la_cigogne

Hey Guys,

I have points with all major credit cards/airlines and would like to travel to Paris from LA this winter in business class as Air France (the last airline that still have direct flights for this route) does not leave middle seat empty and cant take the risk to contaminate my family in France.

Therefore I must book a business (or first) class ticket on Air France.

Unfortunately, I cant get Delta and Virgin Atlantic to show business/first award tickets available (I have been checking for the last several months it seems like it has never been the case) and Air France flying blue is not quiet a sweet spot (RT at 135k Miles + $600).

Could a master in travel hacking help me out traveling to Paris from LA for the holidays in business/first ?

Thanks!

Yoshi212

Take the 135k redemption. You're asking for nearly last minute award availability on a nonstop in a premium cabin during a pandemic which limits operations. It might not be the "best" redemption but it's far from a rip off. You might be able to do better looking at 2 x 1-way redemptions but you'll need Saver availability either way. You can try looking out of SFO also.

36902BRF

You realize at best being in F or J only drops your chances some? If you truly cannot contaminate your family then you should isolate for 14 days before seeing them however you travel.

la_cigogne

thanks for the reply Yoshi ! It seems like Air France premium cabin awards have been disabled for partners (delta, virgin, korean), its not so much a matter of availability I believe. As said I have been checking multiple dates for the last 4 months and has never seen any availability.
Do you know how/if I could book an economy flight on air france from virgin and upgrade later ?



thanks for the advice 🥱 (and its not even true, those semi-closed business class seats by the windows are not a simple incremental improvement VS having up to 8 passengers sitting in a 5 feet radius for 12 hours ... anyways dont want to rat hole here.)

garykung

I have not checked the load. But even AF does not block middle seat, the chance that you have to share a middle seat with someone is low for now.

The U.S. and Europe are in hot messes. So I don't believe there will be that many people traveling, packing a widebody.

la_cigogne

we dont know especially since I ll be traveling around holidays. So please let me know if you guys can help with booking.

Thanks

ecaarch

AF F (first class) is not available via SkyMiles anymore, so J (business class) is your only option.

Gig103

How much is the cash fare? 135k miles is $2025 if you book through Chase with a Reserve card.

la_cigogne

just to clarify, I opened this thread to ask some help finding the best solution in terms of cost/point efficiency to fly business on air france during covid.

36902BRF

I was taking your I cannot contaminate my family at face value. If you had stated I want to lower my odds then yeah rock on. You said you wanted a direct flight so I am not sure why VS is coming into this since they don't fly direct between LAX and Paris. If you are wiling to fly VS they do have an awards sale on right now (half off points) but the taxes and fees are probably not a lot less than what is quoted for a cash fare in J on AF up thread. If you truly want your hand held booking an award perhaps consider paying an award booking service to do it for you.

la_cigogne

You dont have to "contribute" (/rat hole) to this thread if it doesnt interest you (also you obviously ignore that you can book AF award flight on VA, the issue being that during covid they would only let us book economy flights for award partners)

Seriously dont want to start a fight so please move on, let us, the people who like to share their passion for this game, discuss in peace travel hacking. thanks

Goldorak

To OP : as already said by others, 135K miles for this route in J is not bad at all knowing the amounts we can see sometimes circulating on this forum. May be there is a way to reduce it slightly, but it will involve one or even two connections. If you want the nonstop, this is it and you won’t find it cheaper than that in miles, especially during the holiday season.

la_cigogne

any thoughts if its possible to :
Book an economy flight on air france from virgin and upgrade later
(its 135k + $600 so not awful but mehhhh for the substantial amount of cash)

johan rebel

Fair enough, but if you don't want people to comment on why you "must" fly J, then just refrain from stating you reasons. That way everyone will happily stay on topic.

But since you did bring it up. Those who do not belong to a high risk group yet still feel anxious about traveling by air may well feel happier staying at home, regardless of whether it has a basement or not. If compelled by circumstances to travel anyway, any combination of face mask, goggles and PPE suit may reduce anxiety, but at the expense of physical comfort. Those who prefer a rational risk assessment will understand that the chance of infection in an aircraft cabin is much lower and in any number of other settings, and act accordingly.

Johan

la_cigogne

so you did understand that this was not helpful and off topic but still posted this ?

alright can we move on now and talk about what is relevant to this topic (and forum btw) - travel hacking ?

thanks