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Flying Blue has published its latest Promo Awards offers for November and if you were hoping for an improvement on last month’s offering you’re going to be sorely disappointed. Offers are only available for three of the world’s regions and Business Class offers are limited to just four routes.
November 2020 Promo Awards
As usual, I’m going to focus on the long-haul Promo Awards on offer for travel in the premium cabins. If you’re looking for more information on short-haul or Economy Class awards, you’ll find everything you need on this webpage. The November Promo Awards for Europe are all Economy Class awards this month so you won’t find them in this article.
The November 2020 awards are on sale through 30 November 2020* and are for travel through 30 April 2021 (the joint-longest period we’ve ever seen a single set of Promo Awards offered) to/from Paris CDG.
*Flying Blue seems to think there are 31 days in November but as I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have the power to simply add on another day to the month, it’s safe to assume that the booking window will close on 30 November.
Asia-Pacific Promo Awards
Last month I called the Asia-Pacific Promo Awards a bust because we were only offered three award options and all three options were on the same route. This month it’s actually worse – we only have two award options (only one is for a premium cabin) and they’re both for the same route as last month!
To repeat what I said last month…
Even if we leave aside the fact that 132,000 miles for roundtrip Premium Economy (+ surcharges) isn’t a particularly good deal, the fact that Tahiti currently has some pretty strict entry requirements leaves me wondering why Flying Blue has bothered with this offer.
The Tahitian authorities are currently requiring visitors to prove that entry is for “urgent family or work reasons” and visitors are expected to fill in a travel certificate (available here) and provide proof. In addition, all travelers will need to undertake a Covid-19 within 72 hours of departure and will need to show proof of a negative result before they’ll be allowed to board.
These aren’t conditions under which I expect to see a lot of people flying (especially as France has just gone into lockdown) so I’m not sure what Flying Blue is thinking here.
Caribbean/Indian Ocean Promo Awards
I’m not sure what’s going on at Flying Blue this month (they may have allowed a group of 5-year olds to take over) because apart from the fact that someone there thinks that there are 31 days in November, someone also thinks that Beirut is in the Caribbean or the Indian Ocean and that Economy Class awards to/from Beirut can have different Promo Award prices:
Still, all that aside, these are the November Promo Awards for the Caribbean/Indian Ocean:
Essentially, these are the same Promo Awards as we saw published in October so my thoughts remain unchanged.
As with last month, the good news here is that there’s a little more choice with this set of Promo Awards compared to the Asia-Pacific awards. In case you don’t know where one or more of these destinations are, here’s a map:
This set of Promo Awards look a lot more promising as 67,500 miles (+ surcharges) for roundtrip Business Class travel between Europe and Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana is not a bad deal at all. 54,000 miles (+ surcharges) for roundtrip travel to/from the same destinations is great too although I would probably do my best to scrape together enough points for a Business Class trip (13,500 miles more for Business Class in both directions looks good value to me). The 81,000 miles needed for roundtrip Business Class travel to/from Reunion Island is an increase from the 67,500 miles quoted last month so I would be tempted to wait to see if the price comes down in the December Promo Awards.
Disappointingly, however, travel to/from French Guiana isn’t really an option for most people as the local authorities have followed in Tahiti’s footsteps in declaring that only travelers who can prove that entry is for urgent family/work reasons will be allowed to enter. A negative Covid test is also required.
The news for the other three destinations is better:
Martinique
There are no major restrictions on visiting Martinique right now but, as for all French overseas territories, visitors will need to complete a travel certificate. There are different certificates for travel from mainland France to French overseas territories or international travel from abroad to French overseas territories.
Guadeloupe
All travelers over the age of 11 must take a Covid-19 test within 72 hours of departure for Guadeloupe. The test is mandatory and the traveler must show proof of a negative result before boarding.
Travelers must also provide a self-certified document stating that they have no Covid symptoms and that to their knowledge they have not been in contact with any person confirmed positive within the last 14 days.
Reunion
All travelers over the age of 11 must take a Covid-19 test within 72 hours of departure for Réunion. The test is mandatory and the traveler must show proof of a negative result before boarding.
Travelers must also provide a self-certified document stating that they have no Covid symptoms and that to their knowledge they have not been in contact with any person confirmed positive within the last 14 days.
Bottom Line
Given the state of transatlantic travel right now it’s not really a surprise to see that there aren’t any North American destinations included in this set of Promo Awards, and given the state of global travel as a whole, it’s not really surprising that we’re not being offered a much wider range of options.
Martinique and Guadeloupe are looking very tempting right now but don’t forget that even if you don’t have issues entering these countries, your own home country may impose restrictions on you upon your return if it considers those destinations to be “high-risk” – make sure you check the rules carefully before you make any firm plans.
Actually incorrect you can enter Tahiti or France comming from an EU member state the requirement fir family etc would apply for Americans living in the usa. I went on the route last week and the good news is you can also use points to upgrade on most of the flights. But it is a soul crushing 10+2+10 hours so I would be hesitant even in premium economy….
Thanks very much for the update – I thought I’d used a non-US source but, clearly, I didn’t. I’ll update the post when I’m not typing on a tiny iPhone SE 🙂