The Air France-KLM Flying Blue program offers a lot of value, and is one of the frequent flyer programs that I use the most. I have Flying Blue Platinum status, and frequently redeem on the airline across the Atlantic, especially thanks to the extra award seats that Platinum members get.
In this post, I’d like to talk about two aspects of the Flying Blue program that families will certainly appreciate, when it comes to being able to maximize values. These are things I wish we’d see at more programs.
In this post:
Save 25% on Air France-KLM awards for kids
The Flying Blue program offers a 25% discount on award tickets for children between the ages of two and 11, when traveling with an adult. This feature is valid for travel on Air France and KLM, and not for travel on partner airlines. This is a really cool feature, as there aren’t many frequent flyer programs offering award discounts for children.
To take advantage of this, just visit the Air France or KLM website to make your award booking. Make sure you indicate that one (or more) of the travelers is a child.
The search results will reflect the total mileage cost for all travelers. So taking a business class example from New York to Paris for two passengers (one adult and one child), I see a price of 105,000 miles.
When you select the flight you want and look at the price breakdown, you’ll see that the adult traveler is charged 60,000 miles, while the child traveler is charged 45,000 miles.
This works in all cabins, and suffice it to say that in economy this could lead to some very cheap redemptions, especially if you’re able to take advantage of a Promo Rewards ticket.
It’s nice to see the program offering value for families, as there aren’t many frequent flyer programs with policies like this. Interestingly, while Flying Blue has a great policy for children, the program doesn’t have a very good policy for infants.
If you’re redeeming miles for an adult and want to take an infant, you’ll have to pay 10% of the cash fare. Other frequent flyer programs often let you redeem a small number of miles for an infant. So I’d say Flying Blue is great for children, but not great for infants.
Ironically, if you choose to book a seat for your infant (not everyone wants to travel with a lap infant), that 25% discount doesn’t apply. So you’ll pay more for an award ticket for a one year old than a three year old.
Keep in mind that Flying Blue miles are easy to earn, as the program is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou.
Flying Blue also allows family mileage pooling
Not only does Flying Blue offer a 25% discount on award tickets for children, but the program also makes it easy to pool miles as a family. With the Flying Blue Family program, up to eight Flying Blue members (up to two adults and up to six children) can pool their miles. There are no minimums as to how many miles you can pool, and this is easy to set up.
This is great for being able to rack up miles toward an award ticket more quickly. For example, if a family of five takes a trip and each person earns 5,000 miles, that probably won’t be enough for an award ticket anytime soon. However, if you can pool those miles, you might just have enough for a ticket for one or two people.
Bottom line
If you have children, the Air France-KLM Flying Blue program has a couple of unique features that make it worth considering. Flying Blue offers a 25% discount on award tickets for children ages two to 11, and also makes it easy for families to pool miles.
These are both great features, so if you’re a parent, make sure you keep this aspect of Flying Blue in mind. Unfortunately the program’s infant policy isn’t as generous as some other programs, and requires paying 10% of the cash fare for the cabin you’re traveling in.
Have any OMAAT readers used the Flying Blue children award discount?
Sounds like someone running the program has kids and wanted a family discount
Let’s see 25% off one of their 525,000 one way awards might not help very much
Booked from the virgin side on their metal much less in points
So this is really nice, particularly as a family of 4. I have a tangential question... We almost never fly Delta but have a trip next year where Delta may be the best flight for us (We are chicago based and mainly AA flyers).
Would you credit the Delta miles to Flying Blue? We can then pool as a family and transfer Chase points as needed.
Yes I would
Greg, I would highly recommend this. I have been crediting all DL flights to Flying Blue for several years already. As i reside in both Palm Beach and NYC, I am forced to fly Delta a lot. Delta is a lousy airline, regardless of what their ads say, and Delta's Skymiles program sucks. I've had great availability for free seats on AF many times over the past few years.
I'm pretty sure this does apply to travel on partners too
Is your 'partner' a 'child'? Is the flight headed to Little Saint James? /s
Yup, it applies to partner airlines, too. I use Flying Blue miles for WestJet flights all the time and it's great with kids, too.
The challenge to Family Sharing is who is excluded. Adult children. Family members other than children: parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, nieces/nephews, grandchildren. This is not too much to ask.
Fair enough. Some 'adult children' and parents act like 'kids' anyway.