Redeeming Flying Club miles for Air France flights

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Jun 15, 2020, 1:56 pm

oceanscape

Original Poster

Join Date: Mar 2015

Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond

Posts: 690

Redeeming Flying Club miles for Air France flights

Hi all, I would like to redeem my Flying Club miles for a business class flight from LHR-MLE via CDG on Air France. A few queries:

(1) I don't think I can do this on the VS website as MLE is not included in the list of airports on the website; is this correct and do I have to call Virgin Flying Club or Air France?

(2) How do I check availability; AF is showing seats are available for my date at 89,500 Flying Blue miles plus EUR 262 for CDG-MLE; would this automatically mean there is VS miles availability for LHR-CDG-MLE on that same date for 61k VS miles (plus taxes) - I've based this on MLE being in "zone 5" and it being an off-peak date?

Thanks so much for any guidance!

Jun 16, 2020, 4:15 am

UKtravelbear

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Nov 2011

Location: Brighton. UK

Programs: BA Gold / VS /IHG Diamond & Ambassador

Posts: 14,196

1 - contact VS as they have access to your miles. AF don't.

2. no just because rewards are available to AF does not mean they are available to Virgin.

Jun 18, 2020, 12:43 pm

VFR

Join Date: Aug 2016

Location: BOS

Programs: AA PP, DL PM

Posts: 2,086

Quote:

Originally Posted by oceanscape

(1) I don't think I can do this on the VS website as MLE is not included in the list of airports on the website; is this correct and do I have to call Virgin Flying Club or Air France?

For certain airports, you can use the "Full Airport List" button on the VS site and find it that way. Unfortunately, it seems MLE is not on the full airport list.

You would call VS because your miles are with them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oceanscape

(2) How do I check availability; AF is showing seats are available for my date at 89,500 Flying Blue miles plus EUR 262 for CDG-MLE; would this automatically mean there is VS miles availability for LHR-CDG-MLE on that same date for 61k VS miles (plus taxes) - I've based this on MLE being in "zone 5" and it being an off-peak date?

Air France / KLM is rather well known for making more award seats available to their own members than to partner programs such as DL or VS, so unfortunately their website won't be the best place to check for availability. I do not know if VS sees the same partner availability on AF as other carriers do, but if they do you may be able to find it through DL or KE's sites (anything DL can see on AF metal should be a saver award). QF and JL have Air France partnerships and I believe you can use their websites as well. You may also want to try a paid service such as Expert Flyer, but again there is no guarantee they see the same award space as VS.

61,000 miles for an off-peak award seems accurate. Note that you will need to find availability for LHR-CDG as well as CDG-MLE.

Jun 18, 2020, 8:42 pm

KVS

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Jan 2004

Location: Worldwide

Posts: 12,949

Quote:

Originally Posted by oceanscape

You would need to find Standard Award Availability in O (AKA CS Class for KVS Tool Members) and then call VS FC to book by phone:

[KVS Tool 9.9.4/Diamond - Awards/JL-OneWorld/US]

Code:

LON  London Metro UK = LHR LGW STN LTN LCY SEN QQS ZLS XQE QQP
MLE  Male Ibrahim Nasir Intl MV [VRMM]
MON  02 Nov 2020

Carrier    Flight  From  Depart    To    Arrive    A/C  St  Award Availability
---------  ------  ----  --------  ----  --------  ---  --  ------------------
AF         1581    LHR   11:30     CDG   13:50     321  0   CS3  YS9
 -> AF     222     CDG   20:50     MLE   10:45 +1  789  0   CS9  YS9