April 4, 2023
4 Reasons I Love Air France
Pam
I have recently been using the Flying Blue program, which covers Air France and KLM airlines. Let’s go over the four reasons why I love Air France and the Flying Blue program so much.
Great for Booking Travel to Europe
This is the number one reason that I love Air France. It is easy to book a flight to Paris or another European city and then position to somewhere else in Europe. I recently planned a trip to Italy and booked a business class trip from SLC- AMS with Alex for only 65K miles. That is a really good redemption. The taxes and fees are usually around $200 for business class seats, but I am totally happy to pay for that if I am flying business class.
There are also transfer bonuses from the different programs frequently. When I booked my flight to Croatia, it was when there was a transfer bonus, so I was able to book it for even fewer points.
Flying Blue also has Promo Rewards on that website, so check them out—they come out monthly and are a great way to save more of your points.
Here is one month’s Promo Rewards.
Every Currency Transfers to Air France
Because Chase, AMEX, Capital One, and Citi all transfer to Air France, it is easy to get Flying Blue miles. I especially like this because I can transfer multiple currencies to Air France. Let’s say I only have 25,000 Venture Miles and am unsure how to use them. I can transfer those 25,000 miles to Air France and add 40K more of my AMEX rewards and pay for that business class seat above if I wanted to. Talk about flexibility!
Air France Shows Families the Love
Have you heard that Air France gives children under 12 a 25% discount when you use miles for their ticket? That makes it much easier to save when traveling on them. It’s super easy to get that discount too. You just add your children and pick the 2-11 age choice, and it will automatically add in that 25% discount, and you will see it before you checkout.
You can see the 25% discount for the child. Also, note the low taxes and fees for this economy ticket.
You can also pool your miles together as a family. Almost no one else allows you to do that. When I want to book a Delta flight for my husband and me, I have to book each separately using our separate accounts or book both together using just one account. Flying Blue lets you pool those points, pick one partner as the manager, and then book those flights with the miles you’ve pooled. I love an airline that lets you pool miles together!
Good Availability for Award Seats
I have always found good availability when I’ve wanted Award seats. Alex and I found two business seats on our upcoming Italy trip. Another daughter and I found two business seats for our trip to Croatia. Here’s a little trick to find award availability on their site and see a month at a time. Instead of putting in a date, just enter the number of people and hit enter. It then shows a month of available award seats. In this instance, I was looking for four people in economy from SLC-AMS.
This shows that there are at least 4 economy seats available to book and the green numbers are the lowest prices for 4 people.
Bottom Line
Until this year, I underestimated Air France and the Flying Blue program. The four reasons I love the Air France program have changed my thoughts. I see many more Air France and KLM flights in the future.
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I’ve been in the Delta loyalty program since Delta took over Northwest airlines. Yet I’ve never had enough miles for a Delta One round trip ticket for Seattle to Paris. But if those miles were with Air France, I can easily find those tickets. But I’ve noticed 2 red flags. 1 is no field on the profile page for trusted traveler number . Second is reading horror stories about carry-on luggage that’s fine with Delta but not Air France.
I routinely have trouble with carry-on luggage with non-US carriers. They just won’t let you carry-on with much weight whereas in the US, if it’s the right size, they don’t carry about the weight.
I can attest to that – AirFrance was a nightmare with our carry-ons – and we’re avid overseas travelers that have taken them on multiple carriers – and it wasn’t the weight it was the size. They have also had the worse customer service on the flights we’ve had with them, and the smallest seats. No fun toys/kits for little ones (like a lot of other big names for overseas flights) and the food was average at best. They are cheaper for sure, but I’m still not sold on them.
I’ve had some great flights and some not so great. A lot depends on the aircraft and the age of the plane. Customer service is only as good as who is your flight attendant that day, sadly. Thanks for your comment!
Do you reccomend the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard?
It will take a 5/24 spot but if it works for you, go for it. Personally, I would get all the Chase cards I wanted first. It is on my list to get. Someday. It just hasn’t been a high priority for me yet.