The reward travel requires you to return out of the same city that you flew into so just keep that in mind if you are not flying direct to Paris. I took my family of four to Paris just this past March. The loads were fine until the week prior and they started filling up. We actually had trouble getting back so be prepared to get split up if you are using a reward pass. Also, if the flight out of Paris is oversold in coach, they will upgrade revenue coach passengers to business class. We had 21 open seats in business class and coach was oversold by 21. They upgraded everyone and not a single nonrev got on the flight.

If you go to the Delta Perks website, we also get deals at both the NH and ACCOR hotel chains. They might be worth a look to compare.

Depending on how long you are going for, consider getting the Eurail train passes (while you're still in the US) and spending 3 or 4 days in Paris and another city. Rome is a great place to go also.

Denny

FYP. While there will be some new hires in the right seat, the top half of the list will be much farther up in the right seat and the left will be at or near top scale for the vast majority of the list (even if there are some "junior" Captains at some point possibly maybe, most will be top scale)

Take a look at CVG and ORD to Paris. Loads get spotty in the off season. I flew ORD-CDG last winter several times, never full, once had only 35 total on an ER!

There's a really cool area a few blocks from one of our layover hotels (Marriott Rive Gauche) called Butte Aux Callais. Kind of a mini Latin Quarter without the tourists. Two hotels on the edge of it, the Timhotel (budget) and Hotel St Charles (nicer).

Sign up for those OGT passes way in advance. They only release a few seats per flight.

Thanks for the tip on VRBO. Retired. My wife and I took a tanker out of Dover to Mildenhall years ago, and that went well enough. The trip back was not quite as easy (out of Aviano). Thanks for the reminder, though. Hadn't really considered it since some of what I'd like to look forward to is the possibility of enjoying first class going or coming.

Great lead--thanks! Rates and rooms are right in line for what I'm looking for. This one looks like it's at the top of my short list so far.

Normandy and Lausanne both sound like good suggestions. I'm guessing we'll have our full of Paris after two full days and while I'm sure we could spend more time these will be two good options for day trips. When my wife and I did our Europe trip before the kids arrived we spent a night in Luscern, Switzerland. Very picturesque, but Lausanne appears to be even more so.


Yes, I saw that about the reward travel. That's what has me thinking that going into Amsterdam and then taking a train to Paris and back may be easier for the two non-revs in my group. That or all of us flying into Paris and then going by train to AMS and flying out of there for 2 in our family, or just leaving the reward travel alone after getting over there). I'm curious if AMS is the best option for getting back to JFK/DTW/ATL/MSP or if there's typically a better airport for non-revs going to the US. Granted, past results are no guarantee of future seats, but if someone has experience or flies those routes enough please let me know.

Thanks, Denny. I tried the NH website (they seem to be having difficulty). ACCOR looks like a good option though. I'll look at the Eurail...will have to decide if we go which one to get out of all the options. Unfortunately, it looks like France isn't one of the countries covered by the multi-country passes, and extra costs are involved for those when it comes to the travel within France. Other destinations are starting to look better now between this and the possibility CDG is a more difficult airport than others to non-rev out of.

I wish my wife was the travel planner in the family.

I hadn't even thought of CVG. Great to have in the hip pocket. BTW, can someone clue me into what the code is when it comes to taxes for non-rev international travel?

CVG-CDG shows the following:
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/me...2-23-36-pm.png

Does that mean it costs $173.50 round trip for each non-rev pax? Just wondering what the $217 "Base Amount" is.

Were they real pilots or were they management pilots?

Actually, I talk about flying when I am by myself. :rolleyes:

Go ahead and actually list your family for a return flight and it will give you the total taxes to be payroll deducted.

I was referring to the ticket/tours office (or whatever they call it now). They've helped hook us up with some off-the-radar options for places on the continent, and they've always been superb.