PARIS, Sept. 5 — For American travellers weighing a trip to the French capital, a new guide published this week on a US travel site lays out, step by step, the most advantageous frequent-flyer programmes for booking award flights across the Atlantic. The guide, authored by contributors including Ehsan Haque, Ryan Smith, Michael Y. Park and Nick Ellis, compares one-way redemption costs in economy, business and first class, as well as the transfer partners and surcharge policies attached to each loyalty scheme.
The guide identifies Air France-KLM Flying Blue as the cheapest option in economy, with tickets running around twenty-five thousand miles per person. The catch, the authors note, is that Flying Blue generally levies carrier surcharges of roughly two hundred dollars per ticket.
For travellers hoping to dodge those fees, the guide points to Air Canada Aeroplan, which offers competitive pricing on Star Alliance partners and imposes no carrier-imposed fees on most of them. For business-class passengers, the guide flags Virgin Atlantic Flying Club as the current value leader, with redemptions on Air France starting at fifty-eight thousand five hundred points one-way. A comparative table in the article lays out the field across eight major programmes.
Air Canada Aeroplan lists economy at thirty-five thousand and business at sixty thousand, with no surcharges. American Airlines AAdvantage undercuts that in economy at between twenty-two thousand five hundred and thirty thousand, while its business rate of fifty-seven thousand five hundred is close to Virgin’s floor.
ANA Mileage Club offers business at fifty thousand, and Korean Air SKYPASS at forty thousand — though the guide cautions that SKYPASS requires round-trip partner awards, with the one-way figures shown as half the round-trip cost. United MileagePlus starts economy at twenty-five thousand, while Avianca Lifemiles, with no surcharges, ranges from sixty-three thousand to eighty thousand in business. Transfer partners vary widely, and the guide notes that both Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards move to Flying Blue, Aeroplan and Virgin Atlantic at a one-to-one ratio.
Flying Blue draws from the broadest pool, accepting transfers from American Express, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Rove and Wells Fargo, while AAdvantage relies solely on Citi and SKYPASS has no transfer partners at all. Paris, the guide reminds readers, is served by multiple airports. Charles de Gaulle is the main hub where most award flights land, with Paris Orly and Beauvais as alternatives.
The article carries an advertiser disclosure stating that the site may receive financial compensation from credit card companies when customers click links or are approved for accounts, and that it does not include all credit card companies or offers. Additional resources referenced include a Paris travel guide and a list of the city’s best hotels bookable with points.
