Flying Blue is known for its generous promotions, and historically, the program has offered bonuses of up to 100%. If you don’t have enough miles for a specific award flight you want, now’s a good time to buy some because Flying Blue is running another promotion.
Current Promotion on Purchased Miles
Through March 9, 2025, you can purchase Flying Blue miles for a cost as low as 1.69 cents per mile, which equals a bonus of 80% over the standard rate of 3.05 cents per mile when you buy at least 24,000 miles.
Deal History of Purchased Miles
For context of the current deal, here’s the previous deal history of purchased Flying Blue miles:
- 80% bonus – February 17, 2025 to March 9, 2025
- 45% discount – November 29, 2024 to December 19, 2024
- 45% discount – October 14, 2024 to October 27, 2024
- 40% discount – July 15, 2024 to August 4, 2024
- 70% bonus – May 21, 2024 to June 16, 2024
- 35% bonus – April 4, 2024 to April 25, 2024
- 50% discount – February 6, 2024 to February 29, 2024
- 100% bonus – December 1, 2023 to December 21, 2023
- 100% bonus – October 23, 2023 to November 7, 2023
- 100% bonus – September 7, 2023 to September 27, 2023
- 100% bonus – May 22, 2023 to June 11, 2023
- 100% bonus – April 17, 2023 to April 30, 2023
- 100% bonus – February 7, 2023 to February 27, 2023
How Many Miles Can You Buy?
Flying Blue non-elite members can buy a maximum of 100,000 miles per calendar year, excluding any bonus miles.
Elite members have no limit on the number of miles they can purchase annually, but elite members may be limited on the number of bonus miles you can earn during specific promotions.
What Credit Card Should You Use to Buy Miles?
Buying Flying Blue miles goes through a third party called Points.com, which means the points you buy won’t be categorized as airfare or travel purchases.
Use a card that earns flat-rate rewards on everyday spending to maximize your points purchases. Here are great options for you to choose from:
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
- Chase Freedom Unlimited®
- Capital One Venture X Business
Other Ways to Earn Flying Blue Miles
There are several other ways to earn Flying Blue miles instead of buying the miles.
You can easily transfer miles from the following rewards programs at a 1:1 ratio, except for Marriott Bonvoy which transfers at a 3:1 ratio:
- American Express Membership Rewards, which can be easily earned from cards such as the American Express Platinum Card® or American Express® Gold Card.
- Bilt Rewards, which can be easily earned from the Bilt Mastercard®.
- Capital One, which can be easily earned from the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card or Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.
- Chase Ultimate Rewards, which can be easily earned from cards such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve® , or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card.
- Citi ThankYou, which can be easily earned from cards such as the Citi Premier® Card.
- Marriott Bonvoy, which can easily be earned from cards such as the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, or Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card.
When Do Flying Blue Miles Expire?
Air France – KLM Flying Blue has an overly complicated mileage expiration policy because it has different expiration policies for miles earned from flying and miles earned from other means, including transferring credit card points.
You can reset the expiration of any miles in your account for another 24 months by (1) taking another flight on Air France, KLM, or partner airlines and crediting those miles to Flying Blue, (2) making a purchase with a Flying Blue credit card, or (3) if you have Flying Blue Silver, Gold, or Platinum status.
Other mileage activity such as transferring miles, hotel stays, rental cars, and purchasing miles will not extended the life of miles earned via flying, but it will extend the miles you earned via those other non-flying activities (transferring miles, rental cars, etc.).
For example, imagine you had 50,000 miles in your account from flying and 50,000 miles in your account from non-flying activities that are due to expire in a month. If you take a flight and credit it to Flying Blue, then the expiration of all 100,000 miles get extended. However, if you were to transfer new points into Flying Blue, then only the expiration for the 50,000 miles from non-flying activities would reset.
How to Redeem Flying Blue Miles
Flying Blue is the frequent flyer program for Air France, KLM, and SkyTeam partners like Delta and Virgin Atlantic, giving you access to award flights across the globe. One of the biggest perks is dynamic pricing paired with Promo Rewards, monthly discounts of up to 50% off select routes. You can sometimes snag a one-way economy award for under 10,000 miles when a Promo Reward lines up with your trip.
Standard saver pricing between the U.S. and Europe starts at 25,000 miles one-way in economy, 40,000 in premium economy, and 60,000 in business. A great sweet spot is North Africa, since Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and the Canary Islands price the same as Europe. You can also reach Hawaii on Delta for far fewer miles than booking directly with Delta, or fly Air France nonstop to Tahiti starting at 35,000 miles one-way.
The Caribbean is another strong option, with one-way economy awards to Europe starting at 30,000 miles and business class from 85,000 miles. Beyond SkyTeam, Flying Blue has valuable non-alliance partnerships with Japan Airlines, Etihad, Copa, Air Mauritius, and Transavia, opening up destinations across Asia, the Middle East, Central and South America, and the Indian Ocean islands.
You can also use Flying Blue miles for upgrade awards on Air France, KLM, and select partners like Aeromexico, China Airlines, Kenya Airways, and Korean Air. Just keep in mind that Flying Blue miles expire after two years unless you fly, shop through the Flying Blue store, or book a hotel stay to keep them active.
