Here’s a low-cost back-up when Premium awards are not available
Free mileage-award inventory is almost always kept in a different inventory bucket than published fares—meaning an airline might use booking codes A and F for paid seats and Z for award space.
Air France uses the same booking code for discounted Premium Economy fares and mileage tickets however—Air France’s fare codes are A, S, and W, with A being its mileage award code. If airline codes spin your head, keep reading.
[aside headline="Six Reasons to Consider Premium Economy on Air France" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]
- When taking the family. (Do the kids really need to fly up front?)
- When Business Class fares are high.
- When round-trip upgrades or mileage-award inventory for Business Class are not available.
- When you are traveling with a group.
- When you’re with a companion, but can only confirm one Business Class award seat.
- When you can only confirm a Business Class award seat one-way; book the other portion in Premium Economy.
- For complicated itineraries.
- On day flights (e.g., returning from Europe) and getting sleep is not the priority.
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The Great News Boiled Down
All you need to know is that if Air France has one discounted fare seat open, then mileage inventory is also available.
Broad Network of Opportunities
Air France’s international destinations, which offer Premium Economy seats, include Dubai, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, and Singapore, just to name a few; and it offers Premium Economy from 10 major U.S. cities. For a detailed list, see chart below.
Air France Routes that Offer Premium Economy to/from Paris
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Booking Isn’t Very Hard
Air France’s mileage program, Flying Blue, lets members search for award space on a five-week calendar online (one-way and round-trip)—even if you do not have any miles in your Air France account. If you don’t have account that’s solved in five minutes with a quick sign-up online. Log in with your number, use the “my dates are flexible” search option, and click on “Premium Economy”. To hold award space however, you must have the miles in your account. So transfer points from Amex Rewards, often the fastest in our experience. Starwood is another option.
Cost & Comparisons
Premium Economy costs 25,000 fewer miles than Business Class to Paris and 20,000 fewer miles to other destinations. See chart on page 13 for sample mileage comparison costs. Do not forget that this article is not about comparing the mileage cost between Premium Economy and Business Class; it is about a backup plan, a safety net if your aggressive strategies fall through. If you push the limits like I do (see FCF February issue for the Upgrade Two-Step) then this is targeted for you.
Sample Mileage Comparison Costs on Air France for Economy, Premium Economy, and Business Class One-way
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In other words, I’ll take nine segments in five aggressive round-trips in First Class on three-class aircraft if I have to sacrifice one segment on a deal like this.
This strategy supports Hall of Fame stats you can be proud of and very comfortable with.
[aside headline="The Seat and Service" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]Air France’s Premium Economy seat is a fixed-shell 19 inches wide. It has 38 inches of pitch and reclines 123 degrees, and is equipped with laptop power and a 10.4-inch, in-seat TV. Amenities include noise-reducing headset, Business Class amenity kit, and enhanced economy class meal (wines and spirits free). The ground privileges include dedicated check-in, priority boarding, and two free checked bags. Click here to watch a video.[/aside]
[aside headline="Three Reasons to Fly Air France over Delta" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]
Reduced mileage awards in Business and Premium Economy Class: Every other month (or less) Air France offers mileage-award promotions at up to 50% off: Business Class for 50,000 miles round-trip and Premium Economy for 31,500. We have found that Air France usually has award space even at these rates, although ticket-changes are restrictive.
Award calendar that works: Unlike Delta’s mileage award calendar, Air France’s is easy to use to check mileage award space online.
First Class awards: If you are an elite with Air France then you have access to First Class awards, which Delta elites never will. So you might think about going all-in with Air France over Delta, especially if you are an international traveler or low- or medium-tier elite and find “free” domestic upgrades something other people—or no one—gets anymore because of Delta’s significantly- reduced domestic First Class fares (see FCF June and July issues) and have no need to “hope” for free domestic upgrades.[/aside]
Mind you, if you follow the Upgrade Two-Step, you will likely never have to go here. Yet, this is more like a “peace of mind play” to have in case all else fails if you can’t find anything else closer to your departure date. Yes I’m flexible when I fly but I can’t remember the last time I was denied less than Business while usually enjoy Three-Class First 95%+ of the time.
Six More Things to Note
Free stopover: Air France allows a free stop in Paris on mileage-award tickets—a great city for free. Another way to look at it: You can add Africa, Asia, or India for just another 12,500 miles each way.
Best Return on Miles: When the Premium Economy ticket price is high, which to Paris means summer (mid-May to Aug. 25). Here are some other high return destination travel windows:
- Johannesburg: summer (June 1 to Aug. 10), and Christmas (Dec. 10 to Dec. 23).
- Dubai: summer (June 15 to July 9) and Christmas (Dec. 14 to Dec. 23).
- India: summer (June 7 to July 31) and winter (Nov. 28 to Jan. 4).
- Hong Kong: summer (June 18 to Aug. 10) and Christmas (Dec. 17 to Dec. 24).
How to lower the mileage cost even more:
- Keep an eye out for Amex Rewards transfer bonuses with Flying Blue (the last one, 35%, was in Sept. 2012).
- And Flying Blue’s 50% discount on Premium Economy award tickets—18,750 miles one-way. The most recent one ended April 30.
Award taxes: Depending on the destination, Premium Economy award taxes range from $300 to $400 each way.
Connecting flights to Air France U.S. Gateways: From U.S. departure cities not serviced by Air France, flights are booked on Delta, an Air France partner. The flight is in economy and routing restrictions apply. For example, a Jacksonville, FL-Paris award requires flying via Atlanta, so the first leg would be on Delta in economy, yet free.