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At the beginning of every month Flying Blue (the loyalty program for Air France/KLM) releases discounted mileage awards for Economy, Premium Economy and Business Class travel on Air France and KLM and the latest deals have just gone live today.
These “Promo Awards” can offer flyers up to 50% off award travel but, while some awards may be discounted by 50%, we’re more used to seeing discounts of between 20% and 25% on the awards most of us would like to book.
Well, today signals the start of a new month so the August 2019 Flying Blue Promo awards have now been published and they cover travel between 1 October and 30 November 2019.
Bookings must be made by 31 August 2019.
Flying Blue August 2019 Promo Awards
As usual, I’m going to concentrate on the premium cabin long-haul deals and this month there’s good news for anyone looking to travel between North America and Europe (in either direction). The other regions served by Air France/KLM don’t appear to offer much to get excited about but, with one or two Business Class discounts on offer you may find something of interest.
Note: Don’t forget that Promo Awards can originate in Europe or in any of the destinations mentioned.
Africa
There are no Flying Blue Promo Awards for travel to/from Africa this month.
Asia/Middle East
Asia and the Middle East may have 5 destinations offering Promo Awards this month but only one award is for Business Class travel.
If you’ve been considering visiting Jordan (and the amazing ancient city of Petra), 45,000 miles for roundtrip Business Class between Europe and Amman may be a tempting offer…but I don’t imagine too may TFM readers will be getting excited about this deal.
The remaining Promo Awards for this region are for Premium Economy travel and the only one that looks like it may offer truly good value is the award to/from Dubai.
Considering you can often book Business Class cash fares from Europe to Mumbai for under $1,500 roundtrip, the 81,000 miles for roundtrip Premium Economy travel looks expensive….but 44,000 miles for roundtrip Premium Economy travel to Dubai (at a time where it won’t be unbearably hot) may be a worthwhile deal for some.
Caribbean/Indian Ocean
There are just two premium cabin Promo Awards available here – one for Business Class and one for Premium Economy.
Saint Martin is an 8-9 hour flight away from Paris so 81,000 miles (+ taxes) for roundtrip Premium Economy may offer decent value but the 101,250 miles needed for4 roundtrip travel to/from Martinique is the clearly superior deal (from a value perspective).
Central/South America
Three Promo Awards for this region in August but all are to the same destination – Quito.
I have no idea why anyone would pay 70,500 miles for roundtrip Premium Economy travel when for 8,500 miles more they could book roundtrip Business Class – the Premium Economy deal is the one to avoid here.
North America
Finally, as usual, we come to the category most readers will be interested in and this time around there are a few awards that readers may be interested in – there are 4 Business Class Promo Awards to/from North America in August and we even have a Promo Award for the US!
From most TFM readers’ point of view, I suspect that the pick of these Promo Awards will the 87,000 miles needed for roundtrip travel between Chicago and Europe…but the cost in miles doesn’t tell the full story.
Air France operates its A330-200 aircraft between Paris and Chicago and, even if you get the airline’s new A330 Business Class seats…
…the cabin on offer will still have a 2-2-2 seating layout (so it’s not an all-aisle-access cabin).
KLM offers a combination of 777-200 and 747 aircraft on its route between Amsterdam and Chicago so, once again, although the Business Class cabins will be perfectly fine, they’re not going to offer all passengers direct access to an aisle.
This wouldn’t stop me from booking this deal (I still think it can offer great value depending on the taxes being charged) but its information you should be aware of before you book.
The Promo Award that most catches my eye in this selection is the one offering roundtrip Business Class between Vancouver and Europe for 89,250 miles (+ taxes).
On its route between Vancouver and Paris, Air France offers its excellent 777 Business Class cabin and there aren’t many Business Class cabins flying transatlantic routes that I’d prefer to fly.
I flew in this cabin a few years ago and loved the entire experience (the Air France cabin crew were great, the food was food and the seat war excellent), so the opportunity to fly in this cabin for 89,250 miles (roundtrip) all the way from the West Coast to Europe is one I’d be more than happy to take.
Bottom Line
Don’t forget that these awards are already live so if you see something that interests you, I suggest booking sooner rather than later.
With multiple awards on offer for travel between North America and Europe, this is a set of Promo Awards that should offer some nice options for a lot of readers and, don’t forget, if you’re based in the US and you’re short of miles you can transfer points to Flying Blue from all three major credit card currencies.
