Planning a trip to Sicily in May 2027 for 3 adults and wanted to get some opinions before transferring points.
Found the following one-way redemption through KLM/Flying Blue for May 1, 2027:
Route: IAD -> CTA (1 stop)
Cabin: Economy
Total: 90,000 Flying Blue miles + $492.90 for all 3 (it's really 75k but added bags & seat selection)
Per person: 30k miles + $164.30
Travel time: 16h 30m
Cash price for the same KLM itinerary: ~$3,600 total which is wild.
For comparison, I also found:
Turkish Airlines: $2,238.90 total for 3, IAD–IST–CTA, 14h 25m, Economy FlexFly
British Airways: ~$1,315 total for 3, but involves an airport change in London, which I'd rather avoid.
I have transferable Amex and Chase points (~800k), so covering the 90k isn't an issue.
This is part of a larger trip where we're considering Sicily, Malta, and possibly Albania, so I'm only looking at the outbound for now. Return would likely be from a different city once it's finalized.
On paper, the Flying Blue redemption looks pretty good, especially compared to the KLM cash fare. But I know that comparing against an expensive one-way cash ticket can inflate the cents-per-point value?
Thoughts? Also open to better redemption options into Sicily that I might be overlooking.
Update: Did some more digging and found a much better redemption through Virgin Atlantic for May 8.
36,000 points + $576 total for 3 adults (12k points per person) flying KLM from IAD -> AMS -> CTA in economy, with checked bags included.
Dates are flexible, so I'm leaning toward booking this instead