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I would be very interested to learn how to get a First Class (or even a Business Class) TATL RT award for only 50K Delta Sky Miles.

I would fly DL J over AF J any day.
AF J hard product is just awful.
Even though many don't love herringbone seats that DL flies, it still beats the AF slanted flat any day.
AF's J hard product is now two generations behind it's competitors and they include even the US carriers.

I'd be interested in that as well.

Agreed. ^

Just curious, where did you get your 5 hour mark? Why not 4 hours or 6?
(I smell an employer travel policy...)

Instead of spending many many thousands of $$$$ to not arrive exhausted (and FC/biz is certainly not a guarantee of sleep, its less than 9 hours with meal services, a movie you may effectively get 4-5 hours of sleep) just add a day to the trip and spend the first evening recuperating in a hotel (maybe near CDG as opposed to city center)

if you are a businessperson who lands and must run to a day of meetings then it may make sense

My wife and I fly from the US east coast to Europe once or twice a year. We used to fly Coach but after a particularly bad experience decided to try First Class (on a two class flight). Now we can't go back to Coach. The experience is that much better. Instead of being an ordeal to be endured the flight forms part of the vacation. A word of advice, though. Don't try it unless you're willing and able to fly in the front from now on. Once you've experienced First or Biz going back to Coach will border on unendurable.

I think that FC or J is worth it if there is some sort of fare sale going on. But, without a sale I think it's overpriced for what you get, at least on the US legacy carriers.

I don't mind Y on a daytime TATL. But overnight, J is much preferred.

One option (I know it's not DL) is rather than hub through ATL, go thru JFK and take the AM flight to LHR, daytime flight. If you don't want to pay for J/F, the daytime Y is not as taxing as the redeye. Going to CDG, it's a bit awkward as you'd need to overnight in NY on the way out and at LHR when you arrive so it comes with some overhead.

Personally, if it's redeye, we go J over and Y back. If we can do the daytime flight, I'll do either, depends on the relative costs.

First Class also includes other services that you will find helpful along the way, such as priority baggage, short lines, and lounge access (good during layovers, includes showers in some areas, and some nice food).

The legroom is nice, especially on long international flights.

I 2nd this, but it's a time vs money trade off. If it's a really short stay and you're splurging...then I'd do Business, but otherwise I'd do economy and use the money you save to stay 5 star.

A nice balance is also to look at Premium Economy. BA/VS do a fair product and I think AF has something on offer as well.

Thanks to all for the input. We usually end up getting tickets the week before we leave. Our schedule is flexible so we wait until we get the price/schedule we like(usually less than $1,000 per person). I thought if we could get a flight for less than $2,500 per person FC, I may try that. Full retail for FC of course is not even in that ballpark but stranger things have happened.

dieuwer2 said: "Right now, there is a Thanksgiving business class sale to Europe. For instance, TYS-ATL-CDG-ATL-TYS is $2140",
What airline is that with, as TYS is our departure airport?

All the extras mentioned: the lounge, the food on the airplane, power ports, interest us not a bit. We just want to get from Point A to Point B safely and perhaps not as tired as we have been in the past, which is not helpful when we are navigating the peripherique.

Nancy

For that particular itinerary, it is a combination of Delta and Air France. First class TYS-ATL (DL) and then business class on AF (ATL-CDG).
There are other similar priced options available on DL that route through DTW.

GO GO RIGHT NOW I just called it up on delta. com. Search by Schedule not price. All in $2,139 per person USD. All first/business all the wway. Dates I searched whwere Nov. 20, return Nov. 28. TYS-ATl first, ATL-CDG operated by Air France (sorry) but still in business, back again CDG-ATL also operated by Air France, then ATl-TYS in first.

Nov. 20 TYS-ATL DL 1424, ATL-CDG DL 8517 operated AF, Nov. 28 CDG-ATL DL 8606 operated AF, ATL-TYS DL 341. Too bad I can't get my mom to fly business, seems a great deal to me for business class from K'ville. Enjoy!!!!


Whoot! Same fare available MSY-ATL-CDG-ATL-MSY. Man, you guys are a bad influence...Also MSY-DTW-CDG-DTW-MSY with KLM on the international portion is $2,151 for those dates in business.

I'm wondering how we can know when these business fares are available from the south. Delta didn't send me an email. They send me emails about everything else!!!

First class TYS-ATL (DL)

Thanks for the answer. The above routing is in a puddle-jumper, so it is not that important. But the ATL to CDG part sounded good. Unfortunately we hope to leave early to mid-October so I suppose I'll be looking for a different deal closer to our departure dates.

Agreed.

Before blowing an additional several thousand dollars or miles for J/F seats, I'd just as soon fly a day earlier and splurge for a wonderful 24 hours of recuperation at the George V.

Well, that's what makes horse racing. To me it's the first square meter that matters and after that there's a harsh fall-off in value perceived for additional square footage. Hence, to me, a seat where I can lay down and rest on the airplane means a lot, compared to a creepy coach seat where creepy people and their nasty kids might be in my personal zone. But a hotel room is a hotel room is a hotel room, because even the smallest EZ hotel provides much the same as the largest suite -- no one is knocking into my elbows even at the hostel.