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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 are now live.
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, we’re at the beginning of a new month so the March 2019 Flying Blue Promo awards have now been published and they mostly cover travel between 1 May and 30 June 2019
Bookings must be made by 31 March 2019.
Flying Blue March 2019 Promo Awards
As usual I’m going to concentrate on the premium cabin long-haul deals and, in this set of Promo Awards, there are four or five that really stand out at potentially very good deals….as long as you can make the dates work for you.
Asia/Middle East Promo Awards
The pick of the deals here is the 50% discount on offer for Business Class redemptions between Europe and Wuhan which sees the cost of an award drop to just 90,000 miles for roundtrip travel.
With Wuhan being just a 2 hour flight from Hong Kong and Beijing and just a 1 hr 30 min flight from Shanghai this Promo Award could be a very economical way to position to China in comfort before heading on elsewhere in the region.
The 25% discount on offer for Business Class awards between Europe and Dubai lowers the cost of a roundtrip redemption to just 82,500 miles but, considering this is for travel in May/June, I would have hoped for a higher discount on this route.
Africa Promo Awards
There’s only one Promo Award involving Africa this time around that’s for a Premium Economy redemption for travel between Europe and Lome in Togo.
If you need/want to get to Togo I guess this could be one way of doing it with a modicum of comfort but this is definitely on of the more specialist redemptions on offer in this set of Promo Awards.
Caribbean/Indian Ocean Promo Awards
The standout award here is the 50% discount on offer for travel between Europe and Curacao in the very south of the Caribbean.
With roundtrip Business Class award costs starting from just 60,500 miles this can be an excellent way to get some much needed sun while traveling in quite a bit of comfort.
Curacao is also just a very short hop from the popular islands of Aruba and Bonaire so this Promo Award can also be used as a way to position to the southern Caribbean before moving on elsewhere.
North America Promo Awards
There are 5 Promo Awards on offer for travel between Europe and North America (don’t forget that travel can start from either side of the Atlantic) and all are for Business Class awards.
The pick of the deals are probably the roundtrip Business Class deals to/from Edmonton (91,500 miles) and Calgary (90,750 miles) but the 25% discount available on Business Class awards to/from Toronto (90,000 miles roundtrip) is bound to be popular too.
European travelers looking to get some Caribbean sun may want to make the most of the Promo Award for travel to/from Cancun which sees the cost of Business Class travel reduced to just 88,500 miles and you won’t go far wrong booking roundtrip Business Class travel to/from Mexico city from just 97,500 miles.
Central & South America Promo Awards
There’s only one Promo Award in this category this time around and it’s for Premium Economy travel to/from Buenos Aires.
At 119,250 miles for roundtrip travel this doesn’t look particularly cheap but, considering the distance being traveled and the cost of premium cabin fares between Europe and Argentina, this may appeal to anyone looking to save some cash when traveling to Buenos Aires.
Bottom Line
There are a few tempting deals this time around and, if you’re looking to travel between North America and Europe or between Europe and the Caribbean, that’s where I think you’ll find the best value.
If you see something that interests you, I suggest booking sooner rather than later as I expect availability to dwindle quickly…especially on routes to the more popular destinations.
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.
Featured image by Evan Simons on Unsplash
Kind of like IHG’s PointBreaks, the FlyingBlue sales have made it increasingly difficult to find a decent value among the choices. In this bunch, there are zero flights to the US, for instance, and 50% off is becoming a lot more scarce overall. Add in fuel surcharges to the positioning flight cost, and of course the price in miles and suddenly it’s really not much of a deal unless you happen to live in say, Calgary.
I agree, I think the key (for US flyers) will have to be finding cheap positioning flight to Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto etc.. to make the most of these deals and if they’re not available that makes the Promo Awards a lot less interesting.
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