See required points [for awards] without points in account
 

I am trying to check KLM tickets on the KLM site from LAS-BKK. when I log into my flying blue account, and try to see ANY flights on any date in any class, it won't show me anything. But I go on Kayak and there are lots and lots of flights available. It appears that if you don't have any miles in your frequent flyer account, you don't get to see any scheduled flights when you choose to do a pay with miles. My plan was to transfer points from AMEX to KLM but I need to know how many before I make a transfer. Anyone else have this problem and know a work-around? Also need to fly with 2 dogs in cabin. Any issues doing this with KLM? Thanks.....

check this thread please before transfering your MR points to your flying blue account (its not only about amex but US credit cards in general except cobranded card between BoA and flying blue)

( Air France/FB says my 317,000+ MR transfer is FRAUD! Help! )

i would suggest you to read this carefully if it apply to your case

Then transfer and/or book when you are 100% sure you want to book and accept the risks (in sense prices can go up by 2x , you cant book the exact flight you wanted anymore , etc .... ) and you have no problems with the fact that you can't revert the transfer back to your credit card

So you should be aware of the risks , and if you accept them then go ahead and transfer those MR points .

We've seen and we will see it again , from time to time too many people got stuck in same pattern = believe in amex lies of seamless experiences , buy groceries + candies with amex , read paid advertisement by bloggers claiming how great FB awards sweet spots are and how easy it is to redeem points from your credit card , create flying blue account just for awards , never credit any flights there , transfer MR points , try to book , sн*т happen , come to flyertalk asking for help, enjoy hellish rollercoaster ride until problem might be fixed

I assume you live in the USA , right ? What if you have to go to a AFKL sales office but you live in wyoming or alaska ? There arent a lot of them in the US , usually to cities where one or both flies , so keep this in mind

My recommended action plan = start to convert/credit some points from your hotel stays to flying blue , credit one or two skyteam flights there , wait 2 weeks , make a small transfer (like 20k miles) then wait few days and try to book a continental / domestic flight

After that , If all goes well then you can unleash the beast and book your desired award tickets

FB think those cases are shenanigan cause this is a common pattern used by fraudsters , so to avoid it , you must make your account looks like alive and legit before your big transfer

See required points without points in account
 

In the past, I was able to see the number of required points for booking a flight, without having them in my account. Then I would transfer points from another account into AF in order to book travel.
Now, without a significant number of points in my mileage account, I get error message when I try to book travel.
I am looking for a work around, so I can see number of points required without having to deposit more points then are required for travel.

I'm able to see the number of miles required, even if it far (think: by multiple millions of miles) exceeds my balance. Does the message you get specifically suggest that it's not having miles in your account which is preventing it from showing options?

This thread from a few days ago was still near the top of the page...

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-...s-account.html

Given that datapoint, it's possible that there's something new. It's not (just?) based on not having enough miles.

There is a pattern which suggests that AFKL might view point transfers as a service for people who earn miles organically as a top-up (which is arguably the single highest cpp value transferrable points redemptions can have: if you need 10k miles or will otherwise have to buy the miles for $350, those points are worth at that moment at least 3.5 cpp), not as a means to quietly sell discount J inventory to American credit card holders/churners who have no relationship with AFKL beyond transferring and redeeming.

So it's entirely possible that there's been a recent website change which won't show award prices to some combination of: not having any miles or never having earned an XP.

At this point it's pure speculation what the workaround would be. It's possible that it's just the website: in which case, calling in might be sufficient (at this point there's no evidence I'm aware of that pricing is affected by FB account). Alternatively, getting your mile balance above zero or clearing the "never earned an XP" flag might be useful. Transferring a small amount of points (1000, e.g.) might do it if we're talking about just a check for a zero balance. Signing up for the BofA AFKL credit card (not a bad card by any means) will get you XP (whether or not you hit the signup bonus, which would also lift your balance above zero). Flying the cheapest Delta revenue flight you can find and crediting to Flying Blue would also clear both.

I also managed to pick up a few rando XPs last year from a ‘link your All Accor account to your FB account and have a hotel stay’ promotion.

That's a good thing, and the way things are supposed to work. Flying Blue isn't a programme like how the american Big 3 airlines work, and is better off that way or else miles get quickly devalued and it will put the majority of AF/KLM flyers based in Europe at a disadvantage because our credit cards (or really, delayed debit cards) don't earn miles at the rate American credit cards do.

I'm able to see J awards despite not having enough miles for it, no issues.

Message: Sorry, there are no flights available for this combination of departure airport, arrival airport and travel dates. Please try again.
I have some points, but apparently, not enough to get around this inability to see required points for flights. I can see flights for "pay", but not for points.

If partner flights are involved, this is pretty common because of limited partner inventory. I see this all the time when searching FB award tickets out of VPS, while the options become pretty wide open if I use ATL as a starting point.

I had the same problem. I was able to sometimes see flights and then two minutes later not (this was when I had no miles in my account). It even happened to me after I made the transfer and was prepared to book. Try clearing your cookies and cache and loading again. That's what worked for me.