Air France: what is the real value of your Flying Blue Miles?
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A Flying Blue Mile is worth anywhere from 0.2 to more than 8 cents, depending on how you use it. From Canada, the best return comes from an Economy ticket at the Promo Reward price, not from a premium cabin. On the September 28, 2026 Montreal-Paris flight, Economy booked for 18,750 Miles while Premium asked for 275,500 on the same aircraft.
The Flying Blue program from Air France-KLM lets you redeem Miles for flights, upgrades, hotel nights or items from the Flying Blue Store. These options do not have the same value at all, and the gap is huge.
The cabin matters much less than the price of the day, and the best use of a Mile is worth more than 25 times the worst.
Earn Flying Blue Miles
Before diving into the value of your Flying Blue Miles with Air France, make sure you have enough Miles in your account. For a transfer to be worthwhile, we recommend having at least 20,000 Flying Blue Miles.
If your balance is at zero, start by reading our article on the best ways to earn Flying Blue Miles, or consider an Air France KLM American Express card. Unlike American Express cards in France and Canada, which earn Membership Rewards points, the Air France KLM American Express Silver, Gold and Platinum cards earn Flying Blue Miles.
| Credit card | Annual fee | Welcome offer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 |
Define the value of a Flying Blue Mile
There is no standard value for Flying Blue Miles, because it depends on the rewards you choose in exchange. That is why it pays to use your Miles only on the benefits that really interest you, to get the best possible value for every Mile you earn.
The best use of a Flying Blue Mile is still a flight, at the regular or Promo Reward price. But not just any flight: the examples below show that Economy at the Promo Reward price returns more than the premium cabins.
Divide the cash value of what you get by the number of Miles required, after subtracting the taxes you pay in cash. A ticket at 20,000 Miles plus $113 in taxes, with a cash equivalent of $180, gives ($180 - $113) / 20,000, or 0.3 cents per Mile. Apply this to every option before choosing: it is the only way to see which one really serves you.
Apply the same formula to an item from the Flying Blue Store and the result collapses: expect about 0.3 cents per Mile, or 27 times less than an Economy ticket at the Promo Reward price. That is why we advise against spending your Miles there.
Air France reward tickets and Promo Rewards
Reward tickets are flights you can book with Flying Blue Miles. Promo Reward tickets are also booked with Flying Blue Miles, but at a discount of up to 25% on the number of Miles normally required for a reward ticket. New Promo Rewards are released on the first day of each month and are subject to availability.
The higher the cash price of a flight and the lower its price in Flying Blue Miles, the higher the value of each Mile. To get the most from your Miles, look for Air France Promo Reward tickets, when the number of Miles required for a reward ticket drops by up to 25%.
Contrary to popular belief, it is not the cabin that decides the return on your Miles, it is the price of the day. The figures below all apply to the same aircraft: Air France flight AF0343, nonstop Montreal-Paris on Monday, September 28, 2026, a Boeing 787-9. Prices in Miles and prices in cash side by side, in Canadian dollars.
| Cabin | Miles | Taxes and fees | Cash price | Value per Mile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economy | 25,000 | $225.21 | $1,841 | 6.46 cents |
| Premium | 275,500 | $353.91 | $3,261 | 1.06 cents |
| Business | 326,000 | not recorded | $7,670 | 2.35 cents at most |
Economy returned six times more than Premium on this flight. And the cabin hierarchy shows up nowhere in the right-hand column.
In Economy
Air France asked for 25,000 Miles and $225.21 in taxes and fees for the one-way ticket. The same seat, on the same flight, sold for $1,841 in cash.
The value per Mile was therefore ($1,841 - $225.21) ÷ 25,000, or 6.46 cents per Mile. That was a very good return.
The second departure the same day, at 7 p.m., offered the same cabin for 18,750 Miles: that was the Promo Reward price, a quarter fewer Miles for a ticket that sold for the same cash price. The value per Mile there exceeded 8 cents.
In Premium
On the same flight, the Premium cabin asked for 275,500 Miles and $353.91 for a ticket that sold for $3,261 in cash. The value dropped to ($3,261 - $353.91) ÷ 275,500, or 1.06 cents per Mile.
Eleven times more Miles than Economy, for a ticket that cost less than twice as much in cash. It was the worst use of a reward ticket on this route.
In Business
Business asked for 326,000 Miles on this departure, against $7,670 in cash. Even ignoring taxes entirely, which is impossible in practice, the value topped out at 2.35 cents per Mile.
Better than Premium, far behind Economy. And the second evening departure, two hours later, asked for 564,000 Miles for the same cabin on the same route.
In La Première
La Première is not offered on nonstop flights between Montreal and Paris. From Canada, it therefore means a flight departing from Europe, and it remains subject to a status requirement that few travellers meet.
Value of Miles for a hotel stay
The Hotels for Miles platform lets you book more than 500,000 properties with Flying Blue Miles. You can filter them by price, category, rating, hotel chain and neighbourhood.
To pay for a hotel stay, the value of a Mile ranges from 0.3 to 0.6 cents. As you can see, the value is far lower than for a reward ticket.
| Hotels | Value per Mile |
| 3 stars | About 0.6 cents |
| 5 stars | About 0.4 cents |
| Palaces | About 0.3 cents |
The rule is the reverse of flights: the more upscale the property, the lower the value per Mile. A palace works out to about 0.3 cents per Mile, a three-star hotel about 0.6 cents. Paying with Miles and cash combined raises that return slightly.
Value of Miles in the Flying Blue Store
The Flying Blue Store exchanges Miles for everyday items, from household appliances to travel accessories, with brands such as Apple, Bosch, Ray-Ban and Samsonite. You can also pay with Miles and cash combined.
The return there is the lowest of all: from 0.2 to 0.4 cents per Mile. In other words, an item paid in Miles costs you about ten times what the same Miles are worth on a well-chosen flight.
The Flying Blue Experiences section follows the same logic. A concert or a game books for 60,000 to 120,000 Miles, the price of several one-way Promo Reward flights to Europe.
Where your Miles are worth the most
The values in this article apply to specific flights on specific dates. They change with dates, booking classes and monthly promotions. The method does not change: always compare the price in Miles and the cash price of the same flight, taxes deducted.
For a Canadian departure, these figures go against a piece of advice you often hear. Always aiming for premium cabins does not pay: on Montreal-Paris, Premium dropped to 1.06 cents per Mile while Economy returned 6.46, and Business also stayed far behind Economy.
There is even a surprise: on Vancouver-Paris, Business at the Promo Reward price cost 41,000 fewer Miles than Premium on the same flight. Before confirming a Premium ticket, check the cabin above.
What really makes the difference lies elsewhere. It is the Promo Reward price, which cuts up to 25% off the number of Miles required, that pushes the value above 8 cents. Watch for the dates when it appears, flight by flight, rather than moving up a cabin.
On the other hand, hotel nights, Flying Blue Store items and experiences rarely return more than 0.6 cents per Mile. They are fallback options, not goals.
| Credit card | Annual fee | Welcome offer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 |
Flying Blue Miles value: frequently asked questions
Which credit card should you choose for travel?
If you travel regularly, your choice of credit card makes all the difference for travel insurance, points earning, airport lounge access and foreign transaction fees. Use our credit card comparison tool to filter through more than 200 Canadian cards based on your needs, or go straight to our ranking of the best travel credit cards, updated every month. To earn Flying Blue Miles, the American Express Cobalt Card lets you transfer Membership Rewards points to Flying Blue.
- Annual fee
- $191.88
- Our valuationMilesopedia first-year estimate First-year valueWelcome bonus$255Total$255Rewards on your spending are not included. The calculator that adds them from your own profile is on the card's page.
- $255
- Welcome offerGet 1,250 points after $750 in purchases per month for 12 months
- Up to 15,000 points
Apply Now
on American Express's website
Apply with confidenceCheck whether your application will be approved before you submit it, with no impact on your credit score*When you apply for a personal American Express Credit Card, we will tell you whether you are eligible without affecting your credit score. So you can apply with confidence.*Instant decisions are only available for consumer Card applications (also called “personal Cards”).
What is a Flying Blue Mile worth?
On average, the market value of a Flying Blue Mile with Air France can range from 0.2 to more than 8 cents. It depends on what you redeem your Miles for.
How do you calculate the value of a Flying Blue Mile?
The formula fits on one line: the cash price, minus the taxes you pay either way, divided by the number of Miles required. The result is expressed in cents per Mile. A useful benchmark: below 1 cent, keep your Miles; above 1.5 cents, the redemption is worth it. It is the price of the day that drives this figure up, not the cabin: on the same flight, Economy at the Promo Reward price easily beats Premium and Business.
How can you use your Flying Blue Miles with Air France?
There are seven options: reward tickets and Promo Rewards, upgrades, a flight in La Première, in-flight options, a hotel stay through Hotels for Miles, purchases in the Flying Blue Store and donations to a charity. Economy reward tickets, especially at the Promo Reward price, offer by far the best return; the Store and hotels offer the lowest.
Can you transfer Flying Blue Miles to a family member?
Yes, you can share Flying Blue Miles with family members through Flying Blue Family. If you are a member aged 18 or over, you can create your Flying Blue Family through "My profile" on the Air France or KLM website. You can then invite other members to join your Family. A Flying Blue Family can include up to eight members: the Family leader, one other adult and six children. Only the member who creates the Family can transfer Miles from the other members’ accounts to their own.
Can you buy Flying Blue Miles with Air France?
Yes, you can buy Flying Blue Miles on the loyalty program’s website. Flying Blue regularly runs limited-time offers, in the form of discounts or bonus Miles. These offers are personalized: the amount shown depends on your account and only appears once you are logged in. Milesopedia covers these offers, so be sure to subscribe to our newsletter so you do not miss any.
What can you do with 5,000 Flying Blue Miles?
With 5,000 Flying Blue Miles, you could get a short-haul ticket to a European destination. However, in this case the market value of a Mile is not attractive at all. We would rather recommend waiting until you have at least 30,000 Flying Blue Miles before spending them: that is the threshold where a long-haul one-way ticket in Economy becomes accessible, and where the value per Mile is highest.
What can you do with 100,000 Flying Blue Miles?
There is a lot you could do with 100,000 Flying Blue Miles. For example, you could fly to Mauritius in Business. Tickets for 70,000 Flying Blue Miles do come up. A real bargain!
How many Flying Blue Miles do you need for a reward flight with Air France?
The number of Flying Blue Miles you need for a reward ticket with Air France depends on the destination, the distance, the date and the cabin you want to travel in. For example, on the September 28, 2026 flight, a one-way Montreal-Paris ticket in Economy cost 25,000 Miles and $225.21 in taxes and fees, and dropped to 18,750 Miles at the Promo Reward price. For short-haul flights, including flights within Europe, tickets start at 5,625 Miles.
Go further with Flying Blue
To maximize your Flying Blue Miles earning, see our complete Flying Blue program guide and our ranking of the best credit cards to earn Flying Blue Miles in Canada. And if a Miles purchase promotion is running, take advantage of it through our guide to buying Flying Blue Miles with Air France.