Air France-KLM's co-branded Visa Signature card is running a limited-time welcome offer: 70,000 bonus miles plus 100 Experience Points (XP) after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days. The card carries an $89 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, earning 3 miles per dollar on Air France, KLM and other SkyTeam purchases (Delta included), 3 miles per dollar on dining, 1.5 miles per dollar elsewhere, plus 5,000 bonus miles each anniversary year after $50 in spending.

The miles themselves are useful — 70,000 can cover a one-way business class award to Europe when Flying Blue releases its cheapest saver-level seats. Flying Blue is one of the better programs for Americans heading across the Atlantic: it opens more award space to its own members than to partners, and miles can be topped up with transfers from the major bank points programs.

A few tricks stretch the balance further. Search your full itinerary rather than stopping at Paris or Amsterdam — a connection beyond the hub can actually lower the mileage price. Check the monthly Promo Rewards, which discount selected routes by up to 25%. Children aged 2 to 11 travelling with an adult get 25% off eligible awards, and phone-booked stopovers are allowed on eligible itineraries at no extra miles. Note that Flying Blue's Light, Standard and Flex award tiers launched in September: Business Light includes a checked bag but no lounge access or free changes unless your elite status covers it.

The real strategy here is status. XP credits from the card arrive at account anniversary: 20 XP with no spending requirement, another 80 XP after $15,000 in purchases, and another 60 XP at $25,000 total — 160 XP a year, or 260 XP counting the welcome bonus. Platinum status unlocks more low-price business class awards, free changes and refunds even on the cheapest fares, and — uniquely — the ability to book Air France's La Première first class (one seat per flight, and not cheap).

Reaching Platinum from scratch takes 580 XP, so the card alone won't do it. The shortcut involves Bilt: transferring 10,000 Bilt points activates 12 months of Flying Blue Gold, cutting the Platinum requirement to 300 XP. With the card's 260 XP landing during that matched year, only 40 more XP are needed from flights or other qualifying activity. Timing matters — the Gold match needs to be active before the welcome XP posts, with a buffer before the card anniversary.

There's a cost to hitting $25,000 in card spend: at 1.5 miles per dollar, that money might earn more as transferable points elsewhere. One workaround is rent — the card earns 3 Flying Blue miles per dollar on eligible rent payments through Bilt (with a 3% fee, up to $50,000 a year), and the fee itself earns miles too. Whether the maths works depends on how you'd otherwise pay rent and what rewards you'd forgo.

This one's for points enthusiasts willing to juggle two products and a calendar. Casual travellers can simply bank the 70,000 miles and fly business to Europe one-way — a solid deal on an $89 card by itself.