Air France/KLM kicked off 2025 in the worst way, raising award rates by as much as 25% without warning … whether you’re flying KLM economy across the pond or in Air France business class. But there was supposed to be a silver lining: The airline said that increase would allow them to add more award availability, making it easier to book with points.
Two months later, we’re still waiting for it.
Aside from the occasional (brief and rare) burst of award space we’ve sent to Thrifty Traveler Premium members, little has changed. Even after pushing the price from 50,000 points each way to the current 60,000-point rate, finding a business class award between North America and Europe still feels a bit like finding a needle in a haystack.
In an email to Thrifty Traveler, the head of the Flying Blue loyalty program said the airline has regularly added some bookable seats in the two months since raising award rates. But he acknowledged it remains tough to snag those prized redemptions across the pond.
“(Un)fortunately, there is heavy appetite for our business class award seats so the reality is that they are very quickly snapped up,” Ben Lipsey wrote. “I recognize this is challenging for the casual customer, so we are currently engaged in discussions internally to see how we can address the current challenges, but as I’m sure you can appreciate, our priority is to sell commercial (cash) tickets,” Ben Lipsey wrote.
It’s been a major – and undoubtedly negative – change for points and miles aficionados all around.
For a while, Air France and KLM business class were among the easiest (and cheapest) premium cabin award tickets to book with points, period. Availability was shockingly easy to come by compared to other stingy carriers and Flying Blue charged just 50,000 miles each way. Best of all, they’re some of the easiest miles to earn in the world – Air France/KLM are transfer partners with all the major banks like Chase, American Express, Capital One and more.
But as the ecosystem of travelers with points at their disposal has exploded over the last year or two, those prized seats got harder and harder to book. Thanks to Air France/KLM’s dynamic award pricing, you were far more likely to see award rates north of 100,000 or even 200,000 miles than those cheap, 50,000-mile “saver” award prices.
In January, the airline conglomerate pulled the plug altogether and raised business class award rates by 20% while also raising rates in premium economy and economy, too. But it was Lipsey himself who indicated more award availability was on the way, saying: “We were able to significantly increase entry-level award availability, making it easier for members to book flights at the lowest mileage levels.”
That gave us (and many other travelers who live and breathe this stuff) hope. Maybe that false hope is on us.
And credit where it’s due to Lipsey and his airline(s): Few airlines are willing to even discuss award pricing or inventory, let alone respond to an email from us points and miles sickos travel journalists. While many other executives merely insist customers love their award-winning frequent flyer programs – that everything is beautiful and nothing hurts – Lipsey was honest about the challenges Flying Blue members face.
“It’s always a delicate task to find the right balance between pushing for additional sales of commercial tickets while also ensuring sufficient inventory for our Flying Blue members,” he wrote.
A Trick to Find (A Bit) More Award Space
For now, it’s safe to say Flying Blue isn’t going to open the floodgates anytime soon. But there is something you can do: Branch out beyond the nonstops to Amsterdam (AMS) and Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG).
By searching instead to another destination throughout Europe, you might see more options to book those 60,000-mile business class awards than you would on the simple nonstop routes. In our research, airports in Spain and Germany seem to be the best bet.
For example, it’s slim pickings to find a business class seat from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Amsterdam (AMS) at reasonable rates, even as far out as next winter.
But by instead searching to Munich (MUC), there are far more options that involve that same flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam before connecting over to Germany – still for just 60,000 miles.
Thrifty Tip: Leave your travel date blank to pull up Flying Blue’s handy calendar view!
Welcome to the world of “married segment logic,” a sometimes nonsensical but persistent quirk in the world of award travel. Want to book a nonstop flight with miles? Sorry, no can do. Want to book that same flight but with a connection on either end? Sure thing!
It’s by no means a slam dunk – you can broaden your search for trips with connections and still come back empty. And even when it does work, it typically only makes a few more dates available.
Otherwise, look to Canada. Airports to the north – including Toronto (YYZ), Montreal (YYZ), and especially Ottawa (YOW) – routinely see far more business class award space available than those here in the states.
Bottom Line
Two months after raising award rates, booking an Air France or KLM business class seat for 60,000 Flying Blue miles remains a major headache.
The airline indicated its devaluation earlier this year would have an upside: It’d become easier to actually find the availability to book those awards with miles. So far, that hasn’t happened … and at this rate, we doubt it will.
