【September 1, 2026 update】 The September award sale is back, with more standouts than usual. Watch Beijing–Europe business at 63,750 miles, and Shanghai, Vancouver or Toronto to Europe in premium economy at 30,000 miles. Official promo page 🔗

You need to book in September and travel by February 28, 2027.

【February 28, 2026 update】 From May 4, 2026, Flying Blue will use one 24-month validity rule for all miles. Any qualifying earning activity automatically extends the miles in the account by 24 months.

Official announcement 🔗

【May 1, 2025 update】 Every May promo route has to be booked by the end of May, for travel by October 31, 2025. April’s sale was weak, so the blog skipped it. The Flying Blue buy-miles promo that just ended came in at 1.375 euro cents per mile; you can price the tickets below from that.

The one to watch is Montreal–Europe business both ways: 45,000 miles one way plus a little over €200 in taxes.

Montreal–Paris, June, July, August and September

Paris–Montreal, April through September

Europe is well connected, so you can fly into Paris and continue to other cities. The three Caucasus countries are visa-free for Chinese passports; Armenia and Georgia are typical add-ons:

Montreal–Paris–Tbilisi

Montreal–Paris–Yerevan

Phone agents should be able to ticket a stopover. Good luck!

Montreal is the world’s second-largest French-speaking city, in Quebec, and it has long ties to France. Air France is a major link between Canada and France. If you fly to Europe often, Amsterdam Schiphol—Europe’s third-busiest airport—is a useful nonstop or connection.

Flying Blue is Air France and KLM’s loyalty program. You earn miles when you fly and when you spend. Register for free

Earning miles

  1. Fly Air France or KLM. Explorer, Silver, Gold and Platinum earn 4, 6, 7 and 8 Miles per euro respectively. That is on the final price, after tax.

  2. Other Flying Blue and SkyTeam partner airlines: miles = distance × fare-class factor + elite bonus miles.

Example: Delta from New York JFK to Paris CDG, 3,625 miles, booking class D (175% factor), Platinum elite bonus 100%: 3,625 × 175% + 3,625 × 100% = 9,969 Miles.

Another example: Kenya Airways from Amsterdam (AMS) to Nairobi (NBO), 4,150 miles, booking class L (50% factor), Explorer so no bonus: 4,150 × 50% = 2,075 Miles.

Same pattern as most airline programs: longer distance, a higher fare class, and a higher elite tier earn more. A regular economy flight often pays only about half the flown distance.

  1. Shop for Miles portal — shopping through this portal earns miles, and paying with Amex adds extra miles.

  2. Air France Shopping — souvenirs and merchandise, 1 Mile per €3.

  3. The Brim Flying Blue co-brand card — earn miles on spend, plus 5 extra Miles per euro when you buy Air France or KLM tickets.

  4. Transfer points

  • Canadian Amex transfers to Flying Blue at 1:1. [January 3, 2026] the ratio moved from 1:0.75 to 1:1.
    Marriott also transfers at 3,000 : 1,000.

  • The U.S. has more options: Amex, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Bilt all transfer to Flying Blue at 1,000 : 1,000.

  1. A monthly subscription for cheap miles

【January 22, 2025 update】 You can subscribe and buy a set amount of Flying Blue miles each month at a very low cost.

Flying Blue → Subscribe to Miles, official page

Use the little globe in the top-right corner and switch the country to France for the lowest buy-in: the top tier is €187 a month for 17,000 miles, about 1.1 euro cents per mile, or 1.15 cpp USD. That is cheap.

You can cancel the subscription at any time. A Canada-addressed account still attracts tax.

Miles used to last two years:

  1. Overall extending activities: if you have one flight, co-brand card purchase, or Elite / Elite Plus status within 24 months, the whole balance is extended 24 months.

  2. Partial extending activities: miles from transfers, car rentals, hotels and similar partners extend 24 months; the rest of the balance follows rule 1.

Using miles

  1. Book flights. You can book Air France, KLM or Transavia awards, or partner awards. If you are short on miles, you can mix cash and miles. One-way and round-trip work online; open-jaw or multi-city needs a phone agent.

Sample rates (before discounts; Flying Blue often runs 25% off and similar sales):

AMS ✈ London 5,000 Miles (economy) + 90 in taxes

AMS ✈ Frankfurt 7,500 Miles (economy) 50 in taxes

Paris ✈ New York 15,000 Miles (economy) + 200 in taxes

Paris ✈ Mexico City 80,000 (business) + 400 in taxes

Other partner awards:

Vancouver ✈ Taipei round-trip 168,000 Miles + CAD 256.36 (cash fares run $5,000+), about 3.2 cpp CAD.

Short-haul inside East Asia

WestJet flights

WestJet is not in SkyTeam yet, but SkyTeam currencies—Delta and Flying Blue—can still ticket WestJet awards.

【August 28, 2025 update】 Besides China Airlines awards back to China and Air France / KLM for Europe, Flying Blue can now ticket Delta back to China. Example: YVR – SEA – PVG:

  1. Buy extra legroom (upgrades)

  2. Other gifts: Flying Blue Store

Status

Flying Blue has four elite tiers: Explorer, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

How you get there: Explorer is free at signup. Silver needs 100 Experience Points (XP), Gold 180 XP, Platinum 300 XP. If you miss that year’s requalifying XP, you drop one tier. If you earn enough to stay but not enough to upgrade, you keep the same tier into the next year. If you hit the upgrade XP, the higher tier lasts 12 months.

You earn XP on AF, KLM and other SkyTeam flights. The amount depends on distance and fare class:

Economy Frankfurt connecting in Amsterdam to New York: 5 XP + 15 XP = 20 XP

Business Nice to Paris connecting to Tokyo: 6 XP + 36 XP = 42 XP

Long-haul business and first are the efficient way to pile up XP.

Opening a Brim Flying Blue co-brand card also gives 30 XP.

Useful perks, in short:

Explorer has almost none.

Silver is SkyTeam Elite: one extra checked bag; priority check-in, boarding and baggage drop; extra-legroom and Preferred Seat 24 hours out; 6 Miles per euro on AF and KLM.

Gold is SkyTeam Elite Plus. On top of Silver: lounge access for you plus one guest (same-day SkyTeam international boarding pass); priority security and immigration; extra-legroom and Preferred Seat 72 hours out; 7 Miles per euro on AF and KLM.

Platinum adds: extra-legroom and Preferred Seat; the ability to use miles for Air France La Première first class; 8 Miles per euro on AF and KLM. Ten consecutive Platinum years unlocks lifetime Platinum.

Using miles for La Première is still a high bar.

Buying miles

You can buy miles. The listed price was USD 63.40 for 2,000 points, or 3.17 cpp. Through September 27, 2023 you could get a bonus of up to 100%, which brought the buy-in down to 1.6 cpp (US cents).

Closing

Flying Blue is a straightforward frequent-flyer program, without much hidden machinery. Award prices can run high, but availability is often better than programs that look cheap on paper and have no seats. If you fly Air France, KLM or SkyTeam a lot, it is worth keeping an eye on.

Past monthly sales

【March 1, 2026 update】 March promo routes: eastern Canada business

Book by March 31, travel by August 31, 2026. The standout is eastern Canada (Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa) business both ways at 45,000 miles. How to use it is the same as in earlier updates.

Air France and KLM cover Europe thoroughly, so you can connect in Paris or Amsterdam to other cities: the three small Caucasus countries from the May update, or Toronto–Paris–Budapest.

March 2025: Ottawa–Europe business both ways, 45,000 miles one way plus a little over €200 in taxes

As the heading says.

Further reading

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

Tips: How to choose seats on Flying Blue awards ticketed on China Airlines CI and China Eastern MU

Air France–KLM Flying Blue and Etihad: a two-way partnership

China Airlines dumps a lot of business awards both ways on YVR–TPE (released again on Dec. 31)