mot29

I looked and didn't see this posted -- any maybe others won't find it such a good deal, but...

I found some AF premiere voyager fares from the US to PNH for $2300 to $2500 all in using matrix.ita. I found DCA flying east through CDG and BKK and was even able to book a stop over in BKK on the outbound and CDG on the return. Came to $2417 all in. With various COS and elite bonuses for me I'm figuring about 60,000 base miles and about 30,000 plus EQM. I'm maximizing the miles by flying through ATL rather than JFK.
Book carefully, some of these use DL for trans-Atlantic legs and I don't think the DL EC seats quite match AF's premiere voyager.
For reference, the cheapest fares I find flying DCA-PNH without stopovers, etc. for a DL flyer are using KE and book into Q, so no mileage earning at all. Star flyers do earn miles on the Asiana flights.
My itinerary books into A outbound and S on the return.
S is eligible for upgrade to business, but so far there is no availability -- and the DL web site is unclear about whether you can upgrade PV to Business other than trans-Atlantic.
It also looked like SGN would have worked too, but some of the flights were on Vietnam Air and I'm not sure they have a premium coach cabin.
Anyhow, I'm pleased.
tom

ademarco

Tom,

The fares look great. I am wondering if they have anything from the Middle East (DOH, DXB) or SE Asia to NA going TPAC instead of TATL. Seems like the routing is more expensive. Thanks

mot29

Don't know -- does AF fly TransPac other than LAX-PPT?

xmurphy

Air France doesn't operate TPAC flights (if we don't count LAX-PPT route).

izzik

are you only looking for AF/Skyteam fares or just any airline?

mot29

I was looking for Skyteam. As noted in my OP, Star flyers can do it on Asiana for less as well and earn miles, but I'm guessing in regular coach.
Using Skyteam, given the premiere voyager seats, the bonus miles, and the outbound and return stopovers, this seemed a good deal for me.
Plus -- ebates users can click through to AF for 1% and with many of the US credit card issuers giving 5% rebates for airline bookings this quarter....

ademarco

I am not familiar with premium economy on TPAC flights, but it just makes sense for me to try and fly TPAC from Middle East or SE Asia, but only pulling up cheap flights on Philippine Airlines that have no partner alliances. It seems like more routing TATL and working from East to West. Oh well, AF seems like a great deal as long as they aren't striking.

Bowgie

I think mot29 is onto a good deal -- AF in premium voyager from USA-CDG-PHN/SGN for low 2k dollars. Yes, DL's EC seat is inferior to AF's.

There are some threads in the Delta forum about SWU upgrades. Can also be a Skymiles upgrade if no SWU is in the flyer's account.

mot29

SWU or mile to upgrade to Business maybe, but -- I called DL this morning both before and after booking.

Travel needs to book in S or W -- my outbound DCA-ATL-CDG-BKK booked into A, so no chance. BKK-PNH, PNH-CDG, and CDG-DCA booked into S.

Called DL to see if I could upgrade on the S legs but at this time no O availability. And, the DL web page on mileage upgrade awards is not completely clear about Premium Voyager to Business --

Delta Mileage Upgrade Awards
You can use your miles for a one-class upgrade on most Delta operated flights. Mileage upgrade awards do not apply on all fares. To view the miles needed, see Delta Upgrade Awards.
SkyMiles members can also use miles to upgrade to Business class when flying on a full fare economy class (Y) ticket on many of our SkyTeam member airlines. In addition, as a result of our enhanced relationship with KLM and Air France, SkyTeam mileage upgrades can now be used on the following KLM and Air France booking classes. On KLM operated flights: Upgrade from economy Y, B, M, and U classes to Business class. On Air France operated flight: Economy Y, B, and M class to Premium Voyageur class. Premium Voyageur W and S class to Business class only on transatlantic flights, except for 747 aircraft equipped flights. Upgrade request has to be done 24 hours before the departure for Air France and KLM operated flights. You will need to contact a Delta reservations agent by phone for more details and to process this upgrade request.

I'm booked in S PNH-CDG but that isn't transatlantic.

I'll keep trying.
tom

af fp

Thanks to the OP, pretty good fares when you see that Premium Voyageur fares to Europe from the US are around $2,000 already.

Since it is about premium economy, maybe it fits into this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milea...es-2011-a.html

LGA

Which part isn't clear...?

Cellisttoo

We purchased this going to SIN in November. We actually found the best CPM was on the L.A. route (LAX-CDG-SIN). Were able to upgrade the transatlantic- two of us at least (Toddler Cellisttoo and I will enjoy J, while Mr. Cellisttoo suffers in PE). Originally we had upgrades on the CDG-SIN legs as well, but DL refused to reissue these tickets.

The only disadvantage of the LAX route is that we don't get to try the A380. My daughter would have loved that.

If you insist on flying TPAC to Asia, and what good flyertalker would when the CPM is so much lower , then the other great Skyteam option is China Southern. Their P.E. cabin has 40" plus pitch and basically has the old cradle style J seats in PE. Probably a much more comfortable ride, than AF offers, apparently especially so in the bulkhead seats. Apparently you do not need a transit visa for CAN, but since a Chinese visa is expensive, take that into consideration in your final CPM calculation. The fares on CS for PE are similar to AF. No upgrades are available on CS, but they are increasingly hard to come by on AF.

mot29

"Premium Voyageur W and S class to Business class only on transatlantic flights"

Does this mean that you can only go PV to Business class, not first;
or that you can only go from PV to Business class on transatlantic and not on flights beyond CDG or LAX-PPT?

mot29

That is the confusing part about the upgrade rule that I quoted above. Can you upgrade PV to business on other than transatlantic? Sounds like DL wouldn't do it. Was there O availability?

Bowgie

That is unfortunate. I assume you mean that the was a gap of some time between the original booking and when Delta got around to issuing (but not re-issuing) the tickets. If it were a re-issue that you requested, I would have tried to say Nevermind, I will keep what I got.

I think Deltaś wording could be clearer -- They should say transatlantic SEGMENTS (not flights) if thatś what they mean.