Although most of the airline rewards cards available in the United States are from American carriers including Delta, JetBlue and United, consumers can apply for credit cards offered by some international airlines as well, including Korean Air, Japan Airlines, LATAM and Lufthansa.
Now, U.S. customers have access to an exciting new airline reward card from European behemoth Air France-KLM. The company announced today that it has partnered with Bank of America to launch the new Air France-KLM World Elite Mastercard, which will earn miles in the airline’s Flying Blue mileage frequent-flier program.
“We are excited to launch this new card to reward our loyal customers in the United States. The U.S. is a major market for Air France-KLM with growing demand for our flights and services from 14 American airports to Amsterdam, Paris, and beyond,” said Stephane Ormand, vice president and general manager USA at Air France-KLM. “Flyers in the U.S. have many choices. It is our priority to delight and reward our frequent fliers. Especially following the enhancements to our Flying Blue program, this card will allow us to provide customers more flexible, accessible reward tickets and provide services designed to make trips more enjoyable.”
Card Details
There are a couple of unique features that set this new card apart. The sign-up bonus is 25,000 Flying Blue miles when you spend $1,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days. That’s enough for a round-trip domestic flight on Delta.
However, approved applicants will also earn 60 XP (Experience Points) upon account opening. XP points are the metric the airline uses to bestow elite status upon its fliers. 60 XP is the equivalent of flying 12,000 miles or around nine flight segments. The first tier of elite status with the airline, Silver, requires 100 XP, so the sign-up bonus gets you more than halfway there.
The card also offers 5,000 bonus miles after spending at least $50 on purchases within the card anniversary year and 20 XP on each account anniversary plus the opportunity to earn an additional 40 XP after spending at least $15,000 on purchases within the card anniversary year. Essentially, you have the chance to earn 60 XP each year solely through purchases.
Perhaps more significantly on a daily basis, the card will earn three Flying Blue miles for ever dollar spent on purchases made directly with Air France-KLM and SkyTeam member airlines, including Delta. It will earn 1.5 miles per dollar on all other purchases. These spending rates are unique in that the airline category bonus is good not just on Air France-KLM purchases, but also on those made with its SkyTeam partner airlines, opening up a lot more opportunities to post bonus points.
The card’s annual fee is $89, and it waives foreign transaction fees.
How It Stacks Up
Compared to credit cards from U.S. competitors like American Airlines and United, the card’s earning rates are pretty favorable. While most airline cards associated with U.S. legacy carriers earn just two miles per dollar spent on airfares with the one specific carrier with which they are co-branded, this card opens up the ability to earn three miles per dollar on SkyTeam’s 20 members airlines.
Among the negatives: The card’s sign-up bonus is not particularly enticing for the moment, and the annual fee is not waived the first year. Not only that, but noticeably absent are the benefits for which many airline credit cards are coveted; namely, perks like free checked bags and priority boarding.
However, those downsides might be outweighed by the opportunity to earn elite-qualifying points, which can come in handy for consumers who are loyal to SkyTeam and need a boost to enjoy the benefits of a higher tier of membership. Achieving that elite status will then confer the perks missing from the credit card’s suite of benefits.
The elite-status angle is especially significant if you already have a credit card whose points you can transfer into your Flying Blue account. The program is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards, which means there are a lot of credit cards already on the market with which you could potentially earn points that can be converted to Flying Blue miles.
Many, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the new American Express Gold Card even earn multiple points per dollar on a wide range of purchases including things like restaurants, airfare and travel in general. So in terms of basic earning across a broad swath of purchases, you might be better off with a different card. However, if you want a card that earns miles specifically with Flying Blue and can help you secure SkyTeam elite status and its perks, the new Air France-KLM World Elite Mastercard might be a good choice.
Speaking of earning Flying Blue miles, the program recently underwent some massive changes so that fliers now earn miles based on their spending rather than the miles they fly, and the redemption values of award tickets has become dynamic based on airfare pricing. That can mean some bargain awards, especially with the program’s periodic discounted Promo Awards. But if you have specific awards in mind for which you want to use the miles you earn with this card, price out examples and see if this card will earn the miles you need for the trips you plan to book.
Overall, the appearance of a new airline credit card is good news for U.S. consumers as it presents yet another means of earning miles and elite status with one of the world’s major carriers. This one, in particular, is quite interesting in that you can earn miles not just on Air France-KLM purchases, but on those with a variety of other airlines as well, including Delta, which should come in handy for U.S.-based fliers. Not only that, but this card’s ability to earn XP elite-qualifying points also sets it apart from other offerings and might just be the feature to entice SkyTeam fliers to apply.
