Flying Blue (Air France, KLM, and Other Partners) - [Newbie question] Getting started with FB this summer

Hi all,

My wife and I are planning a trip to Paris in August. We're hoping to use our AmEx MR points to make the flights special by upgrading to business class. My current plan is to buy the flight online (through Kayak, I guess), enroll in FB, transfer some MR points, and enjoy a nice flight in August.

What I can't seem to figure out, though, is how many points I'll need to transfer to FB to ensure we can secure two upgrades. Is there a website that can help us make this calculation? I gather that transfering AmEx MR points is a one-way proposition, so I'd hate to transfer them only to find that I don't have enough.

Thanks in advance.

Dont bother. You will need a full fare Y ticket to upgrade to C with FB. You may have more chance finding a cheap Z business fare than a cheaper Y fare plus upgrade availability.

You will also need to transfer MR points before you will be able to try and book any flight or upgrade, for which availability may or may not emerge.

Do tell us your home airport though, i assume it is in the USA.

Dont bother. You will need a full fare Y ticket to upgrade to C with FB. You may have more chance finding a cheap Z business fare than a cheaper Y fare plus upgrade availability.

You will also need to transfer MR points before you will be able to try and book any flight or upgrade, for which availability may or may not emerge.

Do tell us your home airport though, i assume it is in the USA.

Not the best news, Michiel, but good to know. We'll be flying from one of the NYC airports (JFK, EWR, LGA). Maybe Air France/Flying Blue isn't the right airline to attempt this plan? I'd be open to other airlines/points plans, but this probably isn't the right sub-forum to start that discussion. ;)

Not the best news, Michiel, but good to know. We'll be flying from one of the NYC airports (JFK, EWR, LGA). Maybe Air France/Flying Blue isn't the right airline to attempt this plan? I'd be open to other airlines/points plans, but this probably isn't the right sub-forum to start that discussion. ;)

Depends on how many miles you have. You can also just buy 2 award tickets with your miles. Upgrading from NYC to CDG is around 35.000 miles o/w

One award tickets in business is 50.000 o/w, so only 15k difference. Once you get your FB number you can always log on and try to make a booking to see if there is availability. Last time I did my MR points to KLM it only took 2 days.

Don't bother, AF J is garbage anyway. I'd say move your MR points to BA during one of the 1:1.5 deals and try to get BA J seats connecting through LHR or perhaps put them in AC Aeroplan or ANA and book LX J through ZRH or GVA if you can.

Kevin,

I think we've got around 120k MR points. If they are exchanged 1:1 with FB, then maybe the thing to do is just book award tickets straight up, as you suggest. It does seem as though I need to join the FF program first, from what I'm hearing.

GetSet,

Didn't I read that BA is currently offering one of their 1:1.5 offers through May 31? My recent search for flights from NYC didn't show BA on the first page of results (sorted by price). But if I'm going to buy an award ticket and connect through LHR, then maybe I don't need to worry about the "actual" cost of the ticket. Do you think that a J ticket on BA is also approximately 50,000 points?

All around, you would be better off with BA if you can find the seats. It is 40,000 points OW from NYC to Paris in Business class plus you get a 50% bonus for transferring membership rewards points between now and the end of May. This would give you an extra 60,000 points which would give you enough to get 2 free business class tickets for free. AF in this case really makes no sense at all.

From NYC to Paris you might want to check openskies offers. Very often it is the price of AF for a fare more superior product
Did some dummy booking for this summer and premium eco are around 1800$

From NYC to Paris you might want to check openskies offers. Very often it is the price of AF for a fare more superior product
Did some dummy booking for this summer and premium eco are around 1800$

Superior to AF? Is that 1800 for a BizSeat or BizBed then? I always thought the airplanes of Open Skies are somewhat dated.

Superior to AF? Is that 1800 for a BizSeat or BizBed then? I always thought the airplanes of Open Skies are somewhat dated.

1800$ for a Biz seat (now called premium eco) AF for similar dates is in the range of 1300$ for eco and 2300$ for premium.

For a pax only doing NYC-PARIS without any connection to other destinations Openskies is a quite good option in my opinion.