Air France–KLM’s Flying Blue loyalty program is updating how miles expire, and this time the change is genuinely member-friendly.
As of May 4, 2026, all Flying Blue miles will follow one unified 24-month expiry rule, and any eligible earning activity will extend the validity of your entire balance by another 24 months.
For anyone who has struggled with multiple expiry dates depending on how miles were earned, this update removes a lot of confusion and makes it much easier to keep your account in good standing.
How Flying Blue Miles Expire Today
Under the current rules, Flying Blue’s expiry policy is more complex than it needs to be, especially for non-elite members.
Right now, miles generally expire after 24 months of inactivity, except for elites whose balances are protected while they hold status. However, not all earning activity is treated equally:
- Certain actions, such as crediting a paid flight to Flying Blue or spending on a Flying Blue co-branded credit card, can extend the validity of all your miles.
- Other activity, like transferring points from a bank partner, has not reliably reset the expiry counter under the existing structure.
On top of that, Flying Blue has effectively maintained different “buckets” of miles depending on how they were earned, which has made it difficult for members to know exactly which activities protect which portion of their balance.
The end result is that many casual members, and even some seasoned collectors, have watched miles lapse simply because the rules were not intuitive.
The New Unified 24-Month Policy
From May 4, 2026, Flying Blue is introducing a much more straightforward approach:
- All miles will share one common validity period of 24 months.
- Any eligible earning activity will extend the validity of your entire balance by 24 months from that activity date.
Eligible activities include:
- Earning miles on paid flights credited to Flying Blue
- Earning miles via participating partners, such as hotels, car rentals, and other commercial partners
- Earning miles via a Flying Blue co-branded credit card, or transferring points from bank partners
Crucially, the change applies to both new and existing miles:
- Miles earned from May 4, 2026 onwards will automatically follow the new single-date rule.
- Existing balances will be merged at implementation, and the most favourable validity date will be applied to your full balance.
In practical terms, if you had multiple expiry dates before the change, they will be consolidated, and your miles should end up with the latest possible expiry that you previously had.
Members Whose Miles Still Do Not Expire
The new policy mainly affects Explorer members aged 18 and older without special protections. For several member groups, Flying Blue miles are already effectively non-expiring, and that will continue.
According to the updated policy, miles do not expire for:
- Elite and Elite Plus members (Silver, Gold, Platinum, Ultimate), as long as they maintain status
- Members who subscribe to Flying Blue Extra
- Members who hold a Flying Blue co-branded credit card
- Members under 18 years old
For these members, the unified expiry date mainly improves transparency in the account display rather than changing the underlying risk of losing miles.
This Is Great News for Canadians
For Canadian points collectors, Flying Blue has become a very compelling option, especially since American Express Canada updated the transfer ratio to 1:1.
Combine that with regular Flying Blue Promo Rewards and competitive award pricing on routes to Europe and beyond, and the program already sits in a strong position.
The new expiry policy makes it much easier to live with on an ongoing basis, since you now only have to keep track of a single 24-month validity window, rather than juggling different dates depending on how each mile was earned.
The change is particularly useful if you earn American Express Membership Rewards points in Canada, because any eligible earning activity will now extend the validity of your entire Flying Blue balance.
In practical terms, you can reset the 24-month clock simply by transferring a small amount of Amex points into Flying Blue when you need to refresh your account.
That turns Amex transfers into an effective safety valve for keeping your miles alive, and makes Flying Blue a more comfortable place to hold a working balance as part of a broader Europe and SkyTeam strategy.
Conclusion
Flying Blue’s updated mileage expiry policy is a meaningful simplification for members.
From May 4, 2026, all miles will share a single 24-month validity period, and any qualifying earning activity will extend the expiry of your entire balance.
Existing miles will be consolidated under the most favourable validity date, while elite members, co-branded cardholders, Flying Blue Extra subscribers, and minors continue to benefit from non-expiring balances.
For most collectors, this removes a layer of complexity and makes Flying Blue easier to use as a long-term points currency.
As long as you plan at least one eligible earning activity every couple of years, you will be well positioned to protect your miles and focus on planning redemptions rather than monitoring multiple expiry dates.
This story originally appeared on princeoftravel
