Is Buying Flying Blue Miles Worth It? Promo Pricing vs Award Sweet Spots

【June 7, 2025 update】 PerkFox’s Ping An Wanlitong intro shows a June Wanlitong promo that brings Flying Blue miles down to 1.54 cpp CAD. At that cost, the award examples below work out to:

• Vancouver – Taipei – Shanghai, China Airlines business, 72k miles, CAD 1,108 to buy
• Toronto – Incheon – Beijing, Korean Air business, 117k miles, CAD 1,800 to buy
• Montreal – Paris – Tbilisi, Air France business, 45k miles, CAD 693 to buy
• Incheon – Dalian, Shenyang or Qingdao, Korean Air economy, 5k miles, CAD 77 to buy

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Buy-miles promotions

Official promo as of June 5, 2025: buy Flying Blue miles between June 5 and June 25 and get a bonus of up to 80%. The regular price is 2.5 euro cents per mile; buy 24,000 miles and the bonus brings the cost down to 1.38 euro cents per mile, or about 1.58 cpp USD / 2.16 cpp CAD. Buy on the Flying Blue site (direct link 🔗), set the little globe to France, and check out in euros.

Flying Blue (Air France / KLM) program intro

Tips: Buy Flying Blue miles and save by paying in euros

Is it worth it?

A common question is whether buying miles to book an award is worth it. There is no single answer: people value a long-haul lie-flat business seat differently, and they will accept different cash outlays. If you only trust the flashy community headlines—“free business class”—and then find the post is really “apply for a card and use the welcome offer,” it is easy to set an unrealistic bar. Those slogans are not a useful way to judge an award ticket.

My own rule of thumb: a one-way transoceanic lie-flat business award can be worth considering if the all-in miles cost stays under about CAD 2,000.

The next section prices the Flying Blue uses we see most often, assuming you buy every mile instead of earning them.

Worked examples

🌰 China Airlines business class back to China

PerkFox has a dedicated post tracking China Airlines awards when they dump a lot of space. Vancouver to Taipei, then on to a mainland city, both sectors on China Airlines business, is available almost every day. That routing is genuinely convenient.

China Airlines award dump: business class back to China

At the current promo cost of 2.16 cpp CAD:

⚠️ These tickets also carry about CAD 200 in taxes and fees.

🌰 Korean Air business class back to China

The post below tracks Korean Air when it releases a lot of business awards: Toronto or Vancouver to Seoul Incheon, then on to a mainland city. That routing is especially handy for eastern Canada.

Korean Air award dump: business class back to China

At the current promo cost of 2.16 cpp CAD:

⚠️ These tickets also carry about CAD 60–70 in taxes and fees.

🌰 China Eastern domestic flights

• Shanghai – Beijing, China Eastern: 8,000 miles in economy, 16,000 in business. Many flights a day.

• Beijing – Shenzhen: 16,000 miles in economy, 27,500 in business

🌰 Korean Air economy inside East Asia

Incheon to a long list of mainland cities is short enough that economy is a sensible cabin.

⚠️ These tickets also carry about CAD 20 in taxes and fees.

🌰 Air France and KLM business to Europe

The detailed Flying Blue program post updates each month’s award sales at the top. North America to Europe on Air France or KLM business shows up often. A common one is eastern Canada (Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal) to Europe: 45k miles one way in business plus CAD 300–400 in taxes. Buying the miles for that ticket costs about CAD 970 plus taxes.

Air France and KLM also cover Europe thoroughly, so you can connect in Paris or Amsterdam and keep going. The three Caucasus countries are a typical visa-free add-on:

Phone agents should be able to ticket a stopover, so you can spend a few days in Paris or Amsterdam.

Further reading

Flight review ✈️: China Airlines business, Vancouver–Taipei, YVR–TPE

Flight review ✈️: Korean Air business, Vancouver–Incheon, YVR–ICN