Is positioning flight worth changing prem comfort to J?
 

LAX-MIL:

I currently have premium comfort booked on KL from LAX-AMS-MIL for 35k miles on new retrofitted 773.

Have opportunity to rebook in J on AF from ORD-CDG-MIL on A350 for only 15k more miles.

Both options land in MIL around same time following day.

Is a positioning flight from LAX-ORD worth it to rebook in AF J? Is KL premium comfort ok enough to leave booking as is? KL flight has 7 J seats left 6 weeks out. Not sure I’ll have opportunity to upgrade to J at 24 hr check in.

Thoughts?

I would say yes, but then again I refuse to ever do an overnight in economy ever again…

I would say yes. I'm LAX-based and will often take a positioning flight to get certain flights or products I want. I did LAX-ORD-FRA-CDG-DOH-PER-HKG-TPE-LAX over Thanksgiving and everything was a mileage redemption except for the LAX-ORD. I paid cash because I found availability in LH F from ORD-FRA-CDG and wanted to fly in F. It's definitely worth it in my opinion.

I would assume that the domestic flight from LAX to ORD would be operated by Delta. A through business class fare on AF or KLM would give you domestic first class, including drinks and (depending on time of day) a meal which will have hot options and can be pre-selected from about six days to 24 hours before the flight. DL offers free upgrades to elites if space is available. Delta also offers upgrades paid with money or miles at seemingly random times and prices, but for this you need a Delta ticket on 006- ticket stock with a Delta flight number, not AF or KLM.

When you check in at LAX, DL agents *should* be able to check your bag through to the AF flight so that you don't need to reclaim it at ORD, but there could be a bag fee if you're not in first class. In principle, DL *should* protect you across separate tickets from DL to AF (meaning that DL would rebook you for free if a delayed LAX-ORD flight leads to your missing the AF flight at ORD), but unless you're using DL miles and thus would have a DL ticket on DL ticket stock, I'm not sure that DL could access the AF award ticket. (Of course, this presumes that you have allowed enough time for a D-I connection at ORD, which should be entirely in Terminal 5).

Check details of the aircraft AF uses for the ORD-CDG route. The new AF business class is reported to be nice, although when I last checked MSP-CDG on AF used a 2-2-2 configuration on older aircraft. Similarly, people criticize the older AF premium economy seat, but generally praise the F&B.

Why wouldn't you assume that the OP buys the LAX-ORD ticket on one of the several airlines that flies between LAX and ORD?

This is an incorrect assumption. Delta doesn't operate non-stop flights between LAX and ORD. Delta's presence at ORD is extraordinarily small (17 flights today to fewer than a dozen destinations).

If the OP's ticket for the positioning flight is on DL, DL will check bags through at LAX and protect the OP (even across separate tickets) if the AF flight to CDG is missed at ORD. Otherwise, with the positioning flight on a different alliance or even a LCC/ULCC carrier, it is entirely at the OP's risk. Moreover, using an airline other than DL is likely to involve changing terminals at ORD as well as having to claim and recheck bags (and possibly paying to check the bag on the domestic portion).

Again, there are ~20 flights from LAX to ORD. Picking one that works makes a lot more sense than going with an airline that doesn't serve the route and only has a miniscule presence in Chicago to boot.

My sons live in South Africa, Thailand & Honk Kong. I always have to book a position to use miles or get the best deal. I also have the positioning flight arrive the day before my long haul flight. Over Christmas 2023 I flew to IAD on DL the day before my Qatar IAD-DOH-JNB-DOH-IAD. This Christmas I'm to flying to JFK the day before my Etihad JFK-ABU-BKK-ABU-JFK flights. My international flights are always in J and I don't want to miss those flights.