Air France/KLM Flying Blue Promo Rewards: May 2023

AirFrance/KLM publishes a monthly list of its Flying Blue Promo Rewards, which allow you to travel to certain destinations for as much as 25%-50% off the usual award rates. The Promo Rewards are released within the first few days of every month.

May 2023 Flying Blue Promo Rewards

This month, short, medium and long-haul award flights are marked down by 25%. Discounted short and medium-haul flights are all within Europe and North Africa. Long-haul flights are between Europe and North America, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa.

» Learn more: 5 award sweet spots on Air France/KLM

Flying Blue Promo Rewards can be booked as one-way tickets, which means you can travel from one city and come back to another. The flexibility afforded by booking one-ways can present some excellent opportunities for crafting trips.

Best short and medium-haul Flying Blue Promo Rewards

When it comes to short haul flights in Europe, there are a lot of low cost carriers to choose from, so booking a ticket with points may not make sense. However, economy award tickets include a free checked bag, which can save you money if you travel with luggage. Here are some interesting short and medium haul flights.

Short haul flights

• Amsterdam to/from London, U.K.: 3,750 miles.

• Paris to/from Geneva, Switzerland: 3,750 miles.

• Amsterdam to/from Frankfurt, Germany: 5,625 miles.

• Amsterdam to/from Zurich, Switzerland: 6,750 miles.

• Paris to/from Milan, Italy: 7,125 miles.

Medium haul flights

• Paris to/from Tunis, Tunisia: 7,125 miles.

• Paris to/from Algiers, Algeria: 12,000 miles.

• Paris to/from Marrakech, Morocco: 33,750 miles in business class.

The short-haul options this month can take to you to Germany, Italy and Switzerland, as well as within France. The medium-distance flights from Paris to North Africa can be a great way to save on flights to this region. If you're heading to any of these cities, these redemptions could be worthwhile, particularly if you have a bag to check.

Best long-haul Flying Blue Promo Rewards

This month's promo rewards are in economy and business class. Rates reflect one-way redemptions to/from Amsterdam and Paris to/from the following cities. All discounts are listed as 25% off.

• Boston, Massachusetts: 11,250 miles.

• Miami, Florida and Chicago, Illinois: 12,750 miles.

• Washington, DC: 13,125 miles.

• Dallas, Texas: 15,000 miles.

• Atlanta, Georgia: 15,750 miles.

• Houston, Texas: 16,875 miles.

• Johannesburg, South Africa: 17,625 miles.

• Austin, Texas: 18,375 miles.

• Los Angeles, California: 20,250 miles.

• New York, New York: 22,500 miles in premium economy.

• Fort de France, Martinique, Lagos, Nigeria and Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe: 22,500 miles.

• Havana, Cuba: 24,750 miles.

• Panama City, Panama: 26,625 miles.

• St. Martin, St. Martin: 27,375 miles.

• Quito, Ecuador: 32,250 miles.

• Cayenne, French Guiana: 33,750 miles.

• Montreal, Quebec: 41,250 miles in business class.

• Mexico City, Mexico: 48,750 miles in business class.

• Bangkok, Thailand: 52,500 miles in business class.

• Curacao, Curacao: 54,375 miles in business class.

• Fortaleza, Brazil: 58,875 miles in business class.

• Cape Town, South Africa: 66,750 miles in business class.

• Sao Paulo, Brazil: 67,125 miles in business class.

• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 67,875 miles in business class.

• Buenos Aires, Argentina: 70,875 miles in business class.

The options presented this month offer a lot of variety for travel from Europe to many parts of the world.

For U.S.-based travelers, you can take advantage of the 25% discount between the featured U.S. cities and Amsterdam or Paris. The flight to/from New York is in premium economy, which is a more comfortable experience, particularly for such a long flight.

If you have a trip to Europe coming up in the spring or summer, these award flights could be a great way to extend the life of your miles. Further, the short and medium haul promo awards to other European cities and North Africa present some creative trip options.

This month, there are many options to destinations not regularly offered, such as flights to Cuba, Thailand, South America and Africa. If you're planning on one of these locations, you should book sooner rather than later in case availability is limited.

KLM does not publish an award chart, but if you wanted to get an idea of what a flight would normally cost between two cities, you can use the Miles Price Estimator on the airline’s website.

» Learn more: What's the value of Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles?

Plan your miles strategy

Earn Flying Blue miles

AirFrance/KLM offers plenty of opportunities to earn miles. In addition to traditional ways like flying with the airline, KLM also has the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® for the U.S. market.

The card has the following welcome offer: Get 50,000 Bonus Miles after you make $2,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening. That more than offsets the $89 annual fee.

If you fly on Air France/KLM often, the card could be a great value due to the following:

• 3 miles per $1 on all Air France, KLM and SkyTeam airline purchases

• 1.5 miles per $1 on all other purchases.

• 60 XP points upon approval.

• No foreign transaction fees.

The ability to earn 3 miles per $1 on all SkyTeam purchases is generous, especially since many other co-branded airline credit cards only offer the high earn rate on spending on that specific airline. Plus, the welcome offer is enough to cover three long-haul promo rewards in economy.

Transfer Flying Blue miles

Air France/KLM is also a transfer partner of all five transferable point programs (AmEx Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards®, Marriott Bonvoy, Citi ThankYou and Capital One Venture), so getting Flying Blue miles into your account is fairly easy. Be on the lookout for transfer bonuses from any of these programs, as KLM often pops up as a transfer partner.

A few things to note:

• For Citi, only the Citi Premier® Card, Citi Prestige® Card and American Express Chairman credit cards allow ThankYou points transfers to AirFrance/KLM.

• Marriott Bonvoy points transfer at a 3:1 ratio (3,000 Bonvoy points = 1,000 Flying Blue miles), and with every 60,000 points transferred, you will earn a 5,000 mile bonus (60,000 Bonvoy points = 25,000 Flying Blue miles).

May 2023 Flying Blue Promo Rewards, recapped

Flying Blue Promo Rewards offer an opportunity to take advantage of reduced award tickets during the promotional period. Browse through these discounted award prices in case your vacation plans align with a city currently on sale.

Although Air France/KLM charges annoying taxes and surcharges on award tickets, you’ll save a significant number of miles, and get a free checked bag. If you don’t have miles in your Flying Blue account, Air France is a partner of all five transferable programs, making it very easy to take advantage of these discounted awards.

The information related to the Citi Prestige® Card and American Express Chairman has been collected by NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product or service.