I’ve written in the past about Flying Blue’s promo awards that come out every month. Each month they offer discounted award tickets from a couple of cities in North America to Europe and other countries like Israel, Turkey, or Greece. The Flying Blue award mileage program includes Air France, KLM, Air Europa, Delta, and more. This time, Flying Blue is offering 50% off economy flights booked to and from Detroit, 50% off Premium Economy flights booked to and from Washington DC, and 25% off flights in economy to and from New York City. That means you can book a roundtrip flight from Washington DC to Tel Aviv, Israel in Premium Economy for only 40,000 Starpoints (read below). Be aware that Flying Blue adds a fuel surcharge that hovers around $130-$150 each way in economy and around $300 in business class.
Flights must be booked between 9/1-9/30 for travel between 11/1-12/31 for all flights except to and from JFK, which you must book flights for travel between 11/5-12/18. If you don’t live in Washington DC, Detroit, or New York City, but need a cheap/affordable way to get there to take advantage of this deal, try booking a short-haul flight using British Airways Avios. JFK, DC, and Detroit all have ties to oneworld partners and should be easy to find available bookings that time of year using BA Avios points.
Flights from JFK to Tel Aviv in Economy Class for 18,750 points:
Flights from Washington DC to Tel Aviv in Premium Economy for 25,000 points:
Flights from Detroit to Amsterdam in Economy Class for 12,500 points:
Feel free to explore and experiment with various dates and cities to plan your trip to Europe, Turkey, or the Middle East.
Air France A380 Premium Economy
How to Earn Flying Blue Points:
Flying Blue points can be transferred at a 1:1 ratio from any Membership Rewards American Express card. Points with cards such as the American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card, or the Amex Platinum Card can be used for Flying Blue award tickets. Citi Thank You Points are now also transferrable to the Flying Blue program. American Express Starwood Preferred Guest points are the best program when trying to transfer your points to the Flying Blue program as you receive a 5,000 point bonus for every 20,000 point transfer made. Thus, you can fly roundtrip to Israel and Europe this summer for as low as 20,000 Starpoints! If you’re trying to fly Premium Economy from Washington DC, you’ll only need to transfer 40,000 Starpoints, because you’ll receive an additional 10,000 points free! Start transferring points asap as they can take a couple of days to post in your account. Good luck!