What to do with 60,000 Flying Blue Miles

Earning 60,000 Flying Blue Miles quickly

With American Express Membership Rewards Cards

In Canada, the most common way to earn Flying Blue miles is through American Express Membership Rewards cards. Membership Rewards points can be converted into Flying Blue Miles at a ratio of 1,000 Membership Rewards points = 1,000 Flying Blue Miles.

Therefore, you need 60,000 Membership Rewards to get 60,000 Flying Blue Miles.

American Express Credit Cards are known to offer generous welcome bonuses. A favourite of mine has always been The Platinum Card^® since the bonus is constantly relatively high.

With the current offer, you earn 70,000 bonus points after you charge $10,000 in purchases to your Card in your first 3 months of membership, then 30,000 more points when you make a purchase between months 15 and 17.

This means you will get between 80,000 and 90,000 Membership Rewards points in your first 3 months since the spending you have to make to unlock the bonus will also generate points; the difference will depend on the earning categories accelerator.

So, The Platinum Card^® will give you between 80,000 and 90,000 Flying Blue Miles in your first 3 months, then 30,000 more between months 15 and 17.

The Platinum Card^® comes with a high fee. However, various perks will offset it, such as the $200 annual travel credit and the $200 annual dining credit, unlimited access to over 1,550 airport lounges worldwide (including the Air France Lounge at Montreal-Trudeau), multiple Amex promotional offers, etc.

If you are travelling as a family, both adults should subscribe to a card to double the amount of Flying Blue Miles. Should you need more than that, you can sign up for the other American Express Cards available:

With Air France KLM Flying Blue Card

If you regularly buy Flights with Air France KLM, you should apply for the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard. With this Card, you earn 30 XP per year for your Flying Blue Elite Status. And you earn 5 Miles per euro spent on Air France KLM flights.

You can also earn more Miles with InCard and eShop offers.

Round-trip fares for 60,000 Flying Blue Miles or less

Europe

With 60,000 Flying Blue Miles or less, you can redeem for pretty much anywhere in Europe or up to two round-trip flights. Indeed, one-way fares start at 15,000 Flying Blue Miles. Various dates are available whether you are looking for a short-term escape or peak summertime.

So, you can either travel to Europe twice with the welcome bonus you get from The Platinum Card^® or bring a companion along for $399: the $799 annual fee, minus the $200 annual travel credit and the $200 annual dining credit.

When considering the rise in airfare prices, $399 is a bargain for two round trips to Europe.

Here are a few destinations available at the low price of 30,000 Flying Blue Miles per person for a return flight to the Old Continent.

There is a direct flight form Quebec City to Paris on Air France, and the low fare also applies from there!

Can’t find low fares to where you want to go, such as Croatia or Italy? You can use a low-cost carrier to get you anywhere you desire from Paris or Amsterdam, Flying Blue’s main hubs, and the one-way flights towards them from Montreal and Quebec are often priced at 15,000 Flying Blue Miles.

And with Promo Rewards, it can go as low as 7,500 Flying Blue Miles, like this example between Montreal and Nice via Paris:

Morocco

You can find fares at 16,000 Flying Blue Miles to Morocco or 32,000 for the round-trip ticket.

This means that you would be able to get two flights with the welcome bonus of The Platinum Card^® since the purchase you make to unlock the bonus will also generate points. Even if you spend solely on the 1X category, you will earn enough to bring someone with you or go twice.

New York City

Delta Airlines link Montreal and JFK airport. A one-way flight to the Big Apple costs 10,500 Flying Blue Miles, which means you could get up to 4 round trips with The Platinum Card^®’s welcome bonus.

Mexico City

Looking for some sun and something more exotic? You can fly one-way to Mexico City with 18,500 Flying Blue Miles or 37,000 return with Aeromexico.

Ecuador and Colombia

Using Flying Blue Miles to the northern South American countries is another option. You can travel with 22,500 Miles for a one-way or 45,000 Miles return to Bogota.

Reaching Ecuador is a bit more expensive than Colombia, but you can get away with 30,000 Flying Blue Miles for a one-way and the same price back, making the most of your The Platinum Card^® welcome bonus.

French Polynesia

The availability of these low fares to French Polynesia is scarce, but you can fly round-trip to the exotic islands for less than 60,000 Flying Blue Miles from Los Angeles!

If you are travelling from Canada, you will need to purchase a positioning flight to the city of the Angels which you can easily do with other programs such as Aeroplan since Air Canada links LAX with many major airports in the country.

Oceania and the South Pacific

You can redeem Flying Blue Miles for round-trip tickets from Australia and New Zealand to the South Pacific on Air New Zealand and Aircalin.

Or you can employ them to hop around the different islands by using Noumea, Aircalin’s hub, as a base.

One-way fares for 60,000 Flying Blue Miles or less

Africa

Paris and Amsterdam are major hubs for connecting flights from North America to Africa. Therefore, you can find one-way fares for 35,000 Flying Blue Miles to African Safari gateways such as Nairobi, Cape Town or Johannesburg.

Asia

Similarly, you can travel to popular destinations in Asia for 35,000 Flying Blue Miles on a one-way flight, such as Vietnam, Singapore and Japan. Once in South-East Asia, you can take a low-cost carrier to go to wherever you wish.

This can be an excellent alternative as these places, especially Japan, are very trendy, and prices can be very high in other programs; having American Express Membership Rewards in your pocket gives you the flexibility to choose the best program for your trip at the most crucial point which is when you are looking for availability and pricing.

South America

Flying Blue Miles can be an excellent way to travel to South America such as Brazil, Chile or Argentina, to experience the colourful carnival, explore the beauty of Patagonia or embark on an Antarctica cruise. SkyTeam partners such as Aerolineas Argentinas and Delta Airlines allow you to redeem less than 60,000 miles for a one-way flight to Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Buenos Aires, and other regional destinations.

Family Sweet Spots

It is worth mentioning that Flying Blue’s perfect for families with children aged 11 years old or less, as their tickets are discounted. Therefore, with fewer than 60,000 Flying Blue Miles, you can purchase 4 one way to Europe for your family trip.

With two adults contributing to the Flying Blue Miles balance, you can earn enough for the return tickets.

Furthermore, booking with Flying Blue entitles you for checked luggage which can be significant savings for the family!

Flying Blue Promo Rewards

Each month, Flying Blue has Promo Rewards, which gives you significant discounts.

For April 2023, you can travel from Montreal to Europe in economy for 50% fewer Miles! As a result, 60,000 Flying Blue Miles would be enough for 4 round trips!

You can find more about the promotion here:

Bottom Line

The Flying Blue program has various great uses, mainly with its low cost to Europe and the monthly Promo Rewards. With the Air France-KLM Flying Blue credit card, you can get More Miles when you buy Air France KLM flights or through InCard and eShop offers. And you have many opportunities to earn Flying Blue Miles with American Express in Canada and France. Or you can buy Flying Blue Miles.

Indeed, they have a lot of fantastic bonuses that can fly the whole family to Europe when paired with amazing Promo Rewards like the current one!

In addition to bonus miles, the ability to earn 5 Membership Rewards per dollar with the American Express Cobalt^® Card on basics such as groceries, restaurants and various other things with gift cards (Amazon, fuel, SAQ, Netflix, etc.) means that you can earn 5 Flying Blue Miles per dollar!

Again, we see that Membership Rewards are so versatile and useful since you don’t have to decide what kind of points you need until the time for redemption.

Go further with Flying Blue

To maximize your Flying Blue Miles earning, check our complete Flying Blue program guide and our best credit cards to earn Flying Blue Miles in Canada ranking. And if a Miles purchase promotion is running, take advantage via our Flying Blue Miles purchase guide with Air France.