25% Amex Transfer Bonus to Flying Blue= Cheap Business Class and Delta One-way Awards
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Thru February 29, 2012 you can get a 25% bonus on American Express Membership Rewards points transferred to Flying Blue (the frequent flyer program of Air France and KLM).
The Flying Blue program isn't great normally - while they have a reasonable award chart (50,000 miles roundtrip for coach to Europe and 100,000 miles for business), their fees and fuel surcharges can easily cost more than the price of a coach ticket. Therefore, I rarely recommend booking through them - generally it makes sense to transfer to Delta, unless you need a one-way award, which Delta charges the same price as a roundtrip.
However, you can get huge value out of this special 25% transfer bonus, especially when taking advantage of:
1) Promo awards, especially in business class and to far destinations like Istanbul and Tel Aviv. Note: you need to leave from the city listed in the chart and transit via Amsterdam (KLM) or Paris (Air France). However, you don't need to end in either of those cities - you can go anywhere in Europe 1/2/3 and flying Blue classifies Tel Aviv as part of Europe 3! In the example below I was able to pull up a promo award from JFK to Istanbul one way in business class for 25,000 miles and $362. That's 20,000 Amex and $362 for a $5,000+ flight! Granted, I would never pay that much, but you still get the point.
Check out this guide for details on booking Promo Awards
2) Intra US awards on Delta has low fees. Plus you can book one-way awards for half the price of a roundtrip - Delta charges the same price as roundtrip to their own Skymiles members.
3) Delta awards to South America - low fees
If you need a Flying Blue account, you can get one here for free. AirFrance.us isn't perfect and I noticed several times that after a bunch of searches it starts to go insane and produce wacky results (kind of like delta.com). I recommend closing out of your browser and starting fresh again.
If you want to get a Membership Rewards credit card, the best offers right now are private referrals - 50,000 points for the Platinum Card after $3,000 spend in 3 months ($450 annual fee) and 25,000 for Premier Rewards Gold after $2,000 spend in 3 months ($175 annual fee, waived the first year). Email me at info @ thepointsguy.com and use subject AMEX REFERRAL if you need a referral or ask someone you know who has the card and tell them to go to Americanexpress.com/refer. If they get an error, tell them to log-out of their Amex account and try again.
[card card-name='Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express' card-id='22034414' type='javascript' bullet-id='1']
TPG featured card
at American Express's secure site
Terms & restrictions apply. See rates & fees.
| 4X | Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year. |
| 4X | Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year. |
| 5X | New! Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotel stays booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App. |
| 3X | Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked through AmexTravel.com, the Amex Travel App, or purchased directly from airlines. |
| 2X | Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid car rentals booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App and cruises booked and paid through AmexTravel.com. |
| 1X | Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases. |
Pros
- Valuable dining and food-related credits
- Flexible rewards with airline and hotel transfer partners
- Multiple travel and purchase protections
- No foreign transaction fees
- Access to Amex Offers for additional savings (enrollment required)
Cons
- Not as useful for those living outside the U.S.
- Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
- You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- New! Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotel stays booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked through AmexTravel.com, the Amex Travel App, or purchased directly from airlines.
- Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid car rentals booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App and cruises booked and paid through AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
- Pay It® lets you tap in the American Express® App to quickly pay for small purchase amounts throughout the month and still earn rewards the way you usually do. Plan It® gives you the option to split up big purchases into equal monthly payments with a fixed fee. You’ll know upfront exactly how much you’ll pay.
- Updated! $120 Dining Credit: Earn up to a total of $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the Gold Card at Grubhub (including Seamless), Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys, The Cheesecake Factory, and Wonder. This can be an annual savings of up to $120. Enrollment required.
- $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year at over 10,000 qualifying U.S. Resy restaurants after you pay for eligible purchases with the American Express® Gold Card. That’s up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
- $84 Dunkin' Credit: Earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin’ locations. Enrollment required.
- $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Enjoy up to $120 in Uber Cash annually with your Gold Card. Just add your Card to your Uber account and you'll get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an Amex Card for your transaction.
- New! As an American Express® Gold Card Member, you can enjoy complimentary Hertz Five Star® Status. Enjoy benefits like skipping the counter at select locations, adding an additional driver at no additional cost*, and vehicle upgrades**. Benefit enrollment and Hertz Gold+ registration are required. *Additional drivers must meet standard rental qualifications and must be a spouse or domestic partner to qualify as complimentary. Other additional drivers subject to fees. **Benefits are subject to availability and vary by location. Additional Hertz program Terms and Conditions including age restrictions apply.
- Take advantage of a $100 credit towards eligible charges* at over 1,300 upscale hotels worldwide when you book The Hotel Collection through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App **. *Eligible charges vary by property. **The Hotel Collection requires a two-night minimum stay.
- Book your travel through the Amex Travel App with added peace of mind – backed by American Express® service and support. Only for American Express® Card Members.
- Whenever you need us, we're here. Our Member Services team will ensure you are taken care of. From lost Card replacement to statement questions, we are available to help 24/7.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- Annual Fee is $325.
- Terms Apply.