Alitalia MilleMiglia - Mille Miglia vs Flying Blue

Hi,

I'm going to fly soon an intercontinental return flight on Air France, which might be the first of a quite frequent travelling pattern. I have given my Flying Blue number. But now I'm in doubt:

I'm flying premium economy. It gives around 15000 FB miles. And to redeem them in an award economy return flight I need around 120000 (taxes apart :( ).

If I give Mille Miglia number, I would get 21000 miles more or less. And to redeem them in an award economy return flight on Sky Team I need ONLY 60000 miles (taxes apart)...???

Am I missing something about Mille Miglia...? Any additional information will be very appreciated ;)

By the way, according to Alitalia web about Club Ulisse and Freccia Alata, many of the benefits they offer are only available when flying Alitalia... Is that right? According to the Sky Team web there should be no difference provided you are ST elite or STelite plus.

Thanks in advance for any tip ;)

^

Ciao Javi


I'm flying premium economy. It gives around 15000 FB miles. And to redeem them in an award economy return flight I need around 120000 (taxes apart :( ).

If I give Mille Miglia number, I would get 21000 miles more or less. And to redeem them in an award economy return flight on Sky Team I need ONLY 60000 miles (taxes apart)...???


Sounds about right, except the award cost for FB which seems way too high...

Anyway, MilleMiglia is more generous than FB, for sure.


By the way, according to Alitalia web about Club Ulisse and Freccia Alata, many of the benefits they offer are only available when flying Alitalia... Is that right? According to the Sky Team web there should be no difference provided you are ST elite or STelite plus.


The privileges listed apply when you are flying alitalia. Additionally, if you are Ulisse, you get all of the privileges of ST Elite; if you are Freccia Alata, of Elite+.

The flying blue redemption number is way off. From about 50.000 miles you can fly from europe, transatlantic, in business class. (roundtrip)

The flying blue redemption number is way off. From about 50.000 miles you can fly from europe, transatlantic, in business class. (roundtrip)The standard rate is 100K, not 50K. Sure, you can have promo awards at that level but that would be somewhat misleading to suggest that 50K is the going rate for a return in business between Europe and North America with FB.

To the OP: what route are you thinking of? As others have suggested, 120K does not sound right and sounds too high for FB. The earn/burn ratio on AZ is, as a rule, higher than on FB but there are some quirks (eg: some very low booking classes on AF/KL do not earn at all in Millemiglia; not sure what the situation is re premium eco).

One significant disadvantage of Millemiglia if your flying pattern varies a lot from one year to another (eg lots in year 1 but very little in year 2 then much more again in year 3, etc...) is that FB has a "soft landing" (if you are Platinum or Gold and do not have enough to renew the following year, you only go down one rung in the elite hierarchy) whereas MM does not: you can go from Freccia Alata + to basic member in one fell swoop.

Above all, in either programme (and especially in FB), it is barely ever a good idea to redeem in economy, especially long-haul economy, unless it is for a last minute ticket when the fares are very high and there is nevertheless some availability for reward tickets. Outside this situation, taxes constitute often a very large fraction of the cost of a cheap economy ticket so you do not save much by using miles. It is as a rule a far, far better use of your miles to use them for long-haul business class.

Completely agree with NickB

Taxes are MUCH cheaper generally with AZ on reward tickets..

Much appreciated when I redeem my Amex 2 for 1