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Several days ago a thread on FlyerTalk pointed out that a lot of FlyingBlue Reward prices had dropped. It was speculated that this was a temporary glitch and to book tickets while rates were lower. It’s normal to see Flying Blue Promo Rewards price business class at discounted rates on routes that aren’t featured, and so many thought these reward prices wouldn’t last. However, as OMAAT, pointed out, the director of Flying Blue Ben Lipsey, has confirmed that this is intentional and a new pricing model is being implemented.
- Business Class: 71% of pricing will reduce
- Premium Economy: 68% of pricing will reduce
- Economy: 66% of pricing will reduce
As you can see below – some legs like JFK to CDG will pop from 15k to 20k
Flying Blue Miles are super easy to earn
Earlier this year we saw Bilt Rewards offer a 100% Rent Day transfer bonus, and Amex, Chase, Citi, and Capital One are all parnters. I belive every single one of them have had 25% to 30% transfer bonuses this year as well.
Looking at Calendar Mode – 50k now in business for US to Europe
While the program is still being updated, some dates are populating, even on the west coast at fantastic rates. 50k each way in Business Class from the west coast is a huge get. These used to price over 70k each way.
- Econ will go to 20k
- Premium Econ will be around 35k
The YQ, or surcharges, are looking to be less as well. At $200, some people are seeing sub $100 on select routes, are quite a bit less than it was. I just flew KLM from ORD to AMS to ZNZ and paid nearly $400 in fees.
Don’t speculatively transfer your points
Keeping your stockpile of points in a flexible currency like Amex, Bilt, Chase, Cap1, or Citi is the strategy to adhere to, and what I advocate people do even during transfer bonus periods.
However, if you’re sitting on massive heap of points and think you may take a trip to Europe, it could be advantageous and worth the risk to transfer speculatively. I do this from time to time, but I also keep a multi million point balance across programs. I have the ability to access points whenever I need, so if you’re in a similar situation, you could stick your toe in that water.
Overall
Overall, this is a fantastic development and something Delta should have really done when they decimated their program and attempted to backtrack. It’d be great if FlyingBlue could publish an award chart, this would be a massive step back to how things used to be standardized in award travel, but regardless.. .Flying Blue has made the decision to change the program, and it looks to be a positive iteration for many uses.
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
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 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, 2024
- $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.
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