Flying Blue, the Air France and KLM loyalty program has been growing in popularity in Canada for a number of years now.
This growth is almost certain to continue thanks to the airlines’ commitment to expanding their route offerings in Canada, and also thanks to Brim Financial’s introduction of the first Flying Blue co-branded credit card in Canada, the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®.
Giving cardholders the opportunity to earn Flying Blue miles on everyday purchases, this card has been a welcome addition to the Canadian Miles & Points landscape, and in this article, we’ll share four reasons why you should be adding the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® to your wallet.
1. Miles Accelerator
The Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® is the only co-branded credit card available in Canada for either of these two airlines, allowing you to earn Flying Blue miles on all your purchases.
As a cardholder and member of Flying Blue, you earn 2 Flying Blue miles per dollar spent (all figures in CAD) at restaurants and bars and 1 Flying Blue mile per dollar spent on all other purchases.
Additionally, and most notably, by simply being an Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® cardholder, you earn the accelerated earning rate of 5 bonus Flying Blue miles per euro spent on Air France and KLM marketed flights, which is in addition to the regular earning rate that you get based on your Flying Blue member elite status. (Though keep in mind that the accelerated earning rate is only applied to your personal ticket and not to any other tickets, even on the same booking.)
As you can see from the above chart, with the miles accelerator feature provided by the card, you can earn up to 13 Flying Blue miles per euro spent on your Air France and KLM flights, depending on your membership status tier.
This feature makes this card a must-have for anyone who purchases cash fares with Air France or KLM since your balance will increase quickly even if you don’t have top-tier status with the airlines.
With one-way economy flights from North America to Europe available for as low as 20,000 Flying Blue miles (and sometimes even less), you can quickly earn enough miles for your next adventure.
For example, if you spent $10,000 annually on restaurants and bars and paid these expenses with your Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®, you would earn 20,000 Flying Blue miles, which could be enough for a one-way economy ticket from Toronto (YYZ) to Amsterdam (AMS) or Vancouver (YVR) to Barcelona (BCN), just to name a couple potential redemption options.
2. Competitive Award Pricing
Air France and KLM combined offer non-stop flights from their respective hubs in Paris and Amsterdam to Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City, providing great coverage for Canadians in both primary and secondary markets.
Flying Blue also happens to have some of the most competitive “starting at” award prices for flights between North America and Europe, as follows:
- Economy: 20,000 miles
- Premium economy: 35,000 miles
- Business class: 50,000 miles
Additionally, these prices are sometimes reduced through Flying Blue’s monthly Promo Rewards, which make a good deal even better.
The monthly Promo Rewards discount select award prices by up to 50% (though a more typical discount is around 25%), which means you may be able to find a one-way economy flight from North America to Europe for as little as 10,000 miles, or a flight in business class for 25,000 or 37,500 miles.
For example, in September 2024, two Canadian cities – Ottawa and Montreal – are featured in the Promo Rewards promotion.
This means that you can find the following “starting at” prices on flights to or from Europe with Air France or KLM:
- Premium economy: 26,250 miles (from Montreal)
- Business class: 37,500 miles (from Montreal or Ottawa)
With a robust network in Canada and Europe and competitive award pricing, it won’t take long for the miles you earn on the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® to result in a transatlantic flight on the cheap.
3. Status Boost
As a member of the Flying Blue program and a holder of the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®, you not only earn Flying Blue miles that you can redeem for flights (and more), but you’ll also earn Flying Blue XP (Experience Points) to help you move up the elite status ladder.
You earn XP every time you fly on an eligible paid flight marketed or operated by Air France, KLM, Transavia (only Plus and Max fares), Aircalin, Air Corsica flights between Paris-Orly and Corsica, and with SkyTeam airline partners (when you choose to attach your Flying Blue member number to your booking).
The number of XP you earn is based on the flight distance and cabin class, and it can range from 2XP for a one-way domestic economy flight, all the way up to 60XP for a one-way long-haul (over 5,000 miles) flight in First Class.
To help you on your elite status quest, the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® typically comes with 60 XP as a welcome bonus for new cardholders, and 30XP as an annual bonus that you’ll receive when you renew your card at its yearly anniversary. These XP will help you fast-track to the next elite level and additional elite benefits.
The program has five status levels: Explorer, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Ultimate. The number of Flying Blue XP you earn each year determines your elite status level within the Flying Blue program, which in turn determines what elite benefits you’ll enjoy.
For example, with Silver status (which requires 100XP), you’ll get the following perks and benefits, amongst others:
- Earn 6 miles per euro spent on Air France and KLM flights (plus 5 miles per € spent with the Miles Accelerator on your Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®)
- Priority check-in and baggage drop-off
- Complimentary standard seat selection
- One extra free checked bag on Air France, KLM, and SkyTeam-member airline flights
If you progress through the status tiers up to Platinum status, you’ll enjoy many incremental perks and benefits, including the following:
- Earn 8 miles per euro spent on Air France and KLM flights (plus 5 miles per € spent with the Miles Accelerator on your Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®)
- Complimentary lounge access for you and one guest
- 100% bonus miles on flights operated by SkyTeam airlines
- Complimentary seating options at the time of booking
- Priority boarding
- SkyTeam Elite Plus status
- The ability to redeem Flying Blue miles for Air France La Premiere
With the XP that you can earn on an ongoing basis from the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®, you’ll find yourself with a head start to earning status year after year.
4. Earn Flying Blue Miles Everywhere
As a Mastercard product, the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® enjoys wide acceptance both at home and abroad, making it a useful addition to your wallet.
In fact, there are occasionally businesses that exclusively accept Mastercard products, such as Costco, making this card particularly useful if you often stock up on groceries and household supplies at this wholesale giant and want to also stock up on miles.
The Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® is also a great card to use for earning miles on groceries, gas, and all your day-to-day expenses where Mastercard is your best or only option. Despite the fact that these categories only earn the baseline rate of 1 mile per dollar spent, if you use the card for most of your purchases, your miles balance will grow quickly.
Plus, we value Flying Blue miles at 2 cents per point (CAD), so even this baseline earning rate is still a solid 2% return, especially if you’re able to redeem your miles at a higher value.
With the card, you’ll also earn 2 miles per dollar spent at restaurants and bars, and you can earn additional miles (up to 30 miles per dollar spent) by shopping with Brim’s partnered merchants.
However, one thing to keep in mind when you’re using the card abroad is that despite being co-branded with two European airlines, the card still levies the typical 2.5% foreign transaction fee on all purchases made in foreign currencies, so you’ll want to take this cost into account when valuing the miles you’re accumulating abroad.
Conclusion
Flying Blue miles are great to get you from North America to Europe and the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® is an excellent way to earn these valuable miles at an accelerated rate and on all your daily purchases.
As you can see above, there are many reasons why the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® is a strong addition to any Miles & Points wallet, so if you often fly with Air France or KLM, or you’re dreaming of a European trip in your future, you should certainly consider signing up for this card.