Definitive Guide: Flying Blue Family Accounts

Flying Blue, the flagship loyalty program of the Air France-KLM conglomerate is sometimes overlooked in Canada. Although Flying Blue Miles can be a bit trickier to acquire than the currency of other frequent flyer programs, this loyalty program presents an excellent way to go to Europe from Canada, and from Europe in any direction.

Since racking up Flying Blue Miles in large quantities can be challenging for a single person, it can be a good idea to pool your resources. Enter the Flying Blue Family Account, which provides households with the opportunity to bank all their points toward that next big redemption.

What is a Flying Blue Family Account?

The Flying Blue Family Account is an extension of the Air France-KLM Flying Blue membership account which permits you to transfer points between Flying Blue members who are part of the newly created household account.

There is also a limit on family members allowed into the account: only one other adult over 18 is permitted to join, along with up to 6 children, meaning that the Brady Bunch is the theoretical maximum Family Account size.

The main difference we’ll get into is that while this does let two separate adult accounts share points between them, it will require you to transfer the points manually.

The Best Ways to Earn Flying Blue Miles

While Flying Blue is a loyalty program that many Canadians might not be familiar with, there are a number of methods that can be utilized when it comes to earning Flying Blue miles. 

Interestingly, there is one co-branded credit card issued in Canada, the Brim Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard. This card tends to fluctuate between offering and not offering a welcome bonus, but it does earn Flying Blue miles on all purchases.

Brim Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard

Apply Now Learn More

Brim Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard

The Brim Financial Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard offers Flying Blue Miles on purchases that can be used for flights around the world, along with a way to increase your status with Flying Blue.

Check out our Brim Financial Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard review for more details.

BONUS
0 Flying Blue Miles

MINSPEND
$0

NET VALUE
$-132+

ANNUAL FEE
$132

FOREX FEES
Yes

EXPIRY
–

Another great option is looking to transferrable currencies, such as Canadian American Express Membership Rewards which transfer to Flying Blue miles at a rate of 1:0.75. We love the American Express Cobalt card as it has high earning rates on popular categories and for the fact that American Express has many transfer partners.

American Express Cobalt Card

Apply Now Learn More

American Express Cobalt Card

The American Express Cobalt card earns Membership Rewards points and gives cardholders the opportunity to earn 5x Membership Rewards on eligible restaurant, food delivery, and grocery store purchases.

In 2024, we selected this card to receive the award Best Credit Card for Grocery Purchases.

Check out our American Express Cobalt card review for more details.

BONUS
15,000 Membership Rewards

MINSPEND
$9,000

NET VALUE
$174+

ANNUAL FEE
$156

FOREX FEES
Yes

EXPIRY
–

If you hold any US credit cards, you can also look to transfer US American Express Membership Rewards at a better rate of 1:1, Capital One Miles at a rate of 1:1, Chase Ultimate Rewards at a rate of 1:1, or Citi ThankYou Rewards at a rate of 1:1.

Benefits of the Flying Blue Family Account

If you have a family member or significant other you wish to travel with, the Family Account is an amazing option. It will allow you to earn and pool your miles as a household, while also permitting easy bookings for everyone involved, as well as keeping your miles from expiring. You also get special discounts on award bookings for children aged 2-11.

Earn & Transfer Miles Within a Household

With the Flying Blue Family Account, you can earn miles on two separate adult accounts and up to six children accounts. This means that both adults could be earning points through methods such as a welcome bonus on the co-branded credit card or by transferring miles to Flying Blue from other loyalty programs.

Once the points are transferred into your respective individual accounts, you can then transfer points between the Flying Blue Family leader and members. All you need to do is click “Transfer Miles” in the Family Account portal while logged into the account that you want to transfer miles from.

Make Flight Redemptions For Your Household (With Discounts for Kids)

The main benefit of the Flying Blue Family Account is that it permits you to make flight redemptions for the entire household using every last available point in the family. 

This means that it may become easier for a pair of travelers to fly in those aspirational business class cabins as they pool their earned miles into Flying Blue Family miles, or for families with kids to avoid paying for even a single cash fare come Christmas time.

Speaking of kids, one of the best benefits of the Family Account program is that children between the ages of 2 and 11 added to the program receive 25% off Flying Blue award redemptions when traveling with an adult. This is one of the most innovative and child-friendly policies in the airline loyalty space, so feel free to take full advantage when booking those family getaways.

This cuts down the cost of economy fares, but is of course at its peak when used on luxury fares. Just don’t spoil your kids too rotten or they’ll get used to business class!

Keep Flying Blue Miles From Expiring

With the Flying Blue Family Account, it’s very easy to keep miles from expiring. Normally, points expire after 24 months of inactivity or usage. However, with the magic of the Family Account, all you need to do is transfer points between accounts to keep them active.

Another excellent benefit, especially for those who foresee the need to book cash fares for their children, is that children who’ve been added to the Family Account get to keep their miles active until they turn 18. This means that a transfer of Flying Blue miles could potentially become an excellent high school graduation present!

Drawbacks of the Flying Blue Family Account

Before you choose to make a Family Account, be aware of some of the potential drawbacks, such as the maximum number of members. Also, be advised that once you join a Flying Blue Family Account you must remain a member for 6 months before you can remove yourself from that family.

Restrictions & Maximum Number of Members

As mentioned earlier, the Flying Blue Family Account is limited to only 2 adults and up to 6 children under the age of 18 for a total of eight people. This means that you can’t include extended family members or anything like that, and makes the Flying Blue Family Account more restrictive and less beneficial than the British Airways Household Account.

In addition, while other family account type sharing accounts might allow points to be earned and shared in common as a default, do note that with Flying Blue you’ll need to manually transfer points between family members. Members can also only be part of one Flying Blue Family at a time.

Elite Status XP Doesn’t Transfer

As with many airline loyalty programs, it’s difficult to transfer loyalty benefits from one member to another. In the case of Flying Blue, the XP points earned on Air France, KLM, or eligible SkyTeam codeshares toward status cannot be transferred between household members. They will rest with the member who earned them, even after creating a Family Account.

This means it’s best to pool resources into the Flying Blue Elite Status of the Family Leader because the benefits they get (such as free bags) should at least be redeemable for their own ticket on any given itinerary.

How to Set Up a Flying Blue Family Account

Setting up the Flying Blue Family Account can be a bit tricky. The landing page found on Flying Blue’s site for the Family Account will redirect you to log in to start the process.

However, once you have logged into your Flying Blue account you’ll need to select “My Profile.” This will transfer you from Flying Blue’s dedicated site to your profile on the Air France website. One can only imagine how complex the backend IT is as all of this can be rather slow.

Before setting up the account, ensure that whoever sets up the Family Account is the one you want to be the account leader. Miles can only be transferred between the leader and the members, not between members, so this is a pivotal choice to make.

Once there, you’ll have the option to create your Family Account by inviting another adult member, though they’ll need to manually accept on their end to finalize the process. To send an invite, you’ll need to enter the first name, last name, and Flying Blue member number of the invitee.

Once you send the invite, the invitee will need to log into their Flying Blue account. They will be prompted via a pop-up that they have been added to a Flying Blue Family and will need to accept the invite.

Once accepted, the new member will see details stating they are now part of a Flying Blue Family Account and the account leader’s name in their Flying Blue account.

Once the account is set up, members will see a “Your Flying Blue Family” screen when logged into their account. If a member has miles in their account, they will see a “Transfer Miles” button displayed which they can use to instantly transfer miles. Members can transfer miles partially or their full mileage balance.

After the Flying Blue Family Account has been created and at least one other member has been added, you’ll then be able to transfer miles between the leader and members, but not between members. As mentioned above, you need to transfer miles to and from individual accounts before booking your Flying Blue redemptions.

Do note that while points can be transferred between the Family Leader and any member, the same is not true of the various members. So the adult family member’s account can transfer to the Leader and vice versa, but the other adult cannot swap points with their children.

Lastly, once you’ve selected a Family Member under the Family Leader, that person cannot be switched for a period of 6 months. So choose wisely.

Flight Redemptions Using the Flying Blue Family Account

Don’t book until you’ve made sure to transfer all Flying Blue miles needed for your itinerary until after you’ve transferred all your points into the account you want to make the booking, which would typically be the Family Account leader.

Once that’s complete, hop over to the Air France or KLM websites and log in using your Flying Blue credentials. You’ll then be able to book flights the normal way by simply selecting “book reward flight”.

Select the flight you want and you and your family will be lifting off in no time!

Conclusion

The Flying Blue Family Account offers an amazing way to pool your household’s miles to travel the world for less cash out of your pocket. We hope that we’ve illustrated today how you can get this account set up and then use it to trailblaze around the world for a minimal outlay of points.

Until next time, we hope that many of you will get to take advantage of the 25% off redemption awards for your children aged 2-11.