There is also a post in the FAQ that covers the topic of partner upgrades.

The main thing to remember is that one cannot waitlist for an upgrade on partner metal. That is a pretty significant limitation.

Right, but if the Op gets the miles together quickly that's a non-issue as NW and Kl have multiple flights avail with space while CO has nada, with Paris being a particularly difficult market to upgrade ex-EWR.

Thanks very much everyone for the excellent leads! Your advice gives us a lot of different options and I really appreciate it.

By the way, I did find some excellent fares on US Air (CLE-PHL-CDG) over the weekend. $750 including taxes and fees on their Web site. I'm still trying to see what I can work out for an upgrade or on a carrier such as OpenSkies or L'avion though. I wish OS/L'avion would offer the 1,000 deal they had previously--they are at $1,500 right now for PRE+. And then I just read today that they aren't on the best ground financially, but who is in the ariline industry.

Does anyone know what happens if you buy an airline ticket super early and then the airline happens to go out of business? I'm assuming you are just out the money? Or are you protected if you buy on certain credit cards? thanks.

I flew many times on l'Avion's $1,000 round-trip; it was occasionally cheaper than the least expensive coach fare on any other airline.

I flew the entire TWA Fan 1 family to Paris on this fare last July. The next least expensive business class ticket was over three times as expensive.

As far as OpenSkies (designated as EC) being in financial difficulty, please remember that EC is a subsidiary of British Airways, so the pockets are very deep (I wouldn't worry about EC going out of business). And l'Avion is now owned by EC, therefore by BA.

If you buy with a USA-based credit card you are protected such that you'll get your money back. That may not be all that comforting if you have to buy a new plane ticket, but at least you'll get your money back.

If you want a little adventure, you might look into flying to London and taking the train to Paris. Last year my wife and I did that (BusinessFirst) and the fare difference between Washington-Paris and Washington-London was big enough that it paid for both the chunnel train (Eurostar First Class), our 4-star Paris hotel, and a night in London on the way home.

In any case have a great trip. My wife calls Paris an adult Disneyland.

Also consider an open-jaw, flying in to London and out of Paris. The flight into London is shorter so you get less time to sleep, but by departing from Paris instead of London you save about $125-$150 in taxes that are specific to departing London in a premium cabin.