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 multiple destinations including: New York, Miami, Washington D.C., Chicago, and more! That means you can book a roundtrip flight from New York City to Tel Aviv, Israel in Economy for only 20,000 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 by 11/30 for travel between 1/1-2/28 for all flights. If you don’t live in one of the cities that offer the promo, 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. All of these major cities should be easy to find available bookings that time of year using BA Avios points. My favorite deal is the opportunity to fly from Los Angeles to Europe or even as far as Tel Aviv for only 25,000 Flying Blue points (or 20,000 Starpoints).
Flights from JFK to Tel Aviv in Economy Class for 12,500 points:
Flights from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv in Economy for 18,750 points (one of my favorite deals here):
Flights from Miami to Madrid 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
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!