A trip to Italy on the horizon? You can now redeem or collect Flying Blue miles for flights on ITA Airways, formerly known as Alitalia.
It’s hard to say how long this partnership will last. In May 2023, Star Alliance member Lufthansa bought a 41% stake in ITA Airways. We can therefore imagine that ITA Airways will eventually join Star Alliance and leave SkyTeam, the alliance to which Air France-KLM (and thus Flying Blue) also belong.
For the time being, it’s possible to book a flight with ITA Airways using your Flying Blue miles.
From May 10, 2024, ITA Airways will launch its route between Rome airport (FCO) and Toronto Pearson airport (YYZ). This flight will initially operate 6 times a week and will then become a daily flight from June 1, 2024.
Here is the schedule:
This will be ITA Airways’ first direct flight to Canada, and will be operated by Airbus A330-20 and A330-900neo aircraft.
For example, you can try ITA Airways business class to Rome from Toronto for 74,500 Flying Blue miles and CAD 199.06 on July 17:
By way of comparison, other flights are available in business class for the same date and itinerary at 50,000 miles + $342 in fees and taxes on Air France, but with a connecting flight.
In addition to the new Rome-Toronto link, we can use ITA Airways for many domestic flights in Italy, including departures from the following cities: Alghero, Bari, Bologna, Brindisi, Cagliari, Catania, Florence, Genoa, Lamezia Terme, Milan Linate, Milan Malpensa, Naples, Olbia (from Trieste), Palermo, Pescara, Reggio Calabria, Rome Fiumicino, Trieste, Turin and Venice.
As for international flights, ITA Airways offers service to the following cities: Boston, Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, New Delhi, New York, Malé, Miami, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Washington and soon Toronto.
ITA Airways also serves numerous destinations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East from Italy. Find out more about their network here.
For example, you could fly from Rome to New York in business class for 72,000 miles and CAN$109.
Or Milan to London, also in business class, for just 20,000 miles and CAN$38 in fees and taxes.
Using the Flight Connections tool, you can easily examine all the flight options offered by ITA Airways and use your creativity to explore all possible options for a trip that covers several countries, for example.
Of course, you need to calculate whether the price in points is worth it, since prices are often very competitive in Europe. This can be part of your strategy to get cheaper flights to Europe in high season, and even allow you to explore more destinations once you’re in Europe!
The main method of collecting Flying Blue miles in Canada is with American Express Membership Rewards cards. You can transfer your Membership Rewards into Flying Blue Miles at a ratio of 1,000 Membership Rewards points = 750 Flying Blue Miles.
Here are the American Express Rewards Cards available in Canada:
The second method of collecting Flying Blue miles in Canada is with American Express Marriott Bonvoy cards. You can transfer your Marriott Bonvoy points into Miles from numerous frequent flyer programs, including Flying Blue, at the ratio of 3 Marriott Bonvoy points = 1 Mile.
And if you transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, you’ll earn 5,000 bonus Miles. Thus, 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points = 25,000 Flying Blue Miles.
The two Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards available in Canada are:
In France, there are 3 Air France KLM American Express credit cards. Their welcome bonus is unlike anything you’ll find in North America:
Rather, their value lies in the benefits provided, including:
If Italy is on your list of upcoming destinations, your Flying Blue miles could help you get there more easily and for very little money. And if you’re already planning to fly on ITA Airways, be sure to include your Flying Blue membership number with your reservation to earn miles on your flight!
Savings are here:
