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25% Transfer bonus: Citi Thank You to Air France/KLM Flying Blue
We have seen loads of Flying Blue transfer bonuses lately! Chase and Amex are running bonuses, and now Citi is joining in on the fun with their own 25% transfer bonus that will run until June 17th. Let’s take a look at the deal and where you may want to look at potentially booking. Also, remember that we keep an up to date transfer bonus page found here.
What is a Transfer Bonus?
Pretty simple. Effectively, you’re taking a flexible currency and turning it into one of the transfer partner currencies with a stipulated bonus. In this case, it’s turning 1000 Citi Thank You points into 1250 Flying Blue miles.
Check out Flying Blue Promo Awards for even more value
Every month FlyingBlue has a list of promo awards that specifically target cities and cabins around the world. Go here to read all about them
Have you flown Air France or KLM?
Yes, I’ve flown KLM business class on their 777 and Air France on both the A350 and 77W in business class. Personally, I enjoyed AF’s 77W seat more than the A350, and I would certainly prioritize looking for KLM’s dreamliners vs their older 777s
- KLM 777 business class review
- Air France 77W business class review
- Air France A350 business class review
What are the programs that partner with Air France/KLM Flying Blue Miles
Flying Blue is a transfer partner of 6 different transferrable point currencies and are some of the easiest miles to accrue as a result. If you’re short on Chase points you could always shore up your account with these programs.
- American Express
- Brex
- Bilt
- Capital One
- Citi
- Chase
- Marriott
Is this the best transfer bonus we’ve seen?
I believe this is the best we’ve seen a Citi offer on a transfer bonus to Air France.
- May 2023: 25% bonus
- May 2022 : 25% bonus
Should I go ahead and transfer without a trip in mind?
Absolutely not, I would never advise speculatively transferring points without having a definitive award booking available you want to book. Programs devalue all the time, without warning or notice.
Our favorite credit cards to earn those points that can be transferred
You can find a full list of cards on our Favorite Cards page, but these are tops of the tops.
Chase
American Express
Capital One
Citi
Great uses of Air France/KLM Flying Blue Miles
Looking to make use of your newly minted Flying Blue miles? Here are a few great redemptions.
Air France Business Class
There are many great uses, but in particular redeeming miles for Air France business class is a wonderful use. Normal rates begin at 53k miles – this is a super competitive rate, but keep in mind a couple hundred in taxes and fees will also apply
Virgin Atlantic Upper Class
Starting as low as 61,500 miles and a couple hundred in taxes and fees its a great way to fly on a super cool product and pay fewer taxes and fees than Virgin Atlantic would charge
KLM Business Class
KLM offers world class service and a great business class – keep your eye out for the planes that offer reverse herringbone 1-2-1 configuration ( primarily the 787-9 ). I haven’t been lucky enough to fly it yet, but I have flown the 777 in a 2-2-2 configuration in a mini cabin and was pleasantly surprised. We did a quick hop from Singapore to Bali and it was great.
Overall:
If you have a trip coming up and you’ve found award availability, this could be an excellent time to transfer with a bonus and book.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.