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Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® review

Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® review

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30 miles Earn up to 30 Flying Blue miles per dollar spent at select Brim Financial merchant partners

5 bonus Flying Blue miles per euro spent on Air France/KLM flights

2 Flying Blue miles per dollar spent at restaurants and bars

1 Flying Blue mile per dollar spent thereafter

DragonPass lounge access ($32/visit)

19.99% Purchase APR

21.5% Cash Advance APR

$132 Annual Fee first-year annual fee is waived; additional card fee is $50

Good Recommended Credit Score

$80,000 Required Annual Personal Income

$150,000 Required Annual Household Income

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Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® review

Quick overview

Quick overview of the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®

The Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® offered by by Brim Financial is a mile-earning powerhouse that significantly reduces the spend needed to earn free reward flights. This credit card also provides a fast-track to elite Flying Blue (Air France's/KLM's loyalty program) membership status, which unlocks covetable perks like lounge access or discounts on upgrades.

But if you were looking for a travel card that offers perks to enhance the travel experience (such as priority boarding or seating selection) simply for being a cardholder, you’ll need to look elsewhere. These types of travel benefits are tied to the Flying Blue loyalty program rather than the card itself. Unless you meet the requirements to move up in membership tier, the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® offers limited benefits.

Who can benefit most?

Who’s the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® for?

The Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® is ideal for frequent international travellers whose primary airline of choice are Air France, KLM or their diverse group of travel partners. Potential cardholders should travel often (and far) enough to move beyond the basic Flying Blue membership tier within 12 months of opening the credit card. This might be challenging for the average person but attainable for those who travel often, such as business professionals, digital nomads or people who always fly first or business class.

It’s also possible for the infrequent, primarily domestic traveller to benefit from the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®. Any cardholder, regardless of membership tier, who spends at least $1,667 within a 24-month period, will earn 15,000 points, enough for the base fare for a free, one-way reward ticket from Canada to Europe, economy class. If you already have upcoming travel plans that will bring you to close to this threshold, the free travel could easily outweigh the cost of the annual fee (which is waived the first year anyways).

Pros and cons

Pros and cons

Pros

Pros

  • $132 annual fee is rebated for the first year

  • 30 XP bonus each card anniversary

  • Comprehensive travel insurance

Cons

Cons

  • Requires a higher income ($80,000) than some other travel card options

  • Very limited Air France/KLM Flying Blue benefits without elite status

  • No priority baggage or boarding benefits

  • Airport lounge access requires payment

Welcome bonus

Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® welcome bonus

The Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® comes with a unique welcome bonus:

  • Earn 60 XP in the first year: receive 30 XP per year and an additional 30 XP as a welcome bonus

As of October 2024, new Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® cardholders will receive eXperience Points (XP) immediately upon being approved for the credit card. These points will count towards the 100 XP needed to qualify for elite Flying Blue status. 

How to earn miles

How to earn Flying Blue miles with the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®

The most obvious way to earn miles with the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® is by purchasing Air France and KLM-marketed flights. Eligible travel purchases will earn 5 bonus Flying Blue miles per euro spent on Air France/KLM flights  (yes, euros; after all, it’s Air France, right?). This is in addition to the miles earned per dollar through the Flying Blue loyalty program, which is required before applying for this card.

The number of miles earned through the Flying Blue loyalty program are based on membership tier:

  • Explorer: 4 miles per dollar
  • Silver: 6 miles per dollar
  • Gold: 7 miles per dollar
  • Platinum: 8 miles per dollar
  • Ultimate: 9 miles per dollar

Cardholders will earn an additional 5  miles on top of their tier-based earnings, for a minimum of nine miles per euros and a maximum of 14.

Outside of travel, the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® also earns miles on everyday purchases: 2 Flying Blue miles per dollar spent at restaurants and bars and one mile for everything else1 Flying Blue mile per dollar spent thereafter. Cardholders can also earn up to an impressive 30 miles per dollar spent after activating offers from selected retail partners30 Flying Blue miles per dollar spent at select Brim Financial merchant partners.

How to redeem miles

How to redeem Flying Blue miles

Redeeming miles for travel

The most lucrative way to redeem Flying Blue miles is to use them for travel. They can be used for airfare with any of Flying Blue’s 39 travel partners or hotel stays. Miles can be redeemed for flights through Airfrance.com or KLM.com — not directly through travel partner websites — or their mobile apps. Stretch your miles even further through Flying Blue promo deals, which offer 25% off on short, medium and long-haul flights, whereas Europe-to-Europe flights cost as little as 5,625 miles (one way). Miles must be used to book hotel bookings through Flying Blue’s designated portal, which is straightforward.

Redeeming miles for upgrades

Flying Blue miles are good for more than free flights. They also can be redeemed for travel upgrades and add-ons to make your travel experience more pleasant and convenient.

Pending availability, miles can be used to upgrade your cabin to any level with the exception of first class (La Première), an option exclusive to Platinum members with a business class ticket. Upgrading provides a lot more than just leg room. It also entitles you to all other perks associated with that cabin such as extra baggage allowance, lounge access and priority boarding.

Prior to check-in opening for the flight, upgrades can only be requested by calling customer service. Once check-in is available, upgrades can also be made by modifying your reservation online, speaking to an attendant at the airport prior to boarding, or speaking to a flight attendant after boarding the plane. 

Redeeming miles for travel incidentals

Flying Blue miles can also be used to cover the cost of travel amenities and services that would otherwise require a separate fee:

  • Baggage fees
  • Seat selection
  •  Wi-Fi access
  • Lounge access
  • In-flight meals

Redeeming miles for any of these options can be done after booking and during check-in via the websites, mobile app or customer service.

Redeeming miles for merchandise

Flying Blue miles can also be redeemed for products in-person at Aelia Duty-Free shops, where 250 miles is the equivalent of €1, or online at the Flying Blue Store, a digital portal that includes thousands of products ranging from luxury brands such as Gucci, Smeg and Dyson, to trinkets from no-name manufacturers.

The cost of these products start as low as 3,000 miles (a black ballpoint pen) and go up to 500,000+ (Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max). However, this is by far the worst method for redeeming Flying Blue miles.

Take the iPhone 15 Plus - 512 GB, for instance. When purchased directly from Apple, this exact model costs CDN$1,599; from the Flying Blue Store it costs a total of 440,693 miles. An Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® cardholder at the highest Flying Blue membership tier and earns 14 miles per dollar would need to spend $31,478 on flights to earn enough miles to purchase this item through the Flying Blue Store. 

Aside from being nearly 20 times more expensive than just purchasing the iPhone with cash from a regular retailer, the same amount of miles could be used to fly roundtrip from Edmonton to Paris four times over in business class. Using miles to shop in either place is a poor use of miles that is nowhere close to the potential value of using miles towards free travel.

Key benefits

Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® key benefits

  • Earn 60 XP in the first year: receive 30 XP per year and an additional 30 XP as a welcome bonus
  • The Flying Blue program includes 39 diverse travel partners that makes it possible to maximize the card’s earning potential even if Air France and KLM are not your go-to airline
  • Robust and flexible redemption options
Insurance coverage

Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® insurance coverage

  • Out-of-province emergency travel medical insurance: Up to $5,000,000 per insured person
  • Trip cancellation insurance: Up to $2,500 for each insured person for all insured persons, which includes the cardmember, their spouse, dependent children and travelling companion
  • Trip interruption insurance:  $5,000 for each insured person to a combined maximum of $25,000 for all insured persons
  • Common carrier accident insurance: Up to $500,000 for the insured person
  • Mobile device insurance: Up to $1,000 per insured person
  • Event ticket protector insurance: Reimbursement for the non-refundable portion of the ticket cost up to $1,000 per occurrence if purchased through a primary ticket outlet
  • Purchase security insurance: up to $1,000 per card member per occurrence, within 90 days of the purchase date
  • Flight delay insurance: up to $500 for all insured
  • Baggage delay insurance: up to $1,000 for delays of more than six hours
  • Lost or stolen baggage insurance: Up to $1,000 for travellers.
  • Hotel burglary insurance: Up to $2,500 per burglary occurrence
  • Car rental collision/Loss damage insurance: up to $65,000
What people have to say

What people have to say about the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®

The Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® is recognized as appealing to a niche audience. That’s the Internet’s polite way of saying that this is a rather underwhelming credit card for the average person.

The biggest source of disappointment is also its biggest draw: the signup bonus. According to Reddit, the signup bonuses can vary widely from year to year, sometimes in the span of a few months (some users having encountered this branded airline credit card with no signup bonus offer). If you’re on the fence about this card, it may be worth waiting to see if the introductory offer improves.

Canadians were also less than impressed by the reward rate for food purchases, 2x miles per dollar spent, especially considering that other rewards cards have similar rates without charging an annual fee. Another gripe is the fact that this travel card has foreign transaction fees. Strange for a travel card to begin with, but especially odd since other credit cards offered by Brim Financial do without this fee.

How it compares

How the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® compares

Here's how the Air France Mastercard® from Brim Financial compares with its rivals:

Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® vs. TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card

up to $1,300

Welcome Bonus

$436

First Year Value

$0

Annual Value

Welcome Bonus: Earn up to $1,300 in value† including up to 40,000 Aeroplan points† and no Annual Fee for the first year†. Conditions Apply.

Learn More Apply Now On TD's Secure Site

The Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® has a much more robust reward structure for purchases, offering greater earnings on flights and food, but falls short when compared to the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card signup bonus, which immediately provides enough points for roundtrip reward travel. It also lacks travel perks, which are offered by the Air Canada credit card, and include a free checked bag on Air Canada flights and NEXUS credits for expedited border processing.

Outside of travel, the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® has no real benefits for the day-to-day user, whereas the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card boasts a 50% boost in earnings of both Aeroplan Points and Starbucks Stars when linking accounts.

Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® vs. Cathay World Elite® Mastercard®

$0

First Year Value

$0

Annual Value

Learn More Apply Now On Neo's Secure Site

The Cathay World Elite® Mastercard® is aligned with the Oneworld alliance, whereas the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® is tied to the Flying Blue loyalty program — both of which boast an impressive array of travel partners around the globe. But once again, the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® signup bonus falls short and fails to offer standard travel perks such as free checked luggage or airline lounge access. Although it has a slightly lower fee, this is quickly overshadowed by the discount on Cathay flights that new applicants receive on top of generous point bonuses.

Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® vs. American Express Cobalt® Card

up to 15k pts

Welcome Bonus

$679.02

First Year Value

$529.02

Annual Value

Welcome Bonus: Earn up to 15,000 Membership Rewards® points* by earning 1,250 Membership Rewards® points for each monthly billing period in which you spend $750 on your Card in your first year as a new Cardmember. This could add up to 15,000 points in a year.*

Learn More Apply Now On American Express' Secure Site

The American Express Cobalt® Card is a strong everyday rewards credit card, whereas the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® reward categories and redemption options revolve around travel, which isn’t useful to the average person who only goes on a few holidays a year. Still, of the two, the American Express Cobalt® Card offers no airline-related perks whatsoever, and the 2x points on eligible rideshares, transit and gas in Canada don’t apply if they’re made outside of Canada.

Is it worth it?

Is the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® worth it?

The Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® is not a card to get on a whim, in hope that you may be able to utilize the benefits. Its lacklustre signup bonus, limited reward structure and near total reliance on Flying Blue for travel perks makes this a card that should only be approached strategically — namely, when you have several big trips coming up. It’s the only realistic way you’ll be able to take advantage of the signup and anniversary XP bonus (and access any semblance of travel perks).

Despite its impressive rewards multiplier for Air France or KLM branded flights, that alone does not make this card a must-have. The best way to earn Flying Blue miles is a sneaky one — and doesn’t require having the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® either. Hotel bookings purchased through the dedicated Flying Blue portal can yield more than twice as many miles as a cardholder may earn, spending the same amount on airfare.

Overall, the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® has too many hoops to jump through to make it worth the $132 annual fee for anyone except for the most frequent of travellers.

Eligibility requirements

Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® eligibility criteria

  • Credit score of Good or higher
  • Minimum income: $80,000 (personal); $150,000 (household)
  • Must be a Canadian resident
  • Flying Blue member
FAQs

FAQs

  • Is a World Elite Mastercard hard to get?

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    The Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® requires having a credit score of Good or higher, as well as a higher-than-average income requirements.

  • Who issues Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®?

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    For Canadian residents, the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® is issued by Brim Financial. This credit card is also available in the United States and issued by Bank of America.

  • How much is the annual fee for Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®?

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    The Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard® has an annual fee of $132 (first-year annual fee is waived; additional card fee is $50).

Tyler Fordham Freelance Contributor

Tyler Fordham is a finance writer and credit card expert who loves all things rewards.

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