Move over, Delta: Why Air France-KLM's Flying Blue program has become my favorite SkyTeam loyalty program

03.09.2024 - 17:27 / thepointsguy.com / Delta I (I)

Even if you travel on many different airlines, it makes sense to focus on just one loyalty program in each of the Big Three airline alliances: OneWorld, Star Alliance and SkyTeam.

By focusing on one program per alliance, you can earn rewards faster by funneling everything into one program, as your points and miles won't be spread across multiple programs within the same alliance. If you credit enough flights, you might earn elite status in the program, making your travel more comfortable, convenient and rewarding.

Related: Why I'm changing up my points and miles strategy for the rest of 2024

Given that I live in the United Kingdom, I've largely focused on British Airways Executive Club as my Oneworld loyalty program of choice. Avios can be transferred between five different loyalty programs, and Executive Club elite status is quite easy to earn. For Star Alliance, Air Canada's Aeroplan program is the clear winner, with an incredible list of airline redemption partners and excellent partner redemption rates (as well as generous routing rules).

But what about the SkyTeam alliance?

Since Delta Air Lines' SkyMiles program operates using dynamic pricing, which regularly charges unreasonably high award pricing on long-haul flights, this SkyTeam member is no longer part of my points and miles strategy. Though SkyMiles are easy to earn, I haven't collected or redeemed any since before the coronavirus pandemic.

I was previously a big fan of Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club program, especially for its unique All Nippon Airways redemption to Japan and the regular award sales, during which the price of seats across its network is reduced by up to 50%.

Unfortunately, Virgin Atlantic's carrier-imposed surcharges continue to rise and are now at a staggering $2,000 for a return business-class ticket to London. If you add in the two devaluations of ANA awards to Japan, the increases to Delta short-haul redemption costs and the new four-figure surcharge for Delta One redemptions to Europe, Flying Club is now looking a lot less appealing than it was just a few years ago. However, one program continues to impress me year after year.

Here's why Air France-KLM's Flying Blue program has become my favorite SkyTeam loyalty program.

Flying Blue is the only airline loyalty program to partner directly with all six of these transferable points currencies:

Many of these programs offer cards that feature generous welcome bonuses. Here's just a sample of the travel rewards credit cards that earn these transferable points that can be converted to Flying Blue points at a 1:1 rate:

Related: Credit card transfer partners: Guide to transferring points and miles to airlines and hotels

In addition to partnering with every major credit