile/€1	Worldhotels	500 miles/stay
Golden Tulip Hotels, Suites, & Resorts	Up to 500 miles/ stay	Yotel* (must book at yotel.com)	Up to 500 miles/ stay
Hyatt Hotels & Resorts	500 miles/stay

11. Transfer Hotel Loyalty Points

While it’s easy to earn miles for staying at partner hotels, that’s not the only way to get them. The following hotel groups allow you to transfer points earned in their loyalty programs to Flying Blue miles:

Hotel Loyalty Program	Convert	To	Notes
Accor Live Limitless	2,000 ALL points	2,000 Award Miles	Minimum of 2,000 points to convert
Hilton Honors	10 Hilton Honors points	1 Award Mile	Must transfer a minimum of 20,000 Hilton Honors points; can then increase in increments of 10,000 points
IHG One Rewards	10,000 IHG One Rewards points	2,000 Award Miles
Marriott Bonvoy	3 Marriott Bonvoy points	1 Award Mile	Transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points (20,000 miles) to receive a 5,000-mile bonus
Radisson Rewards Americas	10 Radisson Rewards Americas points	1 Award Mile
World of Hyatt	1,250 points	500 Award Miles	Minimum of 5,000 World of Hyatt points per conversion; 5,000 bonus miles when you convert 50,000 World of Hyatt points

12. Use hotels for Miles To Book a Hotel Room

Flying Blue Hotels for Miles — Image Credit: Flying Blue

Book a room at one of more than 150,000 hotels through hotels for Miles and earn Flying Blue miles at the same time. You can earn up to 10,000 miles per stay, with more expensive hotel stays generally earning the most miles.

13. Earn Miles With Car Rental Partners

Rent a car to earn up to 1,000 miles per rental with Flying Blue. Find out how many miles you can earn below, or click on a rental agency for more information about terms and conditions:

Car Rental Agency	Earned Miles	Car Rental Agency	Earned Miles
Avis	Up to 900 miles/rental	Europcar	Up to 1,000 miles/rental
Budget	Up to 1,000 miles/rental	Hertz	3 miles per euro/pound/dollar
CarTrawler	4 miles per euro	Sixt	Up to 1,200 miles/rental
Enterprise Rent-A-Car	4 miles per euro	Thrifty	4 miles per euro

Other Ways To Earn Flying Blue Miles

Beyond just travel, you can also earn Flying Blue miles when you make everyday purchases through one of Flying Blue’s various retail and everyday partners. Here’s a look at where you can earn miles.

14. Flying Blue shop for Miles

Flying Blue Earning Online Special Offers — Image Credit: Flying Blue

Another easy way to earn Flying Blue miles is through its associated shopping portal, which will reward you with Flying Blue miles for making purchases at hundreds of popular online retailers. Fashion, department stores, gifts, office, and business … no matter what you like to shop for online, you’re bound to find it at the Flying Blue shop for Miles shopping portal.

You’ll be directed to your favorite retailers through links on the site, so enable cookies on your browser before getting started. Then, take a look around shop for Miles and find the merchant you’d like to make a purchase from, click on its name, and you’ll be directed to make your purchase as usual.

Flying Blue will confirm your purchase and mark it approved before applying miles to your account. With this in mind, it can take up to 120 days for your bonus miles to be deposited into your Flying Blue account.

15. Enroll in e-Rewards

Further, you can sign up for e-Rewards to earn even more miles from answering surveys. Sign up for an account and you’ll earn 250 Flying Blue miles when you complete your first survey.

16. Book Tours and Experiences With GetYourGuide

GetYourGuide is a popular website for booking tours and activities while traveling, and through its partnership with Flying Blue, you can earn 1 Flying Blue mile for every €1 you spend on the platform. To earn award miles, enter your Flying Blue number when booking — the miles will be credited to your account within 4 weeks of completing your activity.

17. Event and Concert Tickets

Earn miles on tickets purchased through a unique Ticketmaster portal. Make sure that you are logged into your Flying Blue account to see the number of miles you can earn by ticket.

18. Foreign Partners

Flying Blue also works with a number of partners based abroad that allow you to earn Flying Blue miles. You can earn miles with VAT-refund service utu, French personalized trip planning service Voyageurs Du Monde, and Clicalbum.com which creates physical photo books.

19. Purchase Miles From Points.com (With Caution)

Finally, you can purchase Flying Blue miles from its partner, Points.com. However, we only recommend doing this when you need to quickly top-up your miles balance for a specific award ticket.

Flying Blue frequently offers miles bonuses on purchases, so try and buy during these sales if you need to buy miles. You’ll come out ahead if you manage to buy miles at a lower cost than their redemption value, which more often happens when redeeming for premium cabins awards.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to earn Flying Blue miles relatively quickly. We recommend starting with credit cards and using Flying Blue’s large number of partners when planning future travel to earn even more miles.

Once your account is stocked with miles, check out our guide to the best Flying Blue redemptions. We’ll show you how to book everything from low-cost tickets in economy class to luxurious business class tickets — all for free.

Bon voyage!

The information regarding the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®, Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, and Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.

Frequently asked questions

Which credit card points transfer to Flying Blue?

You can transfer the following credit card points to Flying Blue: American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Brex Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy.

Can I earn Flying Blue miles when flying on Delta Air Lines?

Yes, you can earn Flying Blue miles when traveling on Delta Air Lines. The number of miles you’ll earn depends on the length of your flight and the fare class you’re booked in.

You can view Delta Air Lines earning rates on the Delta Air Lines partner page.

What airlines can I earn Flying Blue miles on?

You can earn Flying Blue miles on the following airlines:

Flying Blue Partner Airlines
Aerolíneas Argentinas	Chalair Aviation	Japan Airlines	Transavia
Aeromexico	China Airlines	Kenya Airways	Twin Jet
AirBaltic	China Eastern	KLM	Vietnam Airlines
Air Corsica	China Southern Airlines	Korean Air	Virgin Atlantic
Air Europa	Copa Airlines	Malaysia Airlines	WestJet
Air France	Czech Airlines	Middle East Airlines	Xiamen Airlines
Air Mauritius	Delta Air Lines	Qantas
Aircalin	Garuda Indonesia	Saudi Arabian
Bangkok Airways	GOL	TAROM

When will Flying Blue miles post to my account after I fly on Air France or KLM?

Miles are usually credited to your account within a day or 2 of travel. You can claim missing miles up to 6 months after your date of travel.

When do Flying Blue miles expire?

Flying Blue miles expire after 24 months of account inactivity.

Can I transfer Flying Blue miles to another member?

You can transfer Flying Blue miles to another Flying Blue member, however, this is generally not a good deal. Miles can be transferred in 250 miles increments with a €3 fee for each 250-mile increment transferred.

Flying Blue members can transfer up to 50,000 miles.

7 comments

Matthew July 7, 2018

I’m looking at transferring Citi ThankYou points to Air France/KLM with a 30% bonus. Are there any ways to extend the life of Air France/KLM miles other than taking a flight? Will miles earned from the Opinion Rewards Club extend the 20-month requirement?

Alex Miller July 8, 2018
Yes, to extend the expiration date of your miles you just need to top up the balance by at least 1 mile. You could do this by transferring the minimum number of points from Citi, or by using their airline credit or as you mentioned in your comment!
Reply

dc July 16, 2018

@Matthew, be careful. Maybe the terms have changed but I’m at the FB website right now and it appears there are DEFINITE limitations on extending flight miles. It’s unclear if a points transfer or survey credit would be the partial or overall type of activity. Alex, do you know?

‘All your Miles are valid for life as long as you take an eligible flight on Air France, KLM, Joon, HOP!, Aircalin, Kenya Airways, TAROM or other SkyTeam partners at least once every 2 years, or if you’re an Elite or Elite Plus member, or if you make a purchase with an eligible co-branded credit card at least once every 2 years. These “Overall extending activities” extend the validity of all Miles 2 years from the date of the activity.

‘You can also extend the validity of Miles earned with all other partners (airline partners not mentioned above, car rental partners, hotel partners, and experience partners) for 2 years by earning Miles with any of these other partners. These “Partial extending activities” with other partners will extend the validity of Miles earned with any of these other partners by 2 years from the date of the activity. Please note, “Partial extending activities” do not extend the validity of Miles earned from “Overall extending activities”.’

NURAINI SARUMI July 22, 2019

Can I transfer my Flying Blue Miles to a friend?

Stephen Au July 22, 2019
Hey Nuraini,
Flying Blue members may transfer Flying Blue miles to others as long as the transferee is a Flying Blue member. Transfers are allowed in increments of 250 Miles with a €3 fee for each 250 mile increment transferred and are capped at 50,000 Miles. Thanks for reading.
Reply

Kris November 7, 2020

Do you know a way of signing-up to an e-Rewards website that offers Flying Blue miles? I was only able to find their pages offering BA/United/AA/Virgin, but I have never seen one related to KLM/Air France.

Jarrod West November 19, 2020
Hi Kris,
The Flying Blue Shopping for Miles portal should help you out here!
Reply