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Use Virgin Atlantic Miles for KLM and Air France
In an unexpected turn, Virgin Atlantic announced last week that, ahead of schedule, that members could redeem miles on KLM and Air France effective immediately. This is VERY welcomed news seeing as though Virgin Atlantic miles are some of the easiest miles to earn since they’re a transfer partner of Chase, Amex, Citi, and Marriott.
Let’s take a look at the new charts, but note that Virgin passes on taxes and fees so be prepared to pay some coin when booking these flights. I loved Air France’s business class on the 77W
There are two charts for each cabin: Off Peak and Peak
Here’s a look at Short Haul
Long Haul is broken down into zones:
Business Class
One notable combination that pops out to me is East Coast USA to Europe ( Zones 6 and 1 ) Off-Peak. This is 48,500 Miles. Pretty awesome redemption really and certainly prices in less than you’d normally find if booking with Air France FlyingBlue miles. Additionally, Amex usually has a transfer bonus a couple times a year ( up to 30% ) which means you could nab it for just 37k Amex points. Stellar deal.
Premium
Economy
A sample ticket
I checked out some dates later in the year out of Amsterdam. You can see below that there is a direct flight on KLM, but also a connecting flight via London. This route would be feature this business class seat – similar to what you’d find on United or AA business class domestically coast to coast.
Direct flight
Connecting via London
Originating in Amsterdam with a flight on KLM actually lowers the taxes and fees compared to a direct option. 320 Euros is roughly $450
That same Virgin Flight on its own
That stand alone upper class flight is nearly $600 in taxes and fees, but 8k fewer miles.
Overall
It’s always great to see a new way to redeem miles, and certainly the East and West Coast redemption prices to Europe are priced within reason, especially when you factor in some attractive transfer bonuses that occur throughout the year.
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.
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