Transfer HSBC and OCBC points to Flying Blue with a 20% bonus

Air France-KLM’s Flying Blue loyalty programme has gained two new partners in Singapore this year, in the form of the HSBC Travel One Card and OCBC STACK Rewards.

While this programme is relatively more obscure here, that could work to your advantage with year-end travel coming and a month-long 20% transfer bonus now in play.

Flying Blue 20% transfer bonus

Flying Blue Transfer Bonus

From 1-31 October 2023, Flying Blue is offering a uncapped 20% transfer bonus for conversions from the following programmes (Singapore-relevant ones in bold):

• Barclays Arrival® Premier World Elite Mastercard® and Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ Mastercard®
• CTBC Loyalty Reward Program
• Fliggy Members
• RewardCash Programme for HSBC HK Credit Card
• HSBC Singapore TravelOne Credit Card
• HSBC UK Reward Programme
• HSBC US Rewards for Miles
• Inbursa Rewards
• Livelo
• OCBC STACK Reward
• Ping An E-Wallet

Do note that even though Citi and Standard Chartered also offer transfers to Flying Blue, neither programme is included in the transfer bonus campaign.

Here’s a reminder of the relevant transfer ratios for both programmes.

via STACK Rewards
	90°N Miles & VOYAGE Miles	OCBC$
	1,000 points : 1,200 1,000 miles	10,000 points : 4,800 4,000 miles

Transfers from 90°N Miles and VOYAGE Miles have a minimum block of 1,000 points, though subsequent conversions can be done in intervals of 100 points (i.e. you can transfer 5,600 VOYAGE Miles, or 8,700 VOYAGE Miles).

Transfers from OCBC$ have a minimum block of 10,000 points, though subsequent conversions can be done in intervals of 1,000 points (i.e. you can transfer 12,000 OCBC$, or 18,000 OCBC$).

Conversion fees are waived till 31 October 2023.

TravelOne Card Only
	HSBC Points
	25,000 points : 12,000 10,000 miles

Transfers from HSBC TravelOne Points have a minimum block of 25,000 points, though subsequent conversions can be done in intervals of 5 points (i.e. you can transfer 25,005 points, or 48,100 points).

Conversion fees are waived till 31 December 2023.

Both the HSBC TravelOne Card and STACK Rewards are powered by the Ascenda Loyalty platform, which means that transfers should be processed more or less instantly.

What can you do with Flying Blue miles?

The most important thing to know about Flying Blue is that they do not have published award charts.

This means you need to be extra careful about transferring miles speculatively, because there’s no guarantee that the prices you observe today will be the same a few months down the road.

You can search for awards even with a zero miles balance, so you can verify the space exists before transferring miles and booking it (remember, transfers are near instant from HSBC TravelOne and STACK Rewards).

Assuming you plan to earn and burn — which you should — here’s some potential sweet spots. 

Travel on Air France and KLM

For flights on Air France and KLM, you can look at the Rewards Map feature, which shows at a glance the award prices from a given starting point and cabin. 

Some of these look like sensational deals. Business Class to Amsterdam and Paris for 70,000-75,000 miles? Yes please!

But peer a little closer, and you’ll see that the prices are “starting from”. There’s no guarantee you’ll actually be able to secure that price especially during peak periods. 

Here’s an example from November 2023. Notice how it’s possible to find those 75,000 miles awards on certain days, but it can go as high as 700,000 miles (!) on others. 

Of course, if you’re able to book those 75,000 miles awards then by all means, knock yourself out. With Business Saver space to Europe practically non-existent on KrisFlyer towards year-end, this could be a very good backup solution.

Other awards worth considering include:

• Singapore to Europe (Business): 70,000-75,000 miles
• Singapore to Bali (Business): 20,000 miles

If you’re booking travel outside of Singapore, be on the look out for the monthly Flying Blue promo rewards, which consists of discounted awards for travel over the next six months to and from Amsterdam and Paris.

Travel on partner airlines

Air France and KLM are part of the SkyTeam alliance, although they also have non-SkyTeam partners such as Malaysia Airlines and Qantas.

Award prices here are fixed, although again there’s no award chart to refer to; you’ll have to run searches and see what comes up.

Some suggestions include:

• China Airlines
  • Singapore <> Taipei (Economy): 14,500 miles
  • Singapore <> Taipei (Business): 28,500 miles
• Malaysia Airlines
  • Singapore <> Kuala Lumpur (Economy): 5,000 miles
  • Singapore <> Kuala Lumpur (Business): 10,000 miles
• Korean Air
  • Singapore <> Seoul (Economy): 24,000 miles
  • Singapore <> Seoul (Business): 59,500 miles

Why would you bother flying Business Class to Kuala Lumpur? Because a Malaysia Airlines Business Class ticket will let you do a “oneworld lounge safari”, visiting up to four different lounges including the excellent Qatar Premium Lounge:

• British Airways Lounge (T1)
• Qatar Premium Lounge (T1)
• Qantas Business Lounge (T1)
• Cathay Pacific Lounge (T4)

Malaysia Airlines offers early check-in at Changi Airport from 8 a.m to 12 a.m, so you can pick the evening flight, then spend a whole day lounge hopping to your heart’s content.

What else should you know about Flying Blue?

• Flying Blue awards can be changed or cancelled for a EUR 50 fee
• Fuel surcharges are not absorbed by the programme
• Flying Blue miles expire after 24 months of inactivity

With regards to expiry, performing selected accrual or redemption activities (such as crediting a flight to the programme or making a purchase with a co-brand card) will extend the entire balance for a further 24 months.

That said, because of the unpublished prices of Flying Blue awards, you should not be holding on to miles for so long that expiry becomes a concern.

Conclusion

From now till 31 October 2023, Flying Blue is offering an uncapped 20% bonus on points transfers from the HSBC TravelOne Card and OCBC STACK Rewards.

Flying Blue is less well-known in Singapore, but that could be an advantage insofar as it means less competition for awards. I’m seriously considering pulling the trigger on some 70,000-75,000 miles Business Class awards to Europe, and you should too.