Air France customers can now buy train tickets using air miles

Air France customers are now able to spend their air miles on rail travel when flight and train tickets are purchased together, the two groups have announced. 

The offer is open to clients of the airline’s ‘Flying Blue’ loyalty programme using the Train+Air ticket purchasing system, with the companies saying the initiative is a world-first.

€1 spent on plane tickets equates to four ‘miles’ on the programme. 

Members of the programme can convert 7,700 air miles – equivalent to €1,925 of spending – into a €25 SNCF voucher.

A €50 voucher is available in exchange for 15,400 air miles, and with 30,000 or more air miles qualifying for a €100 voucher.

This voucher can be used on high-speed TGV trains under the ‘InOui’ services or ‘Intercités’ routes to over 20 destinations in France, but not low-cost OuiGo trains or other regional rail lines. 

They can also be used towards international travel between France and Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain on SNCF services included in the Train+Air programme.

The companies said they are “working together to facilitate access to airports by train” and “encourage the use of low-carbon transport solutions when they are available,” in a joint press release quoted by several media outlets.

Read more: This free option on Air France flights will soon be chargeable for some passengers

Additional bonuses of Train+Air system

The combined Train+Air ticket system to which the new voucher system is additional, has been in operation for 30 years and allows passengers purchasing tickets to benefit from additional protection in the event of a delay or cancelled service. 

So, for example, if your train is delayed causing you to miss your flight, Air France will put you on the next available service, and vice versa the SNCF will put you on the next available train to your destination following a delayed flight.

However, if the tickets are purchased separately and not part of the Train+Air scheme, you will not automatically be placed on the next available service.

Over 300,000 people currently purchase a combined ticket annually.

Train+Air tickets also allow customers to purchase train tickets up to 12 months in advance – usually, SNCF tickets only go on sale a maximum of four months prior to the scheduled journey date.

The companies are looking to expand the Train+Air package to include low-cost OuiGo trains – set to be included by summer 2025 – as well as Transavia flights (the low-cost arm of the Air France-KLM group). 

Read more: Dozens of new flight and ferry routes for France in 2025