TJGUERO

I was just able to take advantage of the new version of the Platinum International Airline Program and thought it might be useful to share my experience.

Next week, I need to attend a meeting in Paris... so I am making a quick roundtrip from LAX to CDG. I wanted a direct flight and wanted to fly Skyteam, so this limited my choices to Air France (or a Delta ticket flying on Air France).

I just decided to take the trip yesterday, so all the fares are pretty high with less than 7 days until I depart. Quotes from Delta, Air France, and several other sources all came out the same... at $11,044 in non-refundable Business. However, through the IAP, I was able to get the same flight, same seat, and same fare code (I) for $9,061... almost $2,000 less. Interestingly, this discount was only available on an Air France ticket... a Delta ticket still came up as $11,044.

I've tried the 2 for 1 in the past without much luck... but the new model definitely worked for this particular scenario. The ticket is still really expensive, but cheaper than the alternative. It was a little bit of a hassle to call-in to book the flight, and it really helped that I knew the exact flights I wanted ahead of time.

Since I did the booking on the Platinum card, I am also hoping it qualifies for the 5x points; the agent said that it would, but I'll wait to see if the points hit my account.