The Air France-KLM Visa Signature Card is issued by Bank of America in the United States, and it recently underwent a refresh.
We’ve seen a new limited time welcome bonus rolled out on this card, which is in line with the best bonuses I’ve ever seen on this card. Specifically, you can earn 70,000 Flying Blue miles upon completing minimum spending, plus can get quite a bit of help toward status. Let’s take a closer look at the card…
Air France-KLM Credit Card perks & bonus
Here are the basics of the Air France-KLM credit card:
- Welcome bonus: earn 70,000 bonus miles plus 100 XPs after making $3,000 or more in purchases within the first 90 days
- Annual fee: $89 (not waived the first year)
- Return on spending: 3x miles per dollar spent directly with Air France, KLM, and SkyTeam member airlines, 3x miles on dining, and 1.5x miles per dollar spent on all other purchases
- Other benefits: 5,000 miles every year on your account anniversary after you spend $50 or more on purchases within the anniversary year, plus 20 XPs on your account anniversary every year without any spend requirement, plus 80 additional XPs when you spend $15,000, plus an additional 60 XPs when you spend $25,000 (so if you spend $25,000 per anniversary year, you’d earn 180 XPs)
- Foreign transaction fees: None
For context on XPs, that’s the metric by which you earn status with Flying Blue:
- 100 XPs gets you Silver status, which you could earn with this bonus
- You then need 180 additional XPs to earn Gold status
- You then need 300 additional XPs to earn Platinum status
As someone who recently started earning Flying Blue elite status, the XPs you earn on this card can go a long way to helping you earn a higher status tier. The 180 XPs could get you Gold status, or could get you most of the way to Platinum status on an ongoing basis.
My take on the Air France-KLM Credit Card
In general I don’t recommend using an airline credit card for a majority of your spending, as there are typically better credit cards for everyday spending. That’s more general commentary than something specific to this card.
That’s simply because cards that accrue transferable points give you a lot more flexibility, and often have better bonus categories and welcome bonuses.
Is this the most amazing airline credit card ever? No. But I do think it offers some solid perks and unique benefits that could make it a keeper:
- Earning 1.5x miles per dollar spent on all purchases is better than average for an airline credit card
- While the card has an $89 annual fee, the 5,000 bonus miles when spending $50 on the card in a year (which is a reasonable threshold) should nearly cover the annual fee in terms of value
- The card can help you earn XPs toward Flying Blue status (both as part of the bonus and on an ongoing basis), which some may find to be worthwhile, particularly with the card now offering up to 180 XPs per year for spending
As someone who goes for Flying Blue Platinum status on an ongoing basis, this is a card that I have, and it’s one that I plan to spend $25,000 per year on, if possible. Flying Blue is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou, so generally I’d rather maximize my rewards with some of those credit cards, since many of them offer 1.5-2x points per dollar spent.
On top of that, we even sometimes see transfer bonuses to Flying Blue (typically around 20-25%), which can improve your points earning rates even more.
Bottom line
The Air France-KLM Card is one that many people may not have considered, but it could be worthwhile. The card currently has a bonus of 70,000 Flying Blue miles plus 100 XPs upon completing minimum spending.
This is an excellent offer for those who have had most other cards but not this one. This card is especially valuable if you’re pursuing elite status with the Flying Blue program, as the card can earn you up to 180 XPs per year, enough for Flying Blue Gold status, or if you’re already Gold, it gets you 60% of the way to Platinum status.
Anyone plan on picking up the Air France-KLM Visa Signature Card?