Save Money Flying KLM-AMS Direct

My friend Melissa pointed this hack out to me and I’m glad she did.  Melissa hit me up the other day asking me a way to save some money on getting to Amsterdam from Portland towards the end of May.  I told her to consider other directs from places like Seattle or Vancouver, but she was able to make her direct from PDX a lot cheaper.

KLM/Delta has a direct from Portland to Amsterdam, however, it’s pretty spending during the time she wants to go (5/26 – 6/6).  As of today, the price was listed at $1,573 per person (skyscanner.net).  Taking the direct is pretty awesome however as it’s 10 hours and you’re there.  However, that’s pretty expensive, so let’s see if we can save some money.

One thing nice about her dates, is that they only take 25,000 miles per person each way (klm.com; need a FlyingBlue account).  So, to get there for two people would only be 100,000 miles.

But Jason…I don’t have any FlyingBlue miles…

Well, don’t you worry.

Today, Melissa told me about a promo that is going on with KLM/FlyingBlue.  Until March 18th, you can buy miles from FlyingBlue with a 50% bonus if getting over 30,000 miles.

Though I usually don’t recommend buying miles as it is usually quite expensive, this is a great promotion to get you the miles you need to make a trip to Amsterdam happen.

To get those 100,000 miles, you’ll need to buy 68,000 miles which will earn you an additional 34,000 miles.  The cost of those 102,000 miles will be 1,870 Euros (or $2,058).  Yeah, that’s pretty expensive, but now you can go and get your ticket for less.

After the 50,000 miles per person, you’ll also be paying around $140 for taxes and fees.  Each ticket then costs $1,169 ($2,058 / 2 + $140).

Buying the tickets straight through KLM would be $1,573 per person, but with this little hack, you’re saving $404 per ticket!

For Melissa, this opportunity is saving her over $800 between the two tickets she is getting.  That’s a great find!  Thanks Melissa!

This will work for both Air France and KLM, so if you have a destination you’re wanting to go with one of those carriers, it may be worth buying points with the bonus instead of just buying that ticket with cash.  Again, this ends on March 18th, so make your plans soon!

Happy Travels,

Jason

If you liked seeing this hack and would like to see more, then please let me know in the comments below!