We've got good news for travelers with credit card points and dreams of getting to Europe this year or next: Air France and KLM flights are once again bookable with Virgin Atlantic points.
Booking Air France/KLM Flights via Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is one of the best ways to get to Europe using miles. But for the last month or so, Virgin was blocking Flying Club members from booking Air France or KLM award flights online over the phone due to what the airline said was a “system issue.”
Now, it appears the issue has been resolved, as first noticed by Frequent Miler last week. Flights like these are bookable once more using transferrable credit card points from banks like Amex, Chase, Capital One, and others.
It's been a long road to get here.
Virgin had been experiencing some problems with its Air France/KLM awards for months. Many travelers reported seeing phantom award availability: While Virgin's website would show dates that appeared bookable with points, they weren't actually available once you clicked through to book. In mid-July, Virgin simply pulled the functionality to book Air France and KLM altogether while it worked to resolve the issue.
Now, Air France and KLM flights once again show up in award searches and are bookable online. We tested this ourselves and confirmed the award availability you see online is accurate.
That's a welcome development, as Virgin Atlantic is now the best way to book economy flights to Europe on either Air France or KLM. There's no deal better than booking these roundtrip Air France economy flights from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Rome (FCO) for just 30,000 Virgin points and $103 in taxes and fees.
Booking with Air France/KLM's own Flying Blue miles, those exact same flights would cost you another 10,000 miles … and nearly triple the taxes and fees.
With this Virgin Atlantic Flying Club sweet spot back in action, travelers with transferrable credit card points from banks like American Express, Capital One, or Chase can now have a great way to use them to get to Europe and back this year or next.