PG and the air dilemma

[Icecat]

AF is showing Business, LAX/PPT r/t at a shade over $8,000 for both of us.:eek:

 

Don't panic; you can buy an upgrade at the check in counter on the day of departure, if seats are available. That's what we do. $700-900 depending on the departure. Since you're from PHX, we took the afternoon flight and get's you in between 9-10pm then you can go to the hotel and get a good night rest. Remember TN is a leisure airline and not a world class like Cathy Pacific, Air France etc, but saying that we didn't have any problems inflight with TN. Another thing to consider, Air France load factor to PPT is 93% vs. TN 75%.

Edited March 20, 2014 by Icecat

[Jim Avery]

Don't panic; you can buy an upgrade at the check in counter on the day of departure, if seats are available. That's what we do. $700-900 depending on the departure. Since you're from PHX, we took the afternoon flight and get's you in between 9-10pm then you can go to the hotel and get a good night rest. Remember TN is a leisure airline and not a world class like Cathy Pacific, Air France etc, but saying that we didn't have any problems inflight with TN. Another thing to consider, Air France load factor to PPT is 93% vs. TN 75%.

 

Thanks for the info. I have seen posters referring to plenty of open seats for stretch out room. Our luck, at least the last 5 years or so, seems to be "this flight is completely full".:eek::D I wouldn't know what to do with extra seats but I bet it would come back to me. :D

[Cruisedreamer1]

Book your economy air through Paul Guaguin and then get to the airport just before the ticket counter opens. If there is room in business class or first class you can upgrade for less than paying upfront. Of course, that's the chance you take by waiting until the day of your departure. We have never been able to get upgrades flying home.

 

We used to do this when flying to Tahiti but now save our money in order to spend it on other things. We got to the airport and decided to try economy going over and decided we could survive the long trip. I am 5"7'. The service and food going over is much better since it is catered from LAX but coming back to the states it is a mixed bag.

[Tikiintahiti]

Officially the desk opens 3 hours prior to departure but I've been there several times 4 hours prior and they were open and the line was already long ...... ;)

[Emdee]

Whenever we have sought upgrades we got there at least 4 hours prior to departure so we were first or second in line.

Got return upgrades only once. They are much harder to get.

 

Thankfully wont need to worry about this this year!

[twin123185]

I used to upgrade many years ago. Now I would rather not spend the extra $$$. Of course when ATN flew to and from JFK it was worth it. It was the same price as upgrading to and from LAX. The new economy cabin is better than it used to be but still cramped on a crowded flight but business is still not as good as it should be. Plus service and food have deteriorated.

 

 

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[Benita]

ATN redid their planes in 2013 and the business class is quite nice. If you have enough points, it is 135,000 American Airline points for a roundtrip flight from anywhere in the US to LA and onto Tahiti. They only open up a couple of seats - we nabbed them 330 days before the flights.

Edited March 21, 2014 by Benita

[ducklite]

ATN redid their planes in 2013 and the business class is quite nice. If you have enough points, it is 135,000 American Airline points for a roundtrip flight from anywhere in the US to LA and onto Tahiti. They only open up a couple of seats - we nabbed them 330 days before the flights.

 

 

I was hoping to do this, but didn't want to get shut out of AF PE, and my miles are with US and I would have been too late to nab seats through AA by the time I could use them for AA code shares. That said, I'm not sure 270k miles are worth it for that trip, I'd rather wait and use them for Antartica and Australia.

Edited March 21, 2014 by ducklite

[Emdee]

With miles its always a toss up. We seldom use our miles for busines to Europe but always use them for the far east, south america and have used them for Australia. When its 7 or 8 hours we tend to get premium seats and just suck it up.

[ducklite]

With miles its always a toss up. We seldom use our miles for busines to Europe but always use them for the far east, south america and have used them for Australia. When its 7 or 8 hours we tend to get premium seats and just suck it up.

 

 

I travel a lot with work, so have a never ending supply. Right now I have enough for business class pairs to Asia/Middle East/South America several times over. I actually used them for first class tickets for my husband and I to LAX this year, because they just keep building and I figured why not.

[Emdee]

We do very little business travel so its all leisure travel and also credit card expenses but we try to maximize our usage.

 

If you have plenty of miles you should use them for first class on Lufthanza as that is worth it also Thai and Asiana. We also have used first class rewards for the longer flights.