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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 July 2019 Flying Blue Promo awards have now been published and they cover travel between 1 September and 31 October 2019.
Bookings must be made by 31 July 2019.
Flying Blue July 2019 Promo Awards
As usual I’m going to concentrate on the premium cabin long-haul deals and, disappointingly, there isn’t all that much to get excited about if you’re flying to or from North America…and the other regions that Air France and KLM fly to don’t have too many interesting options either – last month’s Promo Awards were considerably better.
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 have more Promo Awards this month than any other region and there are 5 Business Class awards and 1 Premium Economy award on offer.
Bahrain and Kuwait will be cooling down (relatively speaking) towards the end of the Promo Award availability dates so 67,500 miles for roundtrip Business Class travel may be tempting if you can find availability from late September onwards.
The Business Class awards on offer to Taipei, Wuhan, and Xiamen are only discounted by 25% and we’ve seen better deals to these destinations in recent months – if you have to fly to one of these cities while these Promo Awards are valid then a 25% discount is better then nothing but I wouldn’t book a trip purely off these discounts.
Caribbean/Indian Ocean
There are just two premium cabin Promo Awards available here and both are for travel to/from Havana.
At 101,250 miles for roundtrip Business Class and 81,000 miles for roundtrip Premium Economy, these awards are offering a 25% discount on what’s usually available and, as this is still just about Hurricane season in the Caribbean, I don’t really see either of these as offering great value.
Central/South America
Up until now the Promo Awards on offer have been more than a little lackluster and, sadly, things don’t get any better here.
There are just two Promo Awards for travel to/from Central/South America this time and they’re both for travel to/from Bogota.
I’m sure Bogota has a lot of things going for it (I’ve never visited) but I’d balk at paying 144,750 miles for roundtrip Business Class travel on this route outside of a promotion so I’m sure you can imagine my thoughts on seeing this price being touted as a Promo Award.
Pass.
North America
Finally, as usual, we come to the category most readers will be interested in but its a category which is offering just one premium cabin Promo Award.
Considering that the last set of Promo Awards offered travel between North America and Europe for just 79,000 miles it’s hard to get excited about the opportunity to spend 90,000 miles for a similar trip…but I guess it’s better than nothing.
The good news here is that Air France operates its refurbished 777-200 aircraft between Toronto and Paris and these come equipped with the airlines newest (and best) Business Class product so the 90,000 mile award will at least see you travel in a bit of style.
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 very little to get excited about with this set of Promo Awards, availability for the better discounts/routes will almost certainly disappear pretty quickly so you’re likely to miss out if you procrastinate for too long.
If you’re based in the US and you’re short of miles don’t forget that you can transfer points to Flying Blue from all three major credit card currencies.
