It’s been a summer full of deals to Europe. We’ve discovered another great option to visit Paris on Air France or KLM using as few as 50,000 Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles each way. There’s also availability via Virgin Atlantic Flying Club for as little as 48,500 points one-way.
We are finding saver-level availability to Paris from Houston, Miami, New York, Chicago and other U.S. gateways all the way through June 2025. The best availability appears to be in January.
Related: Paris Pocket Guide: What to see, do and eat in the City of Light
Award pricing for Air France business-class flights — which include priority boarding, lounge access, lie-flat seats, meals and amenity kits, among other perks — can cost more than 200,000 Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles. If you take advantage of this deal immediately, you can snag a seat for as few as 50,000 Flying Blue miles or 48,500 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points per person for a one-way, nonstop flight.
If you are having trouble finding dates that work, use this workaround for navigating the Flying Blue calendar search tool.
Deal basics CLINT HENDERSON/THE POINTS GUY
Airlines: Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic
Routes: From Miami, New York City, Houston, Chicago and other U.S. cities to Paris
How to book: Browse Air France-KLM Flying Blue or Virgin Atlantic Flying Club for available dates and pricing
Travel dates: Availability varies based on route, but dates generally range from July 2024 through March 2025
Book by: As soon as possible
Sample flights
A nonstop business-class flight from New York to Paris can sometimes require as many as 260,000 miles (or more). However, thanks to this deal, award pricing is as low as 50,000 Flying Blue miles.
This January flight between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) only costs 50,000 Flying Blue miles plus $291 in taxes and fees each way.
You can also fly from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to CDG for just 50,000 Flying Blue miles and $587.
You can find great deals to Paris using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, too. For example, for just 48,500 points and $280.40 in taxes and fees, you can take this nonstop flight from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to CDG in early January.
Virgin Atlantic deal to Paris. VIRGIN ATLANTIC
You could also fly on KLM using this deal via Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS).
VIRGIN ATLANTIC
Should you need to top off your Flying Blue miles, you can transfer points and miles from several other programs:
American Express Membership Rewards
Maximize your purchase
Don’t forget to use a credit card that earns bonus points on airfare purchases to cover your taxes and fees, such as:
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: 2 points per dollar spent on travel
American Express® Gold Card: 3 points per dollar spent on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through amextravel.com
The Platinum Card® from American Express: 5 points per dollar spent on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 of these purchases per calendar year, then 1 point per dollar)
Chase Sapphire Reserve®: 3 points per dollar spent on airfare
Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (see rates and fees): 3 points per dollar spent on air travel
Bottom line
There is wide-open business-class availability from various U.S. cities to Paris right now. If you have flexible travel dates and want to use points or miles for your booking, now is a great time to find discounted rates.
Related reading:
How to find the cheapest redemption rates using Flying Blue miles
Flying Blue expands free stopovers on award tickets to all partner airlines
Save big on fees: Why Flying Blue is the new best way to book Virgin Atlantic award tickets
Flying Blue standardizes prices of saver-level redemptions to Europe