Air France-KLM Flying Blue is one of the most useful loyalty programs out there for redeeming points. Flying Blue has access to more long haul award availability on Air France-KLM than other programs, and the points are easy to rack up, thanks to Flying Blue partnering with major transferable points currencies.
Anyway, there’s an interesting development when it comes to Flying Blue’s award pricing, which people will have mixed feelings about. This was trialed several months back, but it’s now an official part of the program.
In this post:
Flying Blue Platinum members get better award pricing
While the Flying Blue program has consistent entry level award pricing, award costs are dynamic beyond that. In general, we’ve seen a decrease in saver level Flying Blue award availability over time, especially on transatlantic flights in business class, presumably reflecting the amount of demand, plus the underlying economics.
Over the summer, Flying Blue quietly began offering better award pricing for its Platinum and Ultimate members, compared to what non-elite, Silver, and Gold members have access to. Well, what started as a test has now become an official program benefit.
When you look at the Flying Blue elite benefits page, you’ll now see “Priority access to lowest Miles fares” described as a benefit for Platinum and Ultimate members, with the following description:
As a Platinum or Ultimate member, you will enjoy better access to the lowest available Miles fares for reward tickets. Compared to other tiers, you’ll more often see these lowest fare levels when booking from your account.
As an example, take a look at a search for business class awards from New York to Paris in March 2026, using the hidden calendar feature. When I’m logged into my Flying Blue Platinum account, I see 20 dates with the lowest award pricing, of just 60,000 miles per seat.
Meanwhile if I do exactly the same search with a non-elite account, the cheapest award cost is 142,000 miles (also available on 20 dates).
It seems like what’s happening is that Platinum members are simply getting access to more saver level award availability. Meanwhile if saver level awards aren’t available, then pricing is the same, regardless of elite status. I’m seeing this across a wide variety of markets, so this isn’t just some isolated thing.
This is a sensible but controversial change
Of course as a consumer, I love when airlines have wide open saver level award availability, including in premium cabins on long haul flights. I mean, who doesn’t? As far as I’m concerned, every seat should be available as a saver award… as long as I don’t have to report to shareholders. 😉
But as I’ve written about before, the miles & points world has changed a lot over the years, and airlines have gotten savvier. Flying Blue is presumably dealing with the same issue that so many programs are — how do you best allocate a limited amount of award availability?
We’ve seen airlines increasingly make award space available to their own members rather than to members of partner frequent flyer programs. It seems the latest trend is limiting some award availability to elite members.
Ultimately Europe is Flying Blue’s biggest market, and for years, loyal Air France-KLM customers in Europe have been complaining about the lack of saver level award space, and about how much harder it is to earn miles in Europe than in the United States.
With that in mind, I think this is a reasonable direction for a program to take:
- It’s a way to reward those who increasingly engage with the Flying Blue program
- It’s an incentive for others to engage more in the program, beyond just making a one-time points transfer
Admittedly I should acknowledge that I’m a Flying Blue Platinum member, and I put the effort in to earn the status. So yes, I’ll absolutely benefit from this. At the same time, I think this just makes good business sense, for the way the industry has evolved.
If you have a very limited number of long haul business class awards, should those go primarily to someone who flies Air France-KLM every week for work, and wants to take their family on vacation? Or should they go to someone who applied for a credit card in the US with a huge bonus, has never flown Air France-KLM before, and just found some seats through an online search tool?
There’s of course no right or wrong answer here, but I think we can all see the reasonable commercial justification for this. And I also appreciate how Flying Blue leadership has been trying to make meaningfully positive changes to the elite program, and this is another example of that (even if it sort of comes at the expense of others).
Bottom line
Air France-KLM now is now officially offering more award space to Flying Blue Platinum and Ultimate members than to others, including for long haul business class flights.
While everyone won’t be a fan of this policy, I think it’s logical enough. There are a limited number of award seats that airlines are going to open up (especially in premium cabins on long haul flights), and the question comes down to how those should be allocated.
We’ve increasingly seen airlines limit award seats to members of their own program rather than to members of other programs, and it feels like the evolution of that is to start limiting award space based on elite status.
What do you make of Flying Blue making more award space available for elite members?
How do you think platforms like seats.aero will deal with this? Will they be able to get this visibility?
Given how affordable business class fares are outside of the US, it makes nearly zero sense to be loyal to these programs anymore. Free agents with zero headache is the way to go. I just have some miles for last minute emergency trips or holiday travels but usually my schedule is flexible so I almost always find a better or equally attractive premium cabin deals for my flights these days
I don't find short haul business class fares that cheap, This is where status really is useful to me, it may be 4 hours of flying combined with 7 hours at airports, lounge access makes a huge difference in those circumstances
i think it's a clever way to differentiate more FB Platinum from FB Gold, which otherwise offer very similar benefits (lounge access and free seat choice mostly). Well done Air France.
The headline should really be "Flying Blue non-elite members get higher award pricing, less availability."
What happened to Air France's promise after they devalued earlier this year that it would lead to more saver level availability? Nothing has changed. I've completely stopped considering them for award bookings.
Which other airlines are doing something similar? Do we know now?
AA had done this for PP and EP up until about three or four years ago. Currently, AA CK (which is somewhat like FB Ultimate) can generally force open an award seat. BA Gold and BA GGL (which are like FB Platinum and Ultimate) can generally force open an award seat. Emirates simply requires some level of tier status to access F award inventory. Just to name a few.
Cathay does a similar thing with "Diamond Inventory" for their Diamond (Emerald) Members. As opposed to cheaper (i.e. saver in Flying Blue) inventory being available, they make more revenue flights redeemable at the standard rate. Quite useful.
Thanks for sharing this!
Since you’re Flying Blue Platinum, I’m curious how you structure your annual elite strategy.
Do you anchor it around something like "one cash La Première fare locks in Platinum for 2026" or take a different approach?
Would love to hear how you strategize earning and maintaining elite status across both airlines and hotels.
Ben posted a few days ago that the basis of his strategy (and it is the most effective way to get Flying Blue XP) is to book award flights on AFKL metal and buy sustainable aviation fuel. If you have the credit cards (which provide an XP boost with either the annual fee or (in the case of the American card) on hitting spend target), it only takes 2400 euro worth of SAF purchases to...
Ben posted a few days ago that the basis of his strategy (and it is the most effective way to get Flying Blue XP) is to book award flights on AFKL metal and buy sustainable aviation fuel. If you have the credit cards (which provide an XP boost with either the annual fee or (in the case of the American card) on hitting spend target), it only takes 2400 euro worth of SAF purchases to get the XP required to retain Platinum or move up from being Gold (and you can donate miles to make up the difference at 2000 miles per extra XP: yes, 600k MR can get/retain Platinum status)
I'm pretty certain that the most cost effective way is to purchase intra-Europe business class tickets with two connections as in XXX-AMS-CDG-YYY and back, that's 90XPs per ticket and I think you can find them for less than €600 apiece, plus you'll obviously get miles from them too.
There are FT threads around optimising routings, but I am no longer interested in engaging with FB after last year's unannounced 70% increase in the 'floor price'...
I'm pretty certain that the most cost effective way is to purchase intra-Europe business class tickets with two connections as in XXX-AMS-CDG-YYY and back, that's 90XPs per ticket and I think you can find them for less than €600 apiece, plus you'll obviously get miles from them too.
There are FT threads around optimising routings, but I am no longer interested in engaging with FB after last year's unannounced 70% increase in the 'floor price' for most intercontinental business class redemptions. There's dynamic pricing and then there's ripping people off on a grand scale.
The steep clip at Platinum is great for those at this level. However it discourages those who know based on their flying pattern that gold will be in reach but platinum isn't to engage in the first place.
Emirates has limited F award availability to its own elites . . . and partners with or without tier status. I would make it purely its own elites (and Qantas). Perhaps giving tiered access -- for example, Platinum at 360 days, Gold at 270 days, Silver at 180 days, and that's it. Partner access to J but not to F.
This explains why i was recently able to book 3 return tickets to Vegas departing from AMS for just 120k points per ticket in april '26.
I am a Platinum-for-life member with FB so i gues the lower rates have kicked in. Nice!
120k points per ticket is supposed to be good?
120k roundtrip is pretty good.
This development might be a good opportunity to reflect on previous comments on this blog along the lines of 'elite status has become so much less valuable over the years'.
I suspect we will be seeing more airlines doing this sort of stuff in the next few years as dynamic pricing has become more common and more airlines have improved their IT as a result of their desire to unbundle and sell more ancillary services.
I was thinking the same thing. Airlines have gutted the value of status, so now they need to lure business travelers back into the hamster wheel of loyalty somehow. I really hope we're not going down the road where most people will have to pick a few airlines to focus on earning enough status to be able to redeem awards at a saver level - one airline to actually fly and earn status, another airline to get a CC and spend your way to status, etc.
I suppose it depends on how keen one is to maximise value. I'm in the ridiculous position of having 4 active Skyteam FFP memberships (SK as a result of the million miles challenge, VS because I live in the UK and have their credit card, AFKL because of the ability to double-dip with Accor and redeem beyond the alliance and KQ because I did a status match to Elite Plus)- in spite of the fact...
I suppose it depends on how keen one is to maximise value. I'm in the ridiculous position of having 4 active Skyteam FFP memberships (SK as a result of the million miles challenge, VS because I live in the UK and have their credit card, AFKL because of the ability to double-dip with Accor and redeem beyond the alliance and KQ because I did a status match to Elite Plus)- in spite of the fact I mostly fly Star Alliance! I expect that's too much hard work for most people out there.
Unfortunately for plats/ultis, LP awards have effectively dried up*; not an issue for those who pay cash for tickets, however this will be a challenge for those who fly exclusively on awards. Cash price for a ow LP ticket first week in January '26 SIN-CDG-IAD is $28,208, first segment in new LP, second segment on "classic" (heh heh heh) LP. Third week in January it's a much more reasonable $20,493.
*There are some obscure LP...
Unfortunately for plats/ultis, LP awards have effectively dried up*; not an issue for those who pay cash for tickets, however this will be a challenge for those who fly exclusively on awards. Cash price for a ow LP ticket first week in January '26 SIN-CDG-IAD is $28,208, first segment in new LP, second segment on "classic" (heh heh heh) LP. Third week in January it's a much more reasonable $20,493.
*There are some obscure LP award routings on some dates for SIN-CDG-WAS, as an example, that price out at 350,000 points, so yes, there is certainly *some* availability, but nothing out there for LP departures to LP destinations that are visible at the moment.
It will kill the US credit card revenue, which must have already dropped. I guess it was never big enough to be a key component.
I guess that they get more revenue from their high tier elites than they do from the US credit card. Certainly not true for US airlines.
@ Beachfan -- It will kill their revenue among people redeeming for 60K points in business class, which I imagine wasn't very profitable in the first place. But there are also plenty of people moving over points to book non-saver awards.
Still can get good pricing on domestic Delta tickets sometimes. Saw one earlier this week but ended up booking the same flight with Virgin instead because the fees were less. (FB was less miles, except Virgin matched once the 40% transfer bonus was factored in, so went with Virgin to save on fees).
The US credit card helps out a lot with getting elite status. And the most cost effective way to get that status, if you have the credit card and/or transferrable points, is to book award tickets on AFKL metal and buy sustainable aviation fuel (if you run 15k USD through the credit card every year, you only need to spend about $2800 on SAF to move up to or retain Platinum), or if you're really...
The US credit card helps out a lot with getting elite status. And the most cost effective way to get that status, if you have the credit card and/or transferrable points, is to book award tickets on AFKL metal and buy sustainable aviation fuel (if you run 15k USD through the credit card every year, you only need to spend about $2800 on SAF to move up to or retain Platinum), or if you're really drowning in transferrable points burn up to 600k miles to get or retain Platinum.
Not surprised. Was seeing too many awards around 140k that were saver/green that were not dropping. Question is if they will ever drop to 60k for non-status holders. It's been one of the best programs to transfer to, so it's really a shame. Kind of impacts the overall value of a transferable point (MR, UR, TY, etc.).
I believe United is currently doing a version of this as well for credit card holders - if...
Not surprised. Was seeing too many awards around 140k that were saver/green that were not dropping. Question is if they will ever drop to 60k for non-status holders. It's been one of the best programs to transfer to, so it's really a shame. Kind of impacts the overall value of a transferable point (MR, UR, TY, etc.).
I believe United is currently doing a version of this as well for credit card holders - if you are a cardholder you get access to the saver rack rate “IN” space if available and if you are not a cardholder you get access to the other dynamic pricing space which may be saver-esque. Presented as cardholders get X% off - sometimes the dynamic pricing is that the cardholders get 1% off, sometimes it's 40% off - just depends, but the non-cardholder rate always appears to hover at least slightly above the "non-published rack rate".
Different model than Delta's here's 15% off if you are a cardholder.
I feel like at some point in the US it will be a combo - either have the top tier credit card or have very good status to get the rack saver rates, otherwise will get dynamic pricing saver rates.
Agreed. This also erodes all the award search tools. Like what's the value in tools like seats.aero if all results start coming back >100k pts?
Strangely if the trend continues, Delta's approach might win out for its simplicity like venture x.
I think it will take Delta all of two seconds to pivot. Earlier this year I would have said United was copying Delta's model with the 10% discounts for cardholders (and on August 1 they made it paying cardholders - if you had the $0 fee card, now have to spend $10k a year on it to get the discount). 88k awards became 80k with the card. Now... hello dynamic pricing, with cardholders getting the...
I think it will take Delta all of two seconds to pivot. Earlier this year I would have said United was copying Delta's model with the 10% discounts for cardholders (and on August 1 they made it paying cardholders - if you had the $0 fee card, now have to spend $10k a year on it to get the discount). 88k awards became 80k with the card. Now... hello dynamic pricing, with cardholders getting the "rack saver rate" presented as a % discount to the non-cardholder saver rate.
Would love to see Delta copy something from their JV partner that is customer-friendly and rewards top-tier elites, but we all know that 'improvements' to SkyMiles don't move in that direction.
This is a very good and important step in the right direction of turning FB back into a frequent flyer program rather than a credit card scheme, and a sign of AFKL realising they may have gone too far. The new availability is fantastic.
Still, I think it's not going far enough and doesn't solve the problem for Golds etc. I wish they would drastically limit the amount of CC miles in the system. Ideally...
This is a very good and important step in the right direction of turning FB back into a frequent flyer program rather than a credit card scheme, and a sign of AFKL realising they may have gone too far. The new availability is fantastic.
Still, I think it's not going far enough and doesn't solve the problem for Golds etc. I wish they would drastically limit the amount of CC miles in the system. Ideally it should be linked to flying activity, e.g. let people transfer no more than 100% or 200% of what they earned last year. The current system where someone with zero loyalty to the airline/alliance just comes and snags awards from actual frequent flyers must stop.
Mileage programs have long since stopped being loyalty programs. If you were more profitable as someone who flew 20 times on Air France vs the person who signed up for the credit card, the would surely seek to reflect that, right?
@James K. - Well, they are clearly reflecting it with this change.
European airlines still make most money from being airlines.
the main issue i have with this is the "all or nothing" approach. to go from 0 seats available at 60k in march as a gold member to 20 available as platinum is ridiculous.
You're telling me you can't stagger it a bit so silver has 6 seats in march, gold has 12, plat has 20 or something like that?
in general its a bit rich for these airlines to complain about all the US...
the main issue i have with this is the "all or nothing" approach. to go from 0 seats available at 60k in march as a gold member to 20 available as platinum is ridiculous.
You're telling me you can't stagger it a bit so silver has 6 seats in march, gold has 12, plat has 20 or something like that?
in general its a bit rich for these airlines to complain about all the US credit card holders having access to their miles, when they made a ton of money selling those miles to US banks. but i digress
@ Harold -- I agree there's definitely a lot of potential optimization, but I'm also not sure if increased complexity ends up being good for consumers. Sure, you can look at it as a 20 vs. 0 situation, though conversely, you could also look at it as there being one or two extra seats for Platinum members per flight on many days, which doesn't seem unreasonable.
Credit cards are of course massive businesses for US...
@ Harold -- I agree there's definitely a lot of potential optimization, but I'm also not sure if increased complexity ends up being good for consumers. Sure, you can look at it as a 20 vs. 0 situation, though conversely, you could also look at it as there being one or two extra seats for Platinum members per flight on many days, which doesn't seem unreasonable.
Credit cards are of course massive businesses for US airlines, and not quite as big for foreign airlines. While there's upside for Flying Blue as well, it's not like the company is really making money when people transfer points and then redeem 60K for business class. So yeah, it's a tough balance...
It is all about giving you an incentive to push for Platinum or Ultimate. If Flying Blue know that you can get some saver seats for being Silver, what is the point of moving forwards to Gold or above if you then can buy the points or transfer them from a credit card.
By pushing this to Platinum and Ultimate members, then you have a reason to go for Platinum and access these saver seats....
It is all about giving you an incentive to push for Platinum or Ultimate. If Flying Blue know that you can get some saver seats for being Silver, what is the point of moving forwards to Gold or above if you then can buy the points or transfer them from a credit card.
By pushing this to Platinum and Ultimate members, then you have a reason to go for Platinum and access these saver seats. Basic, yet highly smart marketing which makes a lot of sense.
As a PfL, and current Ultimate in Flying Blue, I am very pleased with this new move as it will be very good going forwards.
Do note that while you might get better award availability as a Platinum, cash upgrades as gold/platinum are significantly more expensive than regular Flying Blue members. You can avoid this by not adding your FB number upon booking, but only after check-in.
That's interesting. Is this common in other programs/airlines?
I was under the impression that it wasn't precisely status, but whether the person had taken a cash upgrade in the recent past. I believe there's even a "no discounted upgrades" code that gets assigned to a passenger.
As a FB Plat and serial upgrader (people will pay my ticket, but not the comfortable cabin), I admire the simplicity of the "just don't tell them until it's too late" strategy. I've usually had to...
I was under the impression that it wasn't precisely status, but whether the person had taken a cash upgrade in the recent past. I believe there's even a "no discounted upgrades" code that gets assigned to a passenger.
As a FB Plat and serial upgrader (people will pay my ticket, but not the comfortable cabin), I admire the simplicity of the "just don't tell them until it's too late" strategy. I've usually had to resort to using miles to upgrade, since there was never any reasonably-priced availability. What else was I to do with those miles?
Now, weeks before I become Plat for life, I'll be taking my first award flight, thanks to this enhancement.
I appreciate it, as it addresses one of the real challenges out there: the US is swimming in awards currencies, and airlines that offer good redemptions are effectively selling their seats to US customers at the expense of the rest of the world. At the same time, redemptions offer a great way to keep load factors high without lowering ticket prices.
But loyalty should also be about encouraging customers to choose your airline and not the competition. And just selling to the customers who have to plan their two weeks of vacation ten months out really limits the customers that miles redemptions can affect.
Do we know if this is exclusive to platinum or do lower tiers get a some increased availability?
@ PJRabie -- It's exclusive for Platinum and Ultimate, there's no incremental availability for Silver and Gold.
Why don't you read the f*cking article?
I did and missed that for some reason. I almost feel obligated to apologize but realize your response completely unwarranted