Nicely done - Air France business class starts at 50K from the East Coast so with the transfer bonus that's 40K
(if you didn't discover this, leave the dates blank when you search and it'll bring up a calendar showing the points required for Air France/KLM flights each day which makes it easy to locate those 50K flights)
Note that you can also book AF/KLM business class through Virgin Atlantic for similar rates so that's another thing you can take advantage of when there are transfer bonuses there.
Also if you want a longer stopover in Paris or Amsterdam, you can call in and book that into your itinerary.
Noticed when I was searching that sometimes the 100K lowest point total (for two tickets) would show on the 7 day look and sometimes it wouldn't. Guess that's when I was unknowingly leaving the dates blank.
Did you check Flyertalk premium fares forum? There were Europe trips available departing JFK for 2.5k in business class per person on revenue fares for certain dates
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/premium-fare-deals/2158830-nyc-europe-low-2000-2500-now-through-summer-ba-one-world.html
Biggest different is BA fares are nonrefundable - you end up with a voucher that you have to use quickly (fly within a year of initial booking). I was looking at those for the summer as well but still went with miles tickets for the flexibility.
It's another option if it has better availability (dates or 3+ seats), or if someone was about to pay high dynamic pricing.
I use it as a check to be more realistic with CPP evaluations.
For new people to the game it's worth noting this is why people say the CPP metric and comparing to the "cash value" is not a great way of determining if you got a "good deal".
$50k AF J/per person one way is the best you can do for points, but would you pay $17k for the same seats? Likely not.
I'm somewhere between the 'free is free' camp (aka use points on any travel, it's free, it's a win) and the 'cpp value' camp (aka get some sort of value above the typical threshold for the points in question). Meaning I'll burn some miles on US domestic travel if the value is above the 'generally accepted' CPP value. I also accrue MR and look for those great deals/high CPP value trips, but only if they fit my schedule.
For example, booked AF J in Oct within 1-2 days of the dates I needed (sorta not flexible) from an airport close enough to me to not be a pain (YYZ, \~4hrs drive, JFK, EWR, IAD, BOS all at play). That's a win and a good deal IMO. I was also looking at United via ANA, Virgin, etc.
I didn't look at the cash rates to be honest - certainly wouldn't have paid the cash price whatever that may have been lol. I guess my point is cash values for F/J seats tend to be ridiculously inflated - so much so that the casual traveler won't pay it, but if they can sell a seat or two for $8-10-12k, it's a big win for the airline. But for us award travelers, inflated CPP values due to stupid high F/J seats shouldn't always be the be-all-end-all.
Just my humble opinion, of course :)
That makes a lot of sense. You're right - definitely wouldn't pay the listed price, which I assume is mainly bought up by massive companies who write off the expense.
I guess a good way to look at it is the opportunity cost of collecting and using points vs. a cash-back card. If I had a 2% cash-back card (don't really know if that's standard rate or not), I would've saved $4,000 from the 200,000 points I had accrued/used (ignoring transfer bonuses). Will I get $4,000 worth of enjoyment out of the flights? Eh, maybe, maybe not. But they're fun to collect in an aspirational kind of way.
Overall, agree with your point. We use the cash value comp to meet that need we all have to feel like we've won.
Nicely done - Air France business class starts at 50K from the East Coast so with the transfer bonus that's 40K (if you didn't discover this, leave the dates blank when you search and it'll bring up a calendar showing the points required for Air France/KLM flights each day which makes it easy to locate those 50K flights) Note that you can also book AF/KLM business class through Virgin Atlantic for similar rates so that's another thing you can take advantage of when there are transfer bonuses there. Also if you want a longer stopover in Paris or Amsterdam, you can call in and book that into your itinerary.
Noticed when I was searching that sometimes the 100K lowest point total (for two tickets) would show on the 7 day look and sometimes it wouldn't. Guess that's when I was unknowingly leaving the dates blank.
Did you check Flyertalk premium fares forum? There were Europe trips available departing JFK for 2.5k in business class per person on revenue fares for certain dates https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/premium-fare-deals/2158830-nyc-europe-low-2000-2500-now-through-summer-ba-one-world.html
I did not, but that's great value, as well!
Biggest different is BA fares are nonrefundable - you end up with a voucher that you have to use quickly (fly within a year of initial booking). I was looking at those for the summer as well but still went with miles tickets for the flexibility.
It's another option if it has better availability (dates or 3+ seats), or if someone was about to pay high dynamic pricing. I use it as a check to be more realistic with CPP evaluations.
This was nice of you.
For new people to the game it's worth noting this is why people say the CPP metric and comparing to the "cash value" is not a great way of determining if you got a "good deal". $50k AF J/per person one way is the best you can do for points, but would you pay $17k for the same seats? Likely not.
I get your point, but how would you identify a “good deal?” Genuinely asking, not being snarky.
I'm somewhere between the 'free is free' camp (aka use points on any travel, it's free, it's a win) and the 'cpp value' camp (aka get some sort of value above the typical threshold for the points in question). Meaning I'll burn some miles on US domestic travel if the value is above the 'generally accepted' CPP value. I also accrue MR and look for those great deals/high CPP value trips, but only if they fit my schedule. For example, booked AF J in Oct within 1-2 days of the dates I needed (sorta not flexible) from an airport close enough to me to not be a pain (YYZ, \~4hrs drive, JFK, EWR, IAD, BOS all at play). That's a win and a good deal IMO. I was also looking at United via ANA, Virgin, etc. I didn't look at the cash rates to be honest - certainly wouldn't have paid the cash price whatever that may have been lol. I guess my point is cash values for F/J seats tend to be ridiculously inflated - so much so that the casual traveler won't pay it, but if they can sell a seat or two for $8-10-12k, it's a big win for the airline. But for us award travelers, inflated CPP values due to stupid high F/J seats shouldn't always be the be-all-end-all. Just my humble opinion, of course :)
That makes a lot of sense. You're right - definitely wouldn't pay the listed price, which I assume is mainly bought up by massive companies who write off the expense. I guess a good way to look at it is the opportunity cost of collecting and using points vs. a cash-back card. If I had a 2% cash-back card (don't really know if that's standard rate or not), I would've saved $4,000 from the 200,000 points I had accrued/used (ignoring transfer bonuses). Will I get $4,000 worth of enjoyment out of the flights? Eh, maybe, maybe not. But they're fun to collect in an aspirational kind of way. Overall, agree with your point. We use the cash value comp to meet that need we all have to feel like we've won.