An offer many of you have been anxiously awaiting for is here! For the next month the Air France KLM World Elite MasterCard features a welcome bonus of up to 60,000 Flying Blue Miles. This card was unique in that when it first launched it did not feature bonus miles but rather bonus points towards elite status. This was done to attract the customers the airline first wanted have the card – Air France KLM frequent flyers. Now that the card is nearly a year old and should be in the wallets of a fair share of those frequent flyers its time to expand the user base and attract flyers from other airlines/programs and Canadians in general. That’s where this new mileage bonus fits in!
The up to 60,000 Flying Blue Miles Bonus
From today through to October 18, 2023 new applicants who are approved for the Air France KLM World Elite MasterCard® powered by Brim Financial will be able earn to up to 60,000 bonus Flying Blue miles + 60XP! The bonus is awarded as follows:
- 10,000 miles after first purchase
- 10,000 miles when spend $5,000 on the card within the first year of having it
- 10,000 miles on the next $10,000 in spending on the card within the first year of having it
($15,000 in spending in the first year will net you 30,000 miles in total) - 30,000 miles anniversary bonus when your card renews
Unlike some of other card bonus offers that have spending spread out over a year and only award the spend bonus on the card anniversary, the bonuses with the card for $5,000 and $10,000 in spending will be awarded when you hit the spend. For example, if you complete the $15,000 in spend in the first four months you would receive the final spend bonus on the next statement date after that.
What can you get with 60,000 Flying Blue Miles? A lot!
60,000 Flying Blue miles can go a long way. If you aren’t very familiar with the Flying Blue program, it is considered by Rewards Canada as the best program for Canadians for Transatlantic reward flights in economy class. Not only that, the program holds its own for business class as well.
The minimum redemption level for flights between Eastern Canada and Europe (as well as Turkey and North Africa) is only 15,000 miles one way, while rewards start at 20,000 miles one way from Western Canada. In our research there tends to be a good amount of availability at those lowest levels. Overall. this means you only need 30,000 to 40,000 Flying Blue miles for a round trip Transatlantic economy class flight. The same thing with competing airlines? You are looking at 50,000 to 70,000 miles/points round trip – and in most cases with those programs you have to pay for your first checked bag while Flying Blue reward tickets includes your first checked bag!
You can redeem Flying Blue miles for reward tickets on Air France and KLM flights out of Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City or anywhere the two airlines and their partners fly in the world. Those 30+ partners include WestJet, Delta Airlines, Korean Air and all the SkyTeam Alliance airlines.
Redemption examples
With 60,000 miles you can redeem for two (2) round trip economy class tickets from Eastern Canada to Europe, North Africa or Turkey. Here are three such examples:
Is there value in these 60,000 mile redemptions?
The cash prices for the above flights are as follows:
- YUL-CDG: $1996.50 for the exact same flights. However the cheapest we found on Google flights is $1,620 via Air Transat. If we take that cheapest flight and subtract the $583.22 in fees on the reward ticket as well as the $132 annual fee (twice) the 60,000 mile bonus works out to an amazing $772.78 in value
- YYZ-IST: $3,140.12 for the exact same flights. However the cheapest we found on Google flights is $2,220 via Air Canada. If we take that cheapest flight and subtract the $602.82 in fees on the reward ticket as well as the $132 annual fee the 60,000 mile bonus works out to an even more amazing $1,353.18 in value
- YUL-ALG: $2,705.90 for the exact same flights. However the cheapest we found on Google flights is $2,229 via Air Canada. If we take that cheapest flight and subtract the $584.62 in fees on the reward ticket as well as the $132 annual fee the 60,000 mile bonus works out to the best value yet at $1,380.38!!
So, yes there is huge value in these redemption options via the 60,000 mile bonus! And don’t forget we are taking into account the miles you earn on your spending to achieve the bonus.
There is potential for even more value!
You could potentially extend the 60,000 miles to four economy class round trip reward tickets if and when Air France KLM offer 50% off economy class reward tickets with their Promo Rewards sale. In the case of a 50% off sale the flights would only be 7,500 miles one way per person. We saw this exact offer earlier this year so there is always the possibility of it being offered again in the future.
What about business class?
Business Class rewards with Flying Blue start at 55,000 miles one way on KLM and 70,000 miles one way on Air France. Thus with the 60,000 mile bonus you could get yourself a one way business class reward flight on KLM:
And if you include the miles you earn from your actual spending to earn the bonus you would have enough miles for a one way business class reward on Air France.
Once again, if there are promo rewards you’ll need less miles. We frequently see 25% off business class but there have been offers for 50% off business class (which we’ve seen twice in the past 12 months) you could score a round trip business class ticket on KLM with the card bonus! This would easily put the value of the welcome bonus in the $2,000 to $4,000 range if not even higher.
What else does the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard provide?
In addition to receiving the Flying Blue miles as your welcome bonus the Air France KLM Flying Blue World Elite Mastercard provides the following:
- Earn an additional 5 Miles per Euro when booking flights with Air France or KLM
- Earn 1 Mile per C$ spent on all purchases;
- Earn 2 Miles per C$ spent on food and beverages;
- Earn up to 30 Miles per $C spent with selected retail partners;
- Purchases with your Air France KLM World Elite MasterCard® extend the validity of your Miles by 2 years.
- An additional 30XP at card renewal (anniversary bonus)
- Mastercard Travel Pass provided by DragonPass lounge access membership
- Free global Boingo Wi-Fi
- Strong travel insurance including out of province emergency medical insurance, flight delay, trip cancellation/interruption and more
The 5 miles per Euro spent on tickets with Air France or KLM from the card earned on top of the 4 miles you’ll earn as a base member meaning you’ll earn a total of 9 Flying Miles per Euro (If you have FB elite status you’ll earn more). Plus you’ll still earn the 1 mile per C$ spent on those flights.
The card has an $132 annual fee and requires $80,000 personal or $150,000 household income to be considered.
Wrapping it up
Air France KLM and Brim have finally released a welcome bonus that offers Flying Blue miles.. When you apply for the card this month and are approved for it you can earn up to 60,000 miles +60 Elite Status qualifying XP! With 60,000 miles you can easily redeem for two round trip economy class tickets between Eastern Canada and Europe, North Africa and Turkey. With most cards in the market only providing the equivalent of one transatlantic flight or even less with their welcome bonuses, this is definitely an offer to consider.
Click here to learn more and to apply for the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard.
Note: Applications must be submitted by 23:59 ET on Oct 18, 23 to receive this offer