Just over a month since adding Oman Air to its list of partners for redemptions, Air France KLM Flying Blue has added another partner airline to its growing roster.
As of July 22, 2024, it’s possible to earn and redeem Flying Blue miles with EL AL Israel Airlines, which opens up new opportunities for redemptions from North America.
Air France KLM Flying Blue Adds EL AL Israel Airlines as New Partner
This week, it became possible to earn and redeem Air France KLM Flying Blue miles with EL AL Israel Airlines.
While there hasn’t been an official press release sent out, information about earning Flying Blue miles on EL AL flights has been published on the Flying Blue website, and EL AL flights have also been loaded into the Flying Blue search engine.
When it comes to earning Flying Blue miles on EL AL flights, you can now earn up to 150% in miles of the actual distance flown. The full breakdown of the EL AL earning scheme is as follows:
The Tel Aviv-based airline operates a modest number of routes mostly to destinations across Europe. However, it also operates a handful of medium- and long-haul routes to North America, Dubai, India, South East Asia, and Japan, too, according to FlightConnections.
EL AL offers a three-cabin configuration on its long-haul routes, with economy, premium economy, and business class products. You can find this on EL AL’s Boeing 787 Dreamliners, as well as on its upgraded 777 aircraft.
Redeeming Flying Blue Miles for EL AL Israel Airlines
Aside from being able to earn Flying Blue miles on EL AL flights, it’s now possible to redeem miles for them, too.
Flying Blue doesn’t publish an award chart for partner airlines, so if you’re interested in booking EL AL flights with Flying Blue miles, you’ll have to manually look it up on the Flying Blue website.
As far as short-haul flights are concerned, we see the following sample pricing:
- Tel Aviv–Athens: 9,000 miles plus $49 (CAD) in economy, or 19,500 miles plus $49 (CAD) in business class
- Tel Aviv–Rome: 15,000 miles plus $53 (CAD) in economy, or 33,000 miles plus $53 (CAD) in business class
- Tel Aviv–Dubai: 15,000 miles plus $49 (CAD) in economy, or 33,000 miles plus $49 (CAD) in business class
Moving further afield to destinations across Europe and South East Asia, some example prices are as follows:
- Tel Aviv–Zurich: 16,500 miles plus $89 (CAD) in economy, or 36,000 miles plus $89 (CAD) in business class
- Tel Aviv–London: 18,000 miles plus $143 (CAD) in economy, or 39,500 miles plus $143 (CAD) in business class
And for flights to North America from Tel Aviv, we can find some example prices as follows:
- Tel Aviv–New York: 45,500 miles plus $130 (CAD) in economy, 83,000 miles plus $130 (CAD) in premium economy, or 79,500 miles plus $130 (CAD) in business class
- Tel Aviv–Los Angeles: 61,000 miles plus $135 (CAD) in economy, 110,000 miles plus $180 (CAD) in premium economy, or 106,500 miles plus $180 (CAD) in business class
What’s most interesting about Flying Blue redemptions for EL AL flights is that the carrier-imposed surcharges don’t fluctuate based on class of service as they do with other airlines.
Generally speaking, you’ll pay more in taxes and fees as you fly in higher classes of service on Flying Blue redemptions, including with Air France, KLM, and partner airlines. However, the taxes and fees are almost always the same in every class of service for EL AL flights.
What’s also odd (and possibly temporary) is that premium economy prices are higher than business class prices in every example I came across when writing this article.
Award availability for EL AL Israel Airlines is pretty good, though you may have to comb through a few dates to find your desired class of service.
It’s worth noting that EL AL’s earning and redeeming partnership with Alaska Airlines will end on July 31, 2024.
Conclusion
Air France KLM and EL AL Israel Airlines have launched a partnership, through which it’s possible to earn and redeem Flying Blue miles with EL AL.
The Tel Aviv-based carrier primarily operates flights to Europe, as well as to a handful of long-haul destinations, including North America.
The partnership is now live, and you can search for EL AL flights on the Flying Blue website and redeem them throughout the schedule.
