Air France Premium Economy Awards to Paris 50% Off
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Every month, Air France and KLM's Flying Blue award program releases a set of discounted award flights. In the past, we've seen deals as good as 50% off business class and economy class flights to Europe.
This month, the airline is offering a sale on premium economy seats between Paris-Orly (ORY) and New York (JFK). Awards cost 22,750 miles one-way or 45,500 miles round-trip. This sale equates to 50% off the awards, which normally go for 45,500 miles each way, or 91,000 miles round-trip! Note that the taxes and fees are quite high on the tickets, about $350 on a round-trip award.
To take advantage of the promotion, you'll have to book the ticket by September 29 for travel between October 31 and December 30, 2018. Keep in mind that routes must specifically be between New York's Kennedy airport (JFK) and Paris-Orly (ORY), the capital city's smaller international airport.
Flying Blue recently moved to a confusing and dynamic award pricing system, but when searching during the eligible dates, award tickets appeared to be widely available at the advertised prices.
I flew Air France's 777-300ER in premium economy earlier this year, and while I wasn't a huge fan of the seat itself, its IFE and other amenities were solid. And at a heavily discounted price it makes more sense to fly the product, which features more leg room and a wider seat than regular coach class.
And for anyone close enough to fly out of Toronto, Flying Blue is also offering 50% off premium economy itineraries anywhere in Europe.
How To Book
Don't worry if you don't have any miles in your Flying Blue account. The mileage program is transfer partners with all of the major credit card points programs, including Chase Ultimate Rewards (instant transfer), Citi ThankYou Points (instant transfer), American Express Membership Rewards (instant transfer) and SPG/Marriott (4-day transfer). If you don't have an account you can sign up for one here.
Here’s a sampling of credit cards you can use to earn points in these programs:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express for Membership Rewards
- Chase Sapphire Reserve for Ultimate Rewards
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card for Ultimate Rewards
- Citi Premier® Card for ThankYou Points
- Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express for Marriott Points
Points from credit cards like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card or Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard can help cover the cash you shell out for ticket's taxes and fees.
