Howdy, partner,
Tomi is off on vacation this week, so you're stuck with me. And yes, I know it's April 1st, but I promise none of this is an April Fools' joke. Three things worth knowing about today: a rare hotel-to-airline transfer bonus, a fresh batch of discounted Flying Blue awards, and a big shakeup in the alliance world.
100% Choice Privileges to Flying Blue Transfer Bonus
Choice Privileges lets members convert hotel points into airline points, and typically these transfers are at a 5:1 ratio. However, between March 24 and April 24, 2026, you can receive a 100% bonus when you move Choice Privileges points to Air France-KLM Flying Blue.
That means you get 2,000 Flying Blue miles for every 5,000 Choice points. Put another way, each Choice Privileges point gets you 0.4 Flying Blue miles instead of the usual 0.2.
Now, I don't normally recommend transferring hotel points to airlines. The ratios are usually terrible. But if you're a Points Master member who has been sitting on a pile of Choice Privileges points, waiting for another transfer bonus that hasn't come around... well, IYKYK. This is your window.
Keep reading below, because these miles pair perfectly with the new Flying Blue Promo Rewards that just went live today.
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New Flying Blue Promo Rewards Now Live
Flying Blue has published its April 2026 Promo Rewards, valid for bookings between April 1 and April 30, 2026. Most of these have long travel windows and can be used for flights all the way through September 30, 2026.
As a reminder, Flying Blue has standardized saver award pricing, so ordinarily you'll pay the following for one-way transatlantic awards between Europe and most of North America:
| Cabin | Standard Saver Price |
| Economy | 25,000 miles |
| Premium Economy | 40,000 miles |
| Business Class | 60,000 miles |
Here are the awards available with this month's Promo Rewards for travel between Europe and North America:
| Airline | Routes (25% off) | From |
| Air France | Economy: Detroit (DTW), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK) | 18,750 mi |
| KLM | Economy: Atlanta (ATL), Austin (AUS), Boston (BOS), New York (JFK), San Diego (SAN) | 18,750 mi |
| KLM | Business Class: Portland (PDX) | 45,000 mi |
On top of that, the Flying Blue Extra program (starting at €379/year) gives subscribers access to additional Promo Rewards. If you're a Flying Blue Extra member, you also get:
| Airline | Extra Promo Routes (25% off) | From |
| Air France | Economy: Orlando (MCO), Ottawa (YOW), San Francisco (SFO) | 18,750 mi |
| KLM | Economy: Las Vegas (LAS) | 18,750 mi |
| Air France | Business Class: St. Martin (SXM) | 63,750 mi |
| KLM | Business Class: Bogota (BOG), Cartagena (CTG), Paramaribo (PBM) | 63,750 mi |
Flying Blue Extra members can redeem these awards for themselves or others, as long as the miles come from their account.
All of the lowest priced awards in the above markets through September 30, 2026, should be bookable at the Promo Rewards pricing. And remember: you can use all of these awards for travel to and from destinations across Europe, so you're not limited to Amsterdam and Paris. Connect onward to Rome, Barcelona, Athens, wherever you like.
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Quick tips: • If you're having trouble finding availability, remember to use Flying Blue's secret award calendar (leave the date field blank when searching). • Children ages 2 to 12 receive 25% off Flying Blue award tickets, including Promo Rewards. |
ITA Airways Is Now a Full Star Alliance Member
As of today, April 1, 2026, ITA Airways is officially the 26th member of Star Alliance. This completes the Italian carrier's journey from SkyTeam (which it left in early 2025) into the Lufthansa Group family.
What does this mean for you?
Earn and redeem across the network. Members of any Star Alliance frequent flyer program can now earn and redeem miles on ITA Airways flights. That includes programs like United MileagePlus, Aeroplan, ANA Mileage Club, Singapore KrisFlyer, Turkish Miles&Smiles, and of course Miles&More (which has now replaced ITA's old Volare program entirely).
Elite benefits now apply. If you hold Star Alliance Gold status through any member airline, you'll get lounge access (including ITA Airways lounges in Rome, Milan, and Catania), priority boarding, extra baggage, and through check-in when flying ITA.
Italy just got easier on points. ITA Airways operates over 350 daily flights with hubs at Rome Fiumicino (FCO) and Milan Linate (LIN). That means award flights into Italy on Star Alliance programs just got a lot more flexible. Instead of connecting through Frankfurt or Zurich, you can now book direct Star Alliance award flights on ITA into Rome and Milan, and connect to dozens of Italian and European destinations.
Former Volare members, heads up. The Volare program shut down on March 30. Miles&More is now ITA's official loyalty program. If you haven't already matched your Volare status to Miles&More, do that immediately. Lufthansa has been offering free status matches, but that window won't last forever.
This is a big deal for anyone who loves flying to Italy. More redemption options, more routing flexibility, and the backing of the full Star Alliance network. Worth keeping an eye on how award availability shapes up over the coming weeks.
Questions? Just hit reply.
Safe travels,
Dan