A Bengaluru couple has revealed how they managed to save ₹8 lakh while planning their dream vacation in Europe. Sanket Garg and Manasi Jaiswal shared an X post explaining how they used frequent flyer miles to save massively on flights. That, coupled with taking advantage of hotel deals from Accor, helped them save a good chunk even as they travelled in style.
Air France Flying Blue Frequent Flyer Program
The Air France Flying Blue Frequent Flyer Program is a loyalty program shared by Air France, KLM, and several other partner airline. The programme is designed to reward frequent travellers with benefits, miles, flight upgrades etc.
Sanket and Manasi used a combination of miles and cash to reduce the overall cost of their tickets from Bengaluru to Paris, France.
Instead of paying the full revenue price of ₹2.8 lakh for the ticket, they redeemed 50,000 Flying Blue miles to cover part of the fare.
{{/usCountry}}Instead of paying the full revenue price of ₹2.8 lakh for the ticket, they redeemed 50,000 Flying Blue miles to cover part of the fare.
{{/usCountry}}Similarly, flights from Paris to Amsterdam, and from Amsterdam to Rovaniemi, were also subsidised using the frequent flyer programme.
“We were able to fly directly and in Business Class on some flights because we had enough points to use. If we didn't have those points, we would have probably flown Economy and may have taken one-stop flights, which would have just saved us approximately ₹2.4 lakh instead of ₹8 lakh,” the couple explained on X.
Accor points
Not only did the couple save massively on flights, they also used Accor points to subsidise their hotel stays in Europe.
Accor points are the loyalty points earned through the loyalty program of Accor Hotels. This program allows members to earn points for staying at Accor properties, which include brands like Sofitel, Novotel, Pullman, Mercure, and Fairmont, among others.
Because of these points, the couple had to pay only ₹2,600 per night for a Paris hotel which would otherwise cost over ₹17,000 per night.
How to get points and miles
Their thread on using points and miles to score great deals is going steadily viral on X.
“The moot question is which credit cards to use to accumulate such high points for flights?” asked one person in the comments section, to which they replied saying they use “Amex Platinum travel, HDFC Infinia, Axis Magnus and Atlas.”
In a further breakdown of their expenditure, the Bengaluru couple explained that they spent ₹9 lakh from Axis Atlas to earn 45,000 Air France miles. Spending ₹8 lakh on HDFC Infinia earned them 1.3 lakh Air France miles, while they got 40,000 Accor points by spending ₹2 lakh from Axis Magnus.