The Air France-KLM World Elite Mastercard has been in the US market for several years now, and is issued by Bank of America. We’re increasingly seeing non-US airlines launch credit cards in the United States, and that’s pretty cool.
We’ve seen a new limited-time welcome bonus rolled out on this card, which is in line with the best bonuses I’ve ever seen on this card (thanks to Frequent Miler for flagging this). Specifically, you can earn 70,000 Flying Blue miles upon completing minimum spending, plus can get quite a bit of help toward status.
Let’s take a closer look at the card…
In this post:
Air France-KLM Credit Card details
Here are the basics of the Air France-KLM credit card:
- Welcome bonus: earn 70,000 bonus miles plus 40 XP after making $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days, plus 60 XP upon approval
- Annual fee: $89 (not waived the first year)
- Return on spending: 3x miles per dollar spent directly with Air France, KLM, and SkyTeam member airlines, 1.5x miles per dollar spent on all other purchases
- Other benefits: 5,000 miles every year on your account anniversary after you spend $50 or more on purchases within the anniversary year, plus 20 XP on your account anniversary every year without any spend requirement, plus 40 additional XP on your account anniversary when you spend $15,000 in purchases within the cardmember year
- Foreign transaction fees: None
For context on XPs, that’s the metric by which you earn status with Flying Blue:
- 100 XPs gets you Silver status, which you could earn with this bonus
- You then need 180 additional XPs to earn Gold status
- You then need 300 additional XPs to earn Platinum status
As someone who is currently pursuing Flying Blue elite status, the 100 XPs I’ve earned from the card have gone a long way to helping me qualify for a higher status tier.
My take on the Air France-KLM Credit Card
In general I don’t recommend using an airline credit card for a majority of your spending, as there are typically better credit cards for everyday spending. That’s more general commentary than something specific to this card.
That’s simply because cards that accrue transferable points give you a lot more flexibility, and often have better bonus categories and welcome bonuses.
Is this the most amazing airline credit card ever? No. But I do think it offers some solid perks and unique benefits that could make it a keeper:
- Earning 1.5x miles per dollar spent on all purchases is better than average for an airline credit card
- While the card has an $89 annual fee, the 5,000 bonus miles when spending $50 on the card in a year (which is a reasonable threshold) should nearly cover the annual fee in terms of value
- The card can help you earn XPs toward Flying Blue status (both as part of the bonus and on an ongoing basis), which some may find to be worthwhile
As someone who is going for Flying Blue Platinum status, this is a card that I have, though it’s not one that I spend a ton on. Flying Blue is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou, so generally I’d rather maximize my rewards with some of those credit cards, since many of them offer 1.5-2x points per dollar spent.
- 5x total points on travel purchased through Chase Travel
- 3x points on dining
- 2x points on travel purchases
- $95
- 3x points on Travel after the $300 Annual Travel Credit
- 3x points on Dining
- $300 Travel Credit
- $550
- Earn 3x points on travel
- Earn 3x points on shipping purchases
- Cell Phone Protection
- $95
- 4x points at restaurants, on up to $50,000 in purchases annually
- 4x points at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases annually
- 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or through amextravel.com
- $325
- Earn 5x points on flights purchased directly from airlines or through Amex Travel (up to $500k/year)
- $200 Annual Uber Credit
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $695
- Earn 2x miles per dollar on every purchase
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary
- $395
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check Credit
- $95
- Unlimited 2x miles per dollar
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Capital One Travel Portal
- $0 intro for first year; $95 after that
- 3x on Dining
- Earn Points on Rent with No Fees
- 15 Points Transfer Partners
- $0
On top of that, we even sometimes see transfer bonuses to Flying Blue (typically around 25%), which can improve your points earning rates even more.
Bottom line
The Air France-KLM Card is one that many people may not have considered, but it could be worthwhile. The card currently has a bonus of 70,000 Flying Blue miles plus 100 XPs upon completing minimum spending.
This is an excellent offer for those who have had most other cards but not this one. This card is especially valuable if you’re pursuing elite status with the Flying Blue program.
Anyone plan on picking up the Air France-KLM World Elite Mastercard?
Can you further explain? I have Amex platinum and just got this card as well. Both are designed to fund trips to Europe. Is that not going to work?
Beware, if you get this card it pollutes your account with "non partner" earnings and you then need to take actual flights in order to extend the expiration (rather than just transferring points in from Amex etc.). Hard pass for me given that.
If you got this card now and earned the Silver status this year through meeting the minimum spend, would that status be valid through the end of 2025? Have a SAS (now part of Skyteam) J class long haul in 2025 so would like to have the Silver status valid through next year. Thanks!
I was waiting for this card, but I think I'll have to wait for the next round..timing is off on this card for now. Currently FB Gold until next year should be easy to get it since I have a few trips planned overseas. I just knew this would happen lol
Also, as I'm sure the vast majority of people on here know, you often can book DL award flights cheaper through AF than directly with DL plus they have some great periodic award sales to Europe.
I've been planning to get this card and would have for the 50,000 miles - getting 70,000 miles is making me apply this week.
I just got this card with 60k miles plus $150 cash back when buying a KLM flight. So a slight variation on this offer.
Also happy on the 15k redemption on my SEA-ARN flight on AF. No way I could get that on DL! Easy transfer from Cap1 Venture X.
Hey Ben, any reviews or review trips in the pipeline?
@ Ben Holz -- Funny timing, as I literally just booked one, and I'm leaving this week. I'll be sharing the details shortly. :-)
Looking forward to it :)