Air France KLM’s Flying Blue program should be interesting to U.S. frequent flyers for several reasons.
- They offer one-way awards, which Delta won’t have until next year.
- They are an American Express Membership Rewards and a Citi Thank You points transfer partner.
- They have access to award space that Delta won’t let you have.
- They have most of their partners available for online booking
Unfortunately their call centers are frustrating, their website can be too (and has been known to show ‘phantom’ award availability, seats that look available but aren’t really here to book).
And they add fuel surcharges onto award tickets.
One of the great values, historically, has been their ‘promo awards’.
Award tickets discounted as much as half the cost of their regular award chart can be a great value, for a relatively short booking window and for travel between specific cities and Europe. (For instance, travel from a featured U.S. city through Paris on Air France or Amsterdam on KLM to anywhere in Europe half the usual miles.)
A few things have made these awards less valuable than they used to be, though.
- The award chart got more expensive. So half off is still more miles than before.
- Promo awards aren’t even always half off anymore, they’re frequently now 25% off. Raise prices, then discount them a little bit, and you’re really looking at ‘regular price’ (at least what regular price was 15 months ago).
- Promo awards tend to be available for fewer destinations, at least for business class.
Indeed, the new promo awards list is out for October bookings and travel in December and January, and these become bookable tomorrow (Wednesday). Here are the North America-Europe options.
- 25% off Boston – Europe in business class on Air France
- 25% off Miami – Europe in business class on Air France
- 25% off Chicago – Europe in economy on KLM
- 25% off Houston – Europe in economy on KLM
- 25% off Houston – Europe in premium economy on Air France
- 25% off Washington Dulles – Europe in economy on KLM
There have been better lists in the past, nothing is discounted 50% between the US and Europe (other regions of the world do feature bigger discounts). But at least we’re seeing business class discounted, which we didn’t have with September-booked Promo Awards.
Only a 25% discount is disappointing, but the list will be strategically useful to some flyers.
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When is 25% off equivalent to half-off? Edit the title.
@Brett it’s half off from other regions
Why the exclamation point if this list is “disappointing?” Stop trolling your readers.
I agree Gary your title is misleading. It should say up to 50% off.
They’re going to have to do better than that to placate customers after the pilots’ strike. Wouldn’t go near them, and I fly to France frequently.
@ John ‘Up to’ wouldn’t really solve this.
The title doesn’t say ‘Half off Redemptions in other regions’. It clearly says “Half off REDEMPTIONS TO EUROPE”, then fails to mention a single half price offer.
Sorry Gary, but you proclaimed “Half Off..to Europe”, with an ! no less. Making people have to read the whole post to find out it’s only 25% off, and even you find the whole offer “disappointing”.
Really, most of us find great value in this blog, you don’t have to sensationalize your titles to get us to read it.
@john – that’s better, and i’ve edited it
I agree with @Robert. I am disappointed by this misleading title. It feels like bait and switch. I would have never wasted my time reading this article if the title would have been more accurate. Makes me feel like you are a trickster.