Flying Blue 50% Off Promo Awards Announced and a Guide on How to Book Them
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
I find Flying Blue (the frequent flyer program of Air France, KLM, and some other Skyteam carriers) to be generous with award availability. They even run "50% off" promo awards all year long, which means you can fly roundtrip from certain North American cities to Europe and beyond for as low as 25,000 in coach and 50,000 in business. Flying Blue is a 1:1 transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, so it's a great way to stretch the value of your Amex points. Note: Flying Blue taxes on awards are pretty high – for example a 25,000 roundtrip award to Europe may have $450 in taxes. If you can buy that same ticket for $650, it makes sense to just purchase it and earn miles. However, there are some expensive routes – especially in business class, that can be unbelievable values.
The May/June awards can be booked until June 28, 2011 and are valid for travel May 1- June 30, 2011. One of the great things I learned this past weekend from frequent flyer legend Steve Belkin (beaubo on Flyertalk), is that Israel is included in Europe 3. So in essence, you can transfer 50,000 Amex points to Air France and then book a business class roundtrip award to Tel Aviv- an amazing deal, even if it does require a stop in Paris or Amsterdam. Remember, promo awards are only eligible on Air France and/or KLM flights.
Before you get too excited and start transferring Amex points, make sure your awards are available. To check award availability, create a Flying Blue account and then once you are logged in click the "Show" button to get a drop down menu and then select "Book my award ticket".
$747 in fees is pretty steep, but it's not so bad considering this exact itinerary would cost $5,082 to purchase. So $5,082 - $747 = $4,335 saved for using a measly 50,000 points. Thus, each Amex point saves you 8.7 cents. Granted, you should factor in the fact that you wouldn't earn any miles on the award redemption, but the point is that Amex points can save you a ton of money and allow you to book into business class for half of what you'd pay for coach (I checked and the coach fare for these flights was $1,515 total roundtrip).
Since Delta and Air France are in the same alliance and these are classic awards, I knew this same flight would be bookable using Delta miles as well, so I pulled up delta.com -> Skymiles -> Use miles -> Award ticket reservations and entered in the same search criteria. With no hassle whatsoever, the exact flights popped up, albeit at 120,000 miles for business class because Delta does not consider Israel part of Europe. A 70,000 mile difference is pretty extreme, however, Delta is currently running a 50% transfer bonus on Amex transfers, so you'd only need to transfer 80,000 points.
Delta's fees are much lower; coming in at $181. So let's do the math - if you go the Flying Blue route, you are getting 8.7 cents per point, whereas Delta gives a return of $5,082 - $181 = 6.1 cents per point. Not bad, but I'd still go the Air France route unless I was short on cash and flush with points.
If you don't currently have an American Express card that allows you to earn Membership Rewards points and want to get in on these Promo Awards, I highly recommend the Platinum card. Amex is currently offering 25,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend $1,000 within three months and perhaps one of the best aspects of this card is that you can immediately advance yourself up to 60,000 points as long as you've been an Amex customer for at least 6 months (otherwise you have to wait 6 months to advance). That means you could get the card, advance yourself the 25,000-50,000 points needed for a Promo award and once your 25,000 sign-up bonus hits, you'd have a year to earn back the additional amount of points beyond 25,000 that you advanced yourself. The card has a $450 annual fee, but comes with a ton of other benefits like $200 in airline rebates, lounge access on Delta, US Airways, Continental (Until Sept 30), Alaska, Starwood Gold status and many more. If interested, check out my most recent review of the card.
[card card-name='Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express' card-id='22035076' type='javascript' bullet-id='1']
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| 3X | Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases. |
| 1X | Earn 1X Miles on all other eligible purchases. |
Pros
- Delta SkyClub access when flying Delta
- Annual companion ticket for travel on Delta (upon renewal)
- Ability to earn MQDs through spending
- Various statement credits for eligible purchases
Cons
- Steep annual fee of $650
- Other Delta cobranded cards offer superior earning categories
- Earn 100,000 Bonus Miles after you spend $6,000 or more in purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership and an additional 25,000 bonus miles after you make an additional $3,000 in purchases on the Card within your first 6 months, starting from the date that your account is opened. Offer Ends 04/01/2026.
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card Members receive 15 Visits per Medallion® Year to the Delta Sky Club® when flying Delta and can unlock an unlimited number of Visits after spending $75,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year. Plus, you’ll receive four One-Time Guest Passes each Medallion Year so you can share the experience with family and friends when traveling Delta together.
- Enjoy complimentary access to The Centurion® Lounge in the U.S. and select international locations (as set forth on the Centurion Lounge Website), Sidecar by The Centurion® Lounge in the U.S. (see the Centurion Lounge Website for more information on Sidecar by The Centurion® Lounge availability), and Escape Lounges when flying on a Delta flight booked with the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card. § To access Sidecar by The Centurion® Lounge, Card Members must arrive within 90 minutes of their departing flight (including layovers). To access The Centurion® Lounge, Card Members must arrive within 3 hours of their departing flight. Effective July 8, 2026, during a layover, Card Members must arrive within 5 hours of the connecting flight.
- Receive $2,500 Medallion® Qualification Dollars with MQD Headstart each Medallion Qualification Year and earn $1 MQD for each $10 in purchases on your Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card with MQD Boost to get closer to Status next Medallion Year.
- Enjoy a Companion Certificate on a Delta First, Delta Comfort, or Delta Main round-trip flight to select destinations each year after renewal of your Card. The Companion Certificate requires payment of government-imposed taxes and fees of between $22 and $250 (for itineraries with up to four flight segments). Baggage charges and other restrictions apply. Delta Basic experiences are not eligible for this benefit.
- $240 Resy Credit: When you use your Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card for eligible purchases with U.S. Resy restaurants, you can earn up to $20 each month in statement credits. Enrollment required.
- $120 Rideshare Credit: Earn up to $10 back in statement credits each month after you use your Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card to pay for U.S. rideshare purchases with select providers. Enrollment required.
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card Members get 15% off when using miles to book Award Travel on Delta flights through delta.com and the Fly Delta app. Discount not applicable to partner-operated flights or to taxes and fees.
- With your Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, receive upgrade priority over others with the same Medallion tier, product and fare experience purchased, and Million Miler milestone when you fly with Delta.
- Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and earn 1X Miles on all other eligible purchases.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees. Enjoy international travel without additional fees on purchases made abroad.
- $650 Annual Fee.
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- Terms Apply.
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