Hi all,

In the process of applying for 2 Citi Cards with the 50K bonuses in the next few weeks. Already have 10K AA miles in my account. This should get me to the limit or within 10K of summer tickets by March at the latest.

I'd like to take my parents to Europe either summer 2014 or Christmas 2014. I know from the awards charts that peak summer tickets are about 60K RT pp and off peak about 40K pp on American and you can fly using their partners.

I followed the advice here and tried to book some trips to check availability (JFK to CDG with some stopovers/nonstops). Availability is there for the summer dates I was looking at BUT all it says under taxes and fees is that it ranges from $2.50 to $700! Tried looking for answer in a forum search but wasn't able to find anything.

Is there any way to look at awards flights for planning purposes with the additional tax surcharges in there (ala United)?

Is CDG a good entry airport for Europe on American or is London better (I've read about the tax charges through BA being through the roof)? My dad has never been anywhere and my mom has been to Paris and Amsterdam but that's it so I'm just looking to get them over there and plan from that point...Any suggestions on routes? Our airports are BWI/IAD/NYC.

Also, about how far in advance should I plan on booking those, from your experiences?

Thanks again for the help--have been reading forums everyday and trying to decide what cards to get and how to best apply the awards!