Biz Saaver Seats Found DFW/CDG in March 2019 (should I go?)
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: Whatever you have, I have too.
Posts: 377
I see your point. To each his own. It can get tricky, for sure, when it comes to personal preferences. I have a girlfriend who lives in Alaska, and her weather refrain throughout her life is, "I don't do hot." In my case, I can have a good time in just about any temperature, but I am not a fan of consecutive rainy days. Thankfully in our modern era it's easy to procure good gear/protective clothing, etc., but I don't want to be driven inside by some ungodly monsoon.
#21
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: Whatever you have, I have too.
Posts: 377
Thanks to all of you who took some time and commented. The decision is in. I've pulled the trigger for two tkts leaving in late Feb and returning mid March. Timeframe dictated by availability, but I'm going to keep an eye on it hoping to move the trip forward on the calendar if we can.
#22
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond
Posts: 21,422
Many thanks to all of you who have been so kind to reply with your insights, enthusiasms, fabulous chart info, links, and overall general encouragements. Having never been to Paris before and like so many, I'm interested in informing myself of as many details ahead of time so I can optimize my travel experience. This makes the AA equipment/seats/service important to me as well as my odds on encountering inclement weather while standing in line to gain entry into the Louvre or Palace of Versailles. Perhaps I fret too much. It's just that I'm sitting on a pile of AA miles and as stingy as they are with availability of award seats, seeing a few days open in late Feb. and early March got my attention. Perhaps I should have framed my question as, if you were me, would you pull the trigger and visit Paris when it's not quite spring yet.
Buy the Paris Museum Pass to save $$
#24
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: PHX, SEA
Programs: Avis President's Club, Global Entry, Hilton/Marriott Gold. No more DL/AA status.
Posts: 4,422
Remember that unless you are EXP, moving the trip further into the spring (if the availability comes up) will cost a redeposit fee each time.
EDIT: I have been corrected below.
Last edited by Gig103; May 27, 2018 at 2:05 pm
#25
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: New York
Programs: AA EXP 1.0mm, not sure where I am with hotels these days
Posts: 2,795
Anyone ever been to Paris in March? I found a couple of Aadvantage mileage award seats available this morning for travel 4MAR19 in Business Class from DFW to CDG. Aircraft is the 772. Each seat redemption is 57,500 miles. I'm tempted to confirm these seats but thought I'd ask FT'ers who have been on AA48 what their experiences are and if going to Paris in early March is too much of a crapshoot regarding possible undesirable weather. Any advice I can glean is much appreciated.
#26
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
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Posts: 52,565
We were in Paris between Christmas and New Year's this year. Took the kids...it was one of our best trips ever.
Weather? It depends on how you look at it. Worse than Paris in May? Yes. Better than Kansas in December? YES! A couple chillyish cloudy days, one really rainy day, and a couple nice sunny brisk days. Only thing I'd warn people about December is just the lack of daylight overall. March is obviously much better.
On this particular trip, we did not attempt to go to the Louvre. But the Pompidou and Orsay still had queues, and the passes we bought did *not* get us around all of the queueing. There are multiple levels of "fast track" passes in Paris now, and the one we had was a middle-ground kind of pass. I would look for the most current research you can find online about processes for getting into the Louvre without queueing. The standard multi-day pass we bought (the ubiquitous little reddish booklet sold at every museum) does not appear to fully do it, with the possible exception of arriving extremely early in the morning. There were definitely higher-level VIP areas, so it appears possible to buy better passes - we simply never figured out what they were.
We still bought a pass and got plenty of value out of it by going to lots of off-the-beaten-path museums that we did not go to on earlier trips to Paris. Most places we went had no queues at all (even for walk-ups buying a single ticket), and it was nice to be in uncrowded museums for the week.
Weather? It depends on how you look at it. Worse than Paris in May? Yes. Better than Kansas in December? YES! A couple chillyish cloudy days, one really rainy day, and a couple nice sunny brisk days. Only thing I'd warn people about December is just the lack of daylight overall. March is obviously much better.
On this particular trip, we did not attempt to go to the Louvre. But the Pompidou and Orsay still had queues, and the passes we bought did *not* get us around all of the queueing. There are multiple levels of "fast track" passes in Paris now, and the one we had was a middle-ground kind of pass. I would look for the most current research you can find online about processes for getting into the Louvre without queueing. The standard multi-day pass we bought (the ubiquitous little reddish booklet sold at every museum) does not appear to fully do it, with the possible exception of arriving extremely early in the morning. There were definitely higher-level VIP areas, so it appears possible to buy better passes - we simply never figured out what they were.
We still bought a pass and got plenty of value out of it by going to lots of off-the-beaten-path museums that we did not go to on earlier trips to Paris. Most places we went had no queues at all (even for walk-ups buying a single ticket), and it was nice to be in uncrowded museums for the week.
#27
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: Whatever you have, I have too.
Posts: 377
It's my understanding from what the AA res agent told me that if I keep the routing the same I can date change w/o penalty.
#28
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: DCA/IAD/WAS
Programs: MAR AMB, WOH Explorist, AA EXP, UA 2P
Posts: 2,138
This is incorrect. As long as origin and destination remains the same, routing and date changes are free (except if you move the date to a date less than 21 days after the original ticketing date which is not an issue here).
#29
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Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,230
While changing the day/time does reissue the ticket, I think the original expiration date remains. Not 100% sure though.
#30
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
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