Up to a 100% bonus when you buy Air France KLM Flying Blue Miles and how there can be value in buying them

Flying Blue's buy miles bonus has returned not too long after we last saw it. The offer provides up to a 100% bonus when you buy Flying Blue miles and this time that 100% level starts at 20,000 miles instead of 30,000 miles. If you are short some miles for a redemption or want to speculatively buy for if and when we see a 50% off business class promo reward you'll want to check out this offer.

You can earn up to a 100% bonus when you buy Flying Blue miles by November 5. The bonus is tiered and you'll  get the 100% when you buy 20,000 or more miles in one transaction. 

Offer details:
Up to a 100% bonus when you buy Air France KLM Flying Blue Miles. Click here to learn more and to  buy miles.  Until Nov 5, 21
– 50% bonus when you buy 2,000 to 8,000 miles
– 70% bonus when you buy 10,000 to 18,000 miles
– 100% when you buy 20,000 or more miles.

Now you may be asking why this is an offer of note. It is for several reasons, the first of course is to top off your account for an award if you happen to be shy a few thousand miles however the second is the big one. That second reason is when Air France KLM offer those 25 to 50% off business class Promo Rewards. For example the last time they had 50% off (pre-pandemic) you could fly round trip in business class between Montreal and Paris for 53,000 miles. If you have no Flying Blue Miles at all you need to purchase miles at the 28,000 level (they only sell them in 2,000 miles increments) for 770EUR. That's above the 20,000 mile requirement to get the 100% bonus which means you'd end up with 56,000 miles for 770EUR.  That works out to about C$1153. You would then redeem 53,000 of those 56,000 miles for the business class reward flight and on top of that you would need to pay close to $800 in fees and taxes. Add the two together and you would be looking at paying around $1,950 for a round trip business class ticket that would cost you in the neighbourhood of $3,000 to $4,000 or more. And that's why this can be an offer of note. 

If you are in a position where you are willing to pay just under $2,000 for flights that costs 50 to 100%+ more than that, it is something to consider. You also have to consider the fact that we don't know when we will see 50% off business class reward flights from Canada so you'd be purchasing the miles speculatively - something we aren't fans of and you have to remember Flying Blue miles are only valid for 2 years unless you fly with Air France, KLM or a partner airline (not sure if WestJet counts?) Ideally we love it when they have the buy miles bonus at the same time as the 50% off  Promo Rewards and that has happened on numerous occasions in the past and that is when you want to buy.