AMEX Points Score Big on Air France Business Class

A traveler took advantage of a rare business class promo award offered by Air France-KLM's Flying Blue program. The deal allowed for transatlantic flights in business class for as little as 45,000 miles each way, which is a 25% reduction over the cheapest available 'saver' rate.

The traveler didn't live or work in New York City, but had to stop at Pittsburgh for a work obligation. They noticed that they could travel from Basel (BSL) to New York (JFK) via Paris (CDG) on Air France for only 45K Flying Blue miles and about $455 in taxes/fees.

Initially, the FlyingBlue website didn't confirm the itinerary, so the traveler phoned the Flying Blue call center to ticket the reservation over the phone. The deal was even sweeter since they had taken advantage of an American Express Membership Rewards 25% transfer bonus in June, making this 45,000 miles ticket only 36,000 AMEX points.