Air France-KLM’s Flying Blue program has just launched a new promotion on purchased miles, offering members the opportunity to buy miles with a discount of up to 45%. This represents one of the better offers we’ve seen from Flying Blue in recent months, making it a potentially attractive opportunity for those looking to top up their accounts for premium cabin redemptions.
Let’s analyze whether this promotion offers good value and examine the best ways to use Flying Blue miles for maximum return on your investment.
Through 11:59 PM CET on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, Flying Blue is offering a tiered discount on purchased miles:
To access this offer, you must log into your Flying Blue account, as promotions can sometimes be targeted. Some accounts may see slightly different discount tiers or bonuses.
Without any promotions, Flying Blue miles normally cost between 3.05-3.50 cents each (USD), with the rate decreasing as you purchase larger quantities. With the current 45% discount applied to the maximum purchase amount, here’s how the numbers break down:
For context, Flying Blue used to regularly offer 100% bonuses on purchased miles (effectively a 50% discount), allowing members to acquire miles for approximately 1.53 cents each. However, these promotions have become increasingly rare, with the current 45% discount representing the best offer we’ve seen in over a year.
Flying Blue imposes the following limits on mileage purchases:
Additionally, your Flying Blue account must be at least 90 days old to be eligible to purchase miles.
Flying Blue mileage purchases are processed by points.com rather than directly by the airline. This means these transactions don’t qualify as airfare or travel purchases for the purpose of earning category bonuses on most credit cards.
Given this limitation, your best options are:
Some of the best cards for non-bonused spending include:
The value proposition depends entirely on how you plan to redeem these miles. Flying Blue uses dynamic pricing for award tickets, though there are still some general patterns in their award rates. Here are some examples of potential redemptions and their approximate value:
The key advantage of Flying Blue is that Air France and KLM often make more award seats available to their own members than to partner airline program members. However, it’s worth noting that saver-level business class award availability on transatlantic routes has become more limited in recent months.
Flying Blue does impose carrier-imposed surcharges (often called fuel surcharges) on most award tickets. These typically range from:
While these fees aren’t insignificant, they’re considerably lower than what you’d pay for British Airways or Virgin Atlantic awards, and are in line with what many other European carriers charge.
Flying Blue miles can be redeemed on a wide range of airlines:
One notable advantage is that Flying Blue allows first class redemptions on select partners including China Eastern and Garuda Indonesia, which can represent exceptional value.
Flying Blue miles expire after 24 months of inactivity. Activity that prevents expiration includes:
Important note: Purchasing miles directly or transferring points from partner programs like American Express Membership Rewards does not extend the expiration date of your existing miles.
Before purchasing miles, consider these alternative methods for acquiring Flying Blue miles, often at lower effective costs:
Flying Blue partners with all major transferable points currencies:
These programs frequently offer transfer bonuses of 20-30%, effectively reducing your acquisition cost.
In the US, Bank of America offers Flying Blue co-branded credit card that frequently features welcome bonuses of 50,000+ miles.
The Flying Blue shopping portal allows you to earn miles for online purchases at hundreds of retailers, often at rates of 1-5 miles per dollar spent.
At 1.68 cents per mile with the current 45% discount, buying Flying Blue miles can represent good value in specific scenarios:
As always, the golden rule applies: search for award availability before purchasing miles, and compare the total cost (miles plus taxes/fees) against cash fares before committing.
For frequent travelers to Europe or those seeking to experience Air France’s refined business class or KLM’s solid premium product, this 45% discount offer presents a compelling opportunity to accumulate miles at a rate that can unlock significant value for the right redemptions.
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