Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard Review

Full Review of Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard

Pros Explained

• Premium rewards for purchases from any of 20 airlines: You can earn this card’s best rewards of 3 miles per $1 with many more airlines than the two that are in its name. Air France and KLM are part of the SkyTeam alliance of 20 airlines, and you can earn that premium rate for purchases with any of them. That means you can earn the same number of miles for purchases from Delta, say, as from Air France. You can also use miles to buy or upgrade tickets not only across the SkyTeam alliance but in a still-larger one: Flying Blue, the joint loyalty program for Air France and KLM. While you earn the card’s 3-miles-per-$1 rate only from SkyTeam airlines, you can spend Flying Blue miles for flights with that program’s 35 airline partners.
• Significant one-time bonus offer: This card’s one-time mileage offer is easy to earn and represents an excellent return on spending. If you spend at least $2,000 in 90 days, you'll receive 70,000 bonus miles and 40 Experience Points. Based on a valuation of 1.54 cents per mile, we estimate the value of that to be $1,078 when used to buy flights. Upon approval for the card, you receive 60 Experience Points (XP) in addition to the 40 earned for spending. Customarily earned by flying, these points help you to earn elite status. If you earn the spending bonus, you'll have the 100 XP needed to reach Silver status, which earns you benefits such as priority check-in, seat discounts, a boost in your mileage-earning rate with the program, and a free checked bag.
• Anniversary bonus: This card also provides an annual bonus. Every year on your card anniversary you receive 5,000 bonus miles, provided you’ve charged at least $50 to the card over the previous year. Worth an estimated $80 when used to get flights, this bonus nearly equals the value of the card’s $89 annual fee.

Cons Explained

• Lacks benefits, even with Air France and KLM: Co-branded airline cards that charge an annual fee, as this one does, typically come with a number of benefits, including those with their co-branded carrier or carriers, such as free checked bags or discounts on in-flight purchases. But the only travel-related benefit offered by the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard is that, like many travel cards, it doesn't charge foreign transaction fees. The card also lacks any other benefits of note, except the ability to use the card for overdraft protection if you also have a bank account with Bank of America, the card's issuer.

Who This Card Is Best For

The Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard is an unusually good choice for customers not only of Air France or KLM Royal Dutch Airlines but of many other carriers. In part, that’s because air purchases made with this card earn a generous 3 miles per $1 spent at any of the 20 carriers of the SkyTeam alliance, including Delta. And the miles you earn with the card, and from flights, can be redeemed with an even-larger number of Air France/KLM Fly-Blue partners.

Those who travel (or use the card) only occasionally can still justify the annual fee of the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard with relatively little spending. For about $520 or less in purchases cardholders can cover the value of the annual fee with the miles earned. The $5,000 anniversary bonus already covers $77 dollars of value. Taking this into account, you'd achieve $89 of value by meeting about $520 of annual spending. This assumes you are earning 1.5 miles per $1 spent. If you're earning 3 miles per $1 spent with SkyTeam airlines on some or all of your purchases, you can cover the annual fee with less spending.

Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard One-Time Offer

You receive 70,000 bonus miles and 40 XP after spending $2,000 or more within the first 90 days after you open the card’s account. We value the bonus miles at $1,078 when redeemed for flight purchases through Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, SkyTeam, and Flying Blue partner airlines.

Upon card approval, you'll also receive 60 XP, for a possible total of 100 XP.

Rewards Earning Details

You earn 3 miles per $1 spent on flights booked directly with Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and on purchases made directly with any airline members of SkyTeam. You earn 1.5 miles per $1 spent on all other purchases. In addition to its initial bonus offer, this card offers some ongoing annual bonus opportunities. As long as your account is active, you'll get 5,000 miles each year after making $50 in purchases, a benefit that alone is worth $77.

In order to earn miles and XP, you must be a member of the Flying Blue program. If you aren't already a member of the program, you'll be enrolled when you sign up for this card.

Rewards Redemption Details

Miles can be redeemed towards flights with Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or any of the 35 airline partners of those two carriers in the Flying Blue program, which include Delta Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.

You can also spend Flying Blue miles directly with a number of hotels, car rentals, and retail merchants who are partners in the program. You can also spend them for museums and other experiences in France and the Netherlands. 

All that said, keep in mind that you’ll generally get the best value by redeeming miles for flights. We value each Flying Blue mile at an average of 1.54 cents when used to book air travel. 

How to Maximize Your Rewards

In order to make the most of this card, first spend the $2,000 necessary within the first 90 days of opening an account in order to earn the 70,000-mile bonus, which we estimate is worth $1,078 when used for flights on Air France, KLM, and their airline partners.

Next, use your card to earn 3 miles per $1 spent on direct flight purchases with Air France, KLM, and their fellow members of the SkyTeam airline alliance. You can, of course, also use this card for other purchases, too. At 1.5 miles per $1, this spending earns you a passable 2.4 cents per $1 when used for flights.

Finally, spend enough on this card annually to earn the anniversary mile bonus. That should be easy to do as you only need to spend $50 to earn the $5,000 anniversary bonus.

Average Case

Let’s assume that you only use this card for flight and hotel purchases for intermittent travel. We’ll say you take two return trips per year to Paris from the U.S. on Air France and spend $560 per round-trip flight. Further, let’s say you spend two nights in a hotel on each trip, at $150 per night.

Overall, you'd earn 4,260 miles on this card. At a value of 1.54 cents each when used for flights, those miles have an estimated value of about $66. (However, keep in mind that these purchases would also qualify you for the 5,000 miles bonus, worth $77, when you spend at least $50 a year on the card. You would also of course earn the normal Flying Blue miles for taking your flights that all program members earn.

Aspirational Case

Frequent travelers will naturally earn bigger benefits with this card, as will those who use the card regularly for other spending. Let's assume that you double the travel schedule above, using the card to purchase four round-trip flights per year and staying in a hotel for two nights per trip. As in the scenario above, we'll estimate that each round-trip flight costs an average of $560, while each hotel stay costs an average of $150 per night. Doubling the earnings detailed above, those purchases would earn you 8,520 miles, worth an estimated $131.

Let's further assume that you also charge $16,000 to the card per year for various daily living expenses—such as food, gas, clothing, entertainment, and personal care. Those miscellaneous purchases, which earn 1.5 miles per $1 spent, would yield a further 24,000 miles, which, at 1.54 cents apiece, would be worth about $370 when used for flights.

Overall, you'd earn 32,520 miles on this card worth $501. (However, once again, keep in mind that these purchases would also qualify you for the 5,000 miles bonus, worth $77 when you spend at least $50 a year on the card. You would also of course earn the normal Flying Blue miles for taking your flights that all program members earn.

Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard Outstanding Benefits

• Overdraft protection if you also have a Bank of America bank account

Standard Benefits

• $0 liability guarantee
• Online and mobile banking
• Paperless statements
• Chip-enabled card
• Free monthly FICO score
• Digital wallet technology

Cardholder Experience

Bank of America, which issues the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard ranked third out 11 card issuers in J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study. The bank's score was a few points above average.

Bank of America offers mobile apps for iOS and Android. These apps allow for account access in general, including the ability to keep track of credit card transactions. Scored out of a possible 5 by users, Bank of America’s mobile app has a score of 4.8 stars in the Apple App Store and 4.6 stars on Google Play as of May 2023.

Security Features

Bank of America offers a host of standard security features on its cards, including fraud monitoring, account alerts, and zero liability for fraudulent purchases.

This card comes with chip technology, digital wallet technology, overdraft protection, and online and mobile banking.

Final Verdict

The Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard offers unusual versatility in the travel providers—especially the airlines—from whom you can earn and spend the miles you earn using the card. In addition, the card’s ongoing annual mileage reward for very minimal spending brings instant value in exchange for the card’s annual fee, which may make this a good option, even for those that typically prefer an annual fee-free card.

However, the card isn't an entirely well-rounded travel card that offers benefits to help make flying more comfortable and convenient. For that reason, you’ll probably want to pair the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard with at least one other general travel card that fills in the features it lacks.