Which airline for Paris/Nice?

Old Nov 12th, 2016, 08:37 PM
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Which airline for Paris/Nice?

We are in the throes of planning what is likely to be our last trip to France. Because AA now makes it so difficult to use miles for business-class flights we're thinking of biting the bullet and just buying tickets. So: which airlines do you recommend? We want to fly direct going from SMF to CDG, down to Nice somehow, then have a layover on the way back from Paris because east-west travel really does me in and a night's sleep would help. We have a goddaughter in Atlanta whom we'd like to see in the return trip if the connections work.

Air France? British Airways? KLM? Others? We plan to travel in April or June (too many holidays and festivals in May).
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Old Nov 13th, 2016, 03:45 AM
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Air France has what they call the navette (shuttle) and Easyjet is flying a lot of fights too (but might be most if not all from ORY).

Air France is usually more expensive but probably better regarding luggage - if you come from overseas you might be loaded, so pay attention to that.

Or you can take the TGV (fast train) it is about 5 hours from Paris - not sure it goes from CDG but there are frequent ones from gare de Lyon.

Sleeping in Paris before return flight is a good idea.
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Old Nov 13th, 2016, 04:50 AM
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Look at Delta.

Outbound, they have a nice nonstop from JFK to Nice. (JFK is quite easy to connect in these days.)

Returning from CDG they have nonstops to ATL and then a couple of daily nonstops ATL to SMF. Convenient.

And their Delta One (business) product is right up there in quality.
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Old Nov 13th, 2016, 05:32 AM
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We plan to travel in April or June...

Often the airlines have business class sales on transatlantic routes that run from June to mid-August, so if you're flexible and patient, those fares will usually show up in March or April.

I personally hold the opinion that the differences between major-carrier business class offerings have narrowed almost to the point that it doesn't matter. They've all got comfortable seats/beds, all have decent food, all serve one-from-the-top wines and decent booze, and all show the same movies. If you're not concerned about padding a frequent flyer program (and you could earn Alaska Airlines miles flying on BA, AA, Delta, Air France or KLM) then frankly I'd just go with price and schedule.
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Old Nov 13th, 2016, 05:40 AM
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Forgot to mention, if you're members or eligible to join AARP, British Airways has an (apparently permanent) discount program - $400 off business class RT prices. Look for the best deal on BA metal, then take $400 off the tab.

http://www.britishairways.com/en-us/...ember-benefits
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Old Nov 13th, 2016, 08:28 AM
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AARP: yes. Will go check that out, and thanks a bunch for the tip. I guess age has some advantages after all.
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Old Nov 14th, 2016, 04:33 AM
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www.itasoftware.com has the largest list of airline possibilities (no site covers everything) although it is only for information, not ticket sales. I would certainly follow your plan of taking the longest flight, connecting to Nice, at the start so you can fly home from Paris at a civilized hour of the morning. Delta/Air France-KLM operate across the Atlantic as almost one airline. The fine print will indicate which one is actually operating the flight. In economy, where I sit, it doesn't matter much. You are looking at a long day out of Sacramento since you have to connect through an international gateway in the US. Do not try to piece together the individual legs of the itinerary separately; buying one through ticket, round-trip, using a multi-destination search, should be cheaper and possibly more convenient for things such as luggage and advance seat assignment. An April trip may be cheaper for both air fares and hotels. Pleasant weather too.
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Old Nov 14th, 2016, 07:26 PM
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I know those long days out of SMF all too well: many trips over the years. What we'd really like to do is fly to the east coast, stay overnight and continue the following morning. Then reverse the process on the way home, although I'd settle for just that if I had to--it's the westbound flights that really do me in.
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Old Nov 14th, 2016, 09:21 PM
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I agree that an overnight on the east coast may make the trip much easier. Not something that bothered me in my youth but finding those really long flights much more challenging as I get older even when flying business or first class. And, yes, flying west is much worse, at least for me. Perhaps because it's the end of the trip and you're tired or it's all that daylight which throws your body out of sync.

We flew out of JFK this October, and it was very easy making connections etc.
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Old Nov 15th, 2016, 12:04 AM
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I usually fly out of SFO instead of SMF for cost and simplicity. You cannot fly n/s from SMF to CDG but you can fly n/s from SFO on UA or AF. If you are not stopping in Paris you can fly from SMF to somewhere east and one stop to Nice or fly SFO to LHR/AMS/FRA/CDG/MUC etc than one stop to Nice. where exactly do you want to go? If ATL is on your itinerary than Delta/AF makes sense.
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Old Nov 18th, 2016, 01:39 PM
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When flying to Europe (or Asia), I personally find it much easier to fly from SMF to either LAX or SeaTac and then non-stop to Europe from there.

Saves that hellacious drive down I-80 to SFO and usually takes less time door to door.
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Old Nov 19th, 2016, 09:29 AM
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That's an excellent idea, janisj. When PanAm was still around, and TWA, we liked to use Seattle as our gateway. Does the flight to Europe go by way of the polar route these days?
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