Fly to Europe from Phoenix for just 20,000 points!
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Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
Did you hear the news? Air France has added a direct route from Phoenix to Paris! This means that an economy one-way ticket can be booked for around 20,000 points and a business class ticket will be 50,000 points! This is an amazing deal!
This also means not only can you fly to Paris from Phoenix, but now you can fly almost anywhere in Europe with a layover in Paris. There are also routes to Africa and many more countries!
How to Book Air France with Points
First, set up a free loyalty account with Flying Blue here. Flying Blue is the award program for Air France and KLM. Many airline alliances such as Delta can be booked through Flying Blue as well. Once you create a login, you can sign in through the KLM website or Air France. I prefer the Air France site and app.
Picture from Air France Website
You’ll also want to download the AirFrance app, so you can check on award flights frequently. However, searching on a desktop by calendar is the best way to find the lowest-priced tickets. To do this, you’ll want to leave the departure dates blank. You will also want to search by one-way routes for one person.
Flight Discounts for Kids!
One of the greatest benefits of booking with Air France or KLM is that they offer children 11 and under a 25% discount on award fares. So if the fare is 20,000 points, you’ll pay just 15,000 for children under 11! You really can’t beat that price. Remember you will pay taxes around $200 for a round-trip, so keep that in mind.
Promo Awards
Another thing to note about Flying Blue is that they offer promo rewards each month! Promo rewards are lowered award prices on certain routes. At the beginning of each month, you can head to the Air France website and see which routes are discounted.
Tip for booking
If you’re new to searching for award tickets, you’ll want to have an idea of flight routes. If you live in a small town, you will most likely need to position to a larger airport to book a flight on Air France or KLM. It is possible to find flights on Delta bookable with Flying Blue, however, they will be priced significantly higher.
Transfer Bonuses
Keep your eye out for transfer bonuses! If you haven’t heard of a transfer bonus, it’s when any of the major banks offer a bonus for transferring to a partner. For instance, if Chase Bank is running a transfer bonus of 25% to Flying Blue, that means if you transfer just 16,000 Ultimate Reward points to Flying Blue, you’ll get a bonus of 4,000 points. Your one-way flight will be just 16,000 points! This is why it’s so important to earn flexible points, so you can take advantage of these bonuses!
Best Cards to earn points for Flying Blue
The good news is that all major banks transfer to Flying Blue, so it’s easy to earn points:
Chase Ultimate Rewards®
American Express Membership Rewards®
Capital One Venture Miles®
Citi ThankYou® Points
If you can get business cards (most people can with a small side hustle), the best card to open for earning flexible points is the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. The Capital One Venture Rewards Card or the Capital One Venture X Rewards Card are both great cards to earn points for Flying Blue.
Reach out if you need a card recommendation! Hope this helps you book a cheap flight to Europe!
Advertiser Disclosure: Melissa's Travel Addiction has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Melissa's Travel Addiction and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Editorial Disclosure: Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
