Air France KLM Flying Blue has the potential to be a very useful program, given that you can fly between Europe and the US one way for 25K miles in economy or 60K miles in business class. It even offers international first class awards with some partners. That’s all fine and good, but availability at those prices has been hard to come by recently, especially in business class.
Despite that, the newly-increased welcome offer available on the Air France KLM credit card might lead some to investigate it, on the chance that it offers something that’s potentially exciting. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t.
Current Welcome Offer
| Card Offer |
|---|
70K miles + 100XP Non-Affiliate 70K miles + 40XP after $3K in the first 90 days + 60 XP upon approval$89 Annual Fee Alternate Offer: Some people get an offer for $100 statement credit while doing a dummy booking. Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. |
Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard Review
The Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard is a bit of a snoozer unless you’re interested in earning elite status. For those uninterested in elite status it’s not a bad card, but there’s nothing exciting about it. Even if you just want to earn Flying Blue miles, it’s not very good. While this card earns 1.5x everywhere, you can do much better elsewhere. For example, you can earn 2x everywhere with transferable points cards like the Capital One Venture Rewards card, Citi Double Cash (paired with the Citi Premier), or Amex Blue Business Plus (2x on the first $50K spend each year). Then, you can transfer those points to Flying Blue or to any other supported loyalty program. Even better, there are frequent transfer bonuses to Flying Blue so you could end up with even more miles.
On the other hand, those interested in Flying Blue elite status will find a lot to like with both a one time 100 XP boost upon approval and meeting the minimum spend for the welcome offer, combined with the ability to earn up to 60 XP each year. Flying Blue Silver status requires 100 XP per 12 months and so this card can get you there.
- Annual Fee: $89
- Foreign Transaction Fee: None
- Card Issuer: Bank of America
- What points are worth: This card earns Flying Blue miles. Our current Reasonable Redemption Values pegs them at 1.3 cents each.
- Earning Categories:
- Earn 3 Miles per $1 spent directly on Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and SkyTeam member airlines purchases
- Earn 1.5 Miles per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Perks:
- Receive 5,000 Miles every year on your account anniversary after you spend $50 or more on purchases within the anniversary year
- No foreign transaction fees
- Miles don’t expire as long as you make a purchase once every 2 years
- Earn 20 XP towards elite status every year on your account anniversary
- Earn an additional 40 XP (totaling 60 XP) on your account anniversary after you spend $15,000 or more on purchases within the anniversary year
- Who’s this card for? Anyone interested in earning Flying Blue elite status can do well with this card.
- Is this card a keeper? Those seeking elite status will certainly find this card worth keeping. For everyone else, it’s an okay card to keep since it offers 5,000 points every year as long as you spend at least $50. Plus, that spend keeps your points alive.
Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard Pros and Cons
Pros
- Relatively cheap at $89 per year
- Keeps points from expiring by simply putting some spend on the card once every two years.
- Easy to earn 5,000 miles per year with only $50 spend.
- Easy way to pick up extra XP (experience points) towards elite status
Cons
- Low earning rate compared to what is possible with cards that earn transferable points
- Very few perks
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