How to sell airmiles?

March 4, 2023 2:24 PM

I have a bunch (140,000) of flying blue (Air France/KLM and partners) airmiles that will expire at the end of October. It’s not convenient for me to use these, and I’ve already extended them once by flying somewhere I didn’t really need to go. From googling I’ve found there are companies that buy these online but I can’t tell whether they’re shady. Has anyone had any experience with any of them please?

Flying blue isn’t offering anything I really want in its online shop and no shopping vouchers or anything plus I know that isn’t a good use. I don’t want to just let them expire, though, Any thoughts welcome please.

posted by hazyjane to Travel & Transportation (9 answers total)

Selling through brokers is hard and against the terms of these programs. Your best bet is to do it informally with anyone that wants to travel. Air France/ KLM miles can be used on Delta, Korean Air, Aeromexico, China Airlines, China Eastern, ITA, Kenyan Airways, etc. Basically you'd book them what ever travel they want, and you do a side deal on whatever you want.

The theoretical value of points is maybe $0.01 per mile, but a broker would not likely pay you anywhere close to that. The captured value of mileage redemption varies greatly, i.e. sometimes you get for relatively few miles a ticket that might cost lot of $ or €, or can use miles for an upgrade that would be very expensive with cash for trans-continental flights.
posted by zeikka at 2:48 PM on March 4, 2023

Best answer: If you anticipate any hotel stays in the near future, I think you can convert FlyingBlue miles to Accor points, which would probably also push back the expiration date.
posted by kickingtheground at 3:08 PM on March 4, 2023 [1 favorite]

Call the program find out how to extend them. I was a points skeptic until a last minute trip last fall that was insanely flexible allowed changes that could not have happened otherwise. Admittedly a different program that is enough miles to be really handy at some point.
posted by sammyo at 3:47 PM on March 4, 2023

I don’t want to just let them expire, though, Any thoughts welcome please.

Are you open to alternatives to selling them? If so, I've donated expiring miles to charity in the past. In the U.S., you don't get any sort of tax deduction (because you also don't pay any taxes when you receive miles from the airline), but at least they get put to a good use.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 4:34 PM on March 4, 2023 [1 favorite]

Do they completely expire in October or do you just have to book the travel before then? Any chance there’s a trip you could book far enough out?
posted by raccoon409 at 7:45 PM on March 4, 2023

I don’t use Flying Blue but my miles program is often great value for rental cars and hotels in busy destinations. Do you have any weekends away before October locally where you could apply the points to accommodation, at least?
posted by mdonley at 7:48 PM on March 4, 2023

If I read the Flying Blue rules correctly, one of the activities that extends the miles for 2 years is booking a reward ticket. As I read the rules this seems to indicate that you don't have to book the ticket for yourself. So, way around this could be to book a low cost mileage ticket for someone that needs one.

You then may or may not work some sort of arrangement with that person for compensation (even if that is against the rules of the program).

Either way this booking would then extend the rest of the miles for another 24 months.
posted by zeikka at 7:59 PM on March 4, 2023

If you want to donate them, there is an organization that helps fly wounded amputee soldiers from Ukraine to the US to be fitted with prosthetics.

Link is to Reddit where they post regularly.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:01 PM on March 4, 2023

Sounds like you know well enough about the program but in case - Air France/KLM is part of SkyTeam so Delta is a partner.

If you're based in the US, a Delta flight (where you credit the points to your FlyingBlue account) will suffice to reset the timer. Or any other SkyTeam partner...
posted by artificialard at 9:39 AM on March 5, 2023