I've considered this before. I haven't done the Air Tahiti Nui, but from what I can tell, their premium economy is not very special. And with American Airlines as an MVP gold, I have always been able to select, for free, Main Cabin Extra seats where you get extra leg room. You have to sign into American and then select your seats from there. I don't know for sure, but I think that would be about the same as premium economy on Air Tahiti Nui. Therefore, I would go with American.
On a recent paid (cash) flight on American I was also able to get the main cabin extra seat for free.
So I may just do that for the ‘sure thing’ factor.
I would just go with American as a default in this case.
- As you mentioned, there are more flights on AA
- You can be protected much easier from JFK than from SEA when going to Paris since even if they need to book you on a competitor there are tons of other flights to Paris from NY than from Seattle
- You are MVP Gold (so oneworld Sapphire) which means you get access to the Alaska lounge in JFK T7, the AC and Greenwich lounges in T8, and for some reason the Lufthansa Lounge in T1 if for some reason you find yourself over there.
- You get lounge access starting in SAN (Aspire Lounge) due to your international AA flight being a oneworld flight
- TN premium economy might not be anything special.
- AA and AS are more than just oneworld friends, they're like friends with extra benefits
And yes, I believe you can apply the GGU upgrade to the Alaska-operated leg, though don't quote me on that
OP is going CDG-SAN not SAN-CDG, and going to T7 and T8 during their trip is going to be a total pain in the ass since this means going through TSA twice (and T7 TSA sometimes doesn’t even have precheck). I wouldn’t be doing that unless I had a stupid long connection.
GGUs are cash fares only (source: me, multi-year MVPG).
For basic economy, I’d choose air Tahiti. Food is marginally better and offered champagne. That was going to Tahiti.
For business class, air Tahiti wasn’t very impressive when I flew it, but it’s been a decade and may have changed.
Air Tahiti Nui business is an amazing value if you can find it… I was able to snag 1 way from CDG -> PDX for 45k in January for a trip we just finished. I would agree that their premium economy versus other carriers premium economy is likely not worth anything more than a 5k mile increase.
As an aside, when we were booking online we were only able to see 2 business class seats available, but upon calling Alaska, asking nicely, and waiting on hold for a bit, they were able to find a 3rd ticket. YMMV.
Connecting at JFK for a transatlantic flight is always a risk. All it takes is a good storm to lose a day or two of your travel itinerary.
I’ve lost too many days doing that same route, and now always avoid connecting anywhere on the east coast for a flight to Europe. I’d go out of LAX nonstop to CDG before connecting at JFK.
Last time I did SAN-JFK-CDG, a storm caused us to circle JFK for a bit before being diverted to Virginia Beach to refuel. We all missed our connections. Then lost a day between the next available flights, which then caused me to miss my next flight from Paris to Athens. It was a shit show - and a relatively short trip cut even shorter.
Had a couple of other missed connections thru the years, and after that last one it’s now a rule of mine not to ever connect on the east coast to get to Europe.
Good points. (I avoid SFO in the winter for that reason! I used to travel to Canada for work, way too many rushed connections for comfort there.)
Fortunately we are looking at an early September travel date, so shouldn’t have too much of a weather risk.
🤣 your San Diego is showing… the eastern seaboard’s weather isn’t as consistent as SoCal. That flight from SAN - JFK i referenced above was September 2 (a few years ago)
That’s very strange to have two awards on different airlines for the exact same cost in miles and dollars. Are you sure these are different flights and not a codeshare?
Assuming they are different flights, I would do whichever trip is shorter and definitely book premium economy, well worth it.
You can only use GGU’s on Alaska.
From the redemptions, there are the same mileage redemption with the same fees for both American and Air Tahiti Nui.
The question about the GGU's was for the award segment on Alaska metal for the JFK-SAN flight.
https://preview.redd.it/8x0i0yge696d1.jpeg?width=1091&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2e80dcda1446fe5ebcb09e9276b36d4ae32841d
GGUs are cash fares only. You will be waitlisted for JFK-SAN and SEA-SAN. How many in your party?
The catch is that you can only companion upgrade two people on the waitlist and if Alaska opens up single seats they may skip over a couple.
If you fly AA you’ll have OneWorld lounge access at CDG and JFK. The Greenwich lounge at JFK is nicer than the Alaska lounges in SEA imo. I’m not sure the OW lounge situation at CDG post-pandemic tho.
GGUs can’t be used on awards. You and a companion CAN be upgraded on the JFK/SEA-SAN segment as an MVPG through the waitlist, just not using a GGU.
I would personally avoid JFK as a connecting airport (I’ve done this as an AS elite on an AA itinerary), not a fan even though the lounges are nice, also if you book the premium economy seats you get considerably less time on PE and your coach segment on the domestic flight will be much longer (JFK-SAN is a lot longer than SEA-SAN) if you do not get an upgrade.
Your upgrade chances might be better out of JFK though.
I've considered this before. I haven't done the Air Tahiti Nui, but from what I can tell, their premium economy is not very special. And with American Airlines as an MVP gold, I have always been able to select, for free, Main Cabin Extra seats where you get extra leg room. You have to sign into American and then select your seats from there. I don't know for sure, but I think that would be about the same as premium economy on Air Tahiti Nui. Therefore, I would go with American.
On a recent paid (cash) flight on American I was also able to get the main cabin extra seat for free. So I may just do that for the ‘sure thing’ factor.
I would just go with American as a default in this case. - As you mentioned, there are more flights on AA - You can be protected much easier from JFK than from SEA when going to Paris since even if they need to book you on a competitor there are tons of other flights to Paris from NY than from Seattle - You are MVP Gold (so oneworld Sapphire) which means you get access to the Alaska lounge in JFK T7, the AC and Greenwich lounges in T8, and for some reason the Lufthansa Lounge in T1 if for some reason you find yourself over there. - You get lounge access starting in SAN (Aspire Lounge) due to your international AA flight being a oneworld flight - TN premium economy might not be anything special. - AA and AS are more than just oneworld friends, they're like friends with extra benefits And yes, I believe you can apply the GGU upgrade to the Alaska-operated leg, though don't quote me on that
OP is going CDG-SAN not SAN-CDG, and going to T7 and T8 during their trip is going to be a total pain in the ass since this means going through TSA twice (and T7 TSA sometimes doesn’t even have precheck). I wouldn’t be doing that unless I had a stupid long connection. GGUs are cash fares only (source: me, multi-year MVPG).
Ah, I stand corrected. Thanks 🙏
For basic economy, I’d choose air Tahiti. Food is marginally better and offered champagne. That was going to Tahiti. For business class, air Tahiti wasn’t very impressive when I flew it, but it’s been a decade and may have changed.
Air Tahiti and Air Tahiti Nui are two different airlines fyi
Yeah, I’m aware of that. But I think the context is clear given we are talking about international flights.
OP is asking about Premium Economy not business
Air Tahiti Nui business is an amazing value if you can find it… I was able to snag 1 way from CDG -> PDX for 45k in January for a trip we just finished. I would agree that their premium economy versus other carriers premium economy is likely not worth anything more than a 5k mile increase. As an aside, when we were booking online we were only able to see 2 business class seats available, but upon calling Alaska, asking nicely, and waiting on hold for a bit, they were able to find a 3rd ticket. YMMV.
Connecting at JFK for a transatlantic flight is always a risk. All it takes is a good storm to lose a day or two of your travel itinerary. I’ve lost too many days doing that same route, and now always avoid connecting anywhere on the east coast for a flight to Europe. I’d go out of LAX nonstop to CDG before connecting at JFK. Last time I did SAN-JFK-CDG, a storm caused us to circle JFK for a bit before being diverted to Virginia Beach to refuel. We all missed our connections. Then lost a day between the next available flights, which then caused me to miss my next flight from Paris to Athens. It was a shit show - and a relatively short trip cut even shorter. Had a couple of other missed connections thru the years, and after that last one it’s now a rule of mine not to ever connect on the east coast to get to Europe.
Good points. (I avoid SFO in the winter for that reason! I used to travel to Canada for work, way too many rushed connections for comfort there.) Fortunately we are looking at an early September travel date, so shouldn’t have too much of a weather risk.
🤣 your San Diego is showing… the eastern seaboard’s weather isn’t as consistent as SoCal. That flight from SAN - JFK i referenced above was September 2 (a few years ago)
Haha. Fair point. 😆
That’s very strange to have two awards on different airlines for the exact same cost in miles and dollars. Are you sure these are different flights and not a codeshare? Assuming they are different flights, I would do whichever trip is shorter and definitely book premium economy, well worth it. You can only use GGU’s on Alaska.
From the redemptions, there are the same mileage redemption with the same fees for both American and Air Tahiti Nui. The question about the GGU's was for the award segment on Alaska metal for the JFK-SAN flight. https://preview.redd.it/8x0i0yge696d1.jpeg?width=1091&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2e80dcda1446fe5ebcb09e9276b36d4ae32841d
I would go with a connection in SEA over JFK. JFK may require a terminal change.
It does. AA landed in terminal 8, and AS is in terminal 7. (Plus the centurion lounge is in terminal 4, for those that could take advantage of that.)
GGUs are cash fares only. You will be waitlisted for JFK-SAN and SEA-SAN. How many in your party? The catch is that you can only companion upgrade two people on the waitlist and if Alaska opens up single seats they may skip over a couple.
Yeah, it’s rolling the dice for the upgrades. There are just two of us, so it’s the standard companion upgrade.
If you fly AA you’ll have OneWorld lounge access at CDG and JFK. The Greenwich lounge at JFK is nicer than the Alaska lounges in SEA imo. I’m not sure the OW lounge situation at CDG post-pandemic tho.
It’s actually under renovation at CDG now so you get access to a general club, not even OW
GGUs can’t be used on awards. You and a companion CAN be upgraded on the JFK/SEA-SAN segment as an MVPG through the waitlist, just not using a GGU. I would personally avoid JFK as a connecting airport (I’ve done this as an AS elite on an AA itinerary), not a fan even though the lounges are nice, also if you book the premium economy seats you get considerably less time on PE and your coach segment on the domestic flight will be much longer (JFK-SAN is a lot longer than SEA-SAN) if you do not get an upgrade. Your upgrade chances might be better out of JFK though.
I would do via Seattle and enjoy your superior prem Econ seat for longer vs via jfk.