The Air France KLM Flying Blue program has become very interesting lately. The program recently reduced award prices between North America and Europe so that you can now fly one way for 20K miles economy or 50K miles business class. That’s excellent! Additionally, they’re starting to offer international first class awards with some partners. All of this excitement led me to take a closer look at the Air France KLM credit card. In light of the latest Flying Blue changes, I wondered if this card had become exciting as well…
Current Welcome Offer
| Card Offer |
|---|
 50K miles + 60XP points 50K miles after $2K in the first 90 days + 60 XP points upon approval$89 Annual Fee Alternate Offer: Going through the steps to make a dummy booking at the Air France website may result in an offer that also includes a $100 statement credit. Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 70K miles + 100XP points [Expired 9/23] |
Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard Review
The Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard is a bit of a snoozer unless you’re interested in earning elite status. For those uninterested in elite status it’s not a bad card, but there’s nothing exciting about it. Even if you just want to earn Flying Blue miles, it’s not very good. While this card earns 1.5x everywhere, you can do much better elsewhere. For example, you can earn 2x everywhere with transferable points cards like the Capital One Venture Rewards card, Citi Double Cash (paired with the Citi Premier), or Amex Blue Business Plus (2x on the first $50K spend each year). Then, you can transfer those points to Flying Blue or to any other supported loyalty program. Even better, there are frequent transfer bonuses to Flying Blue so you could end up with even more miles.
On the other hand, those interested in Flying Blue elite status will find a lot to like with both a one time 60 XP boost upon approval and the ability to earn up to 60 XP each year. Flying Blue Silver status requires 100 XP per 12 months and so this card can get you more than half way there. I’m not sure, but it might even be possible to get multiple Air France KLM cards (by product changing from other Bank of America cards, for example) and then you might be able to get Silver status or higher from card spend alone.
- Annual Fee: $89
- Foreign Transaction Fee: None
- What points are worth: This card earns Flying Blue miles. Our current Reasonable Redemption Values pegs them at 1.3 cents each.
- Best Use for Points: Redeem for flights between North America and Europe at reasonable rates with moderate surcharges:
- Economy class: 20,000 miles one-way (with some routes pricing a little less)
- Premium Economy class: 35,000 miles one-way
- Business Class: 50,000 miles one way.
- Earning Categories:
- Earn 3 Miles per $1 spent directly on Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and SkyTeam member airlines purchases
- Earn 1.5 Miles per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Perks:
- Receive 5,000 Miles every year on your account anniversary after you spend $50 or more on purchases within the anniversary year
- No foreign transaction fees
- Miles don’t expire as long as you make a purchase once every 2 years
- Earn 20 XP towards elite status every year on your account anniversary
- Earn an additional 40 XP (totaling 60 XP) on your account anniversary after you spend $15,000 or more on purchases within the anniversary year
- Who’s this card for? Anyone interested in earning Flying Blue elite status can do well with this card.
- Is this card a keeper? Those seeking elite status will certainly find this card worth keeping. For everyone else, it’s an okay card to keep since it offers 5,000 points every year as long as you spend at least $50. Plus, that spend keeps your points alive.
Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard Pros and Cons
Pros
- Relatively cheap at $89 per year
- Keeps points from expiring by simply putting some spend on the card once every two years.
- Easy to earn 5,000 miles per year with only $50 spend.
- Easy way to pick up extra XP (experience points) towards elite status
Cons
- Low earning rate compared to what is possible with cards that earn transferable points
- Very few perks
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