Questions and Answers

Hello Ben
I have recently discovered this website and it is wonderful. I have only flown business class twice in my life and this site allows me to dream a little. That said, my father is retiring next year and my family wanted to get him a surprise trip to Dubai. My mother has no desire to visit Dubai so I would go with him. My question is as which would you get the best bang for your buck. Qatar Airways Business class, Air France Business class, or Air France First class? Thanks for any advice.

KDC

KDC, welcome. I would look into Emirates first using Alaska miles! Good luck with the trip planning!

Hello KDC.

Are you looking for award or paid tickets?

Unless you are an elite member with Flyingblue and is willing to spend miles for a anytime award you can forget AF First. Or is willing to buy a paid ticket.

Not sure if they are the best bang for your buck or miles, but the best way would be Alaska miles for Emirates F on the A380 or American miles for Etihad F on the A380.

If I was to pay for Air France First class, I can get it for about 18k for two people. For Qatar Air business class, it would be about 9800 for two people. My question is if first class air France, with the awesome ground experience, is it worth almost double Qatar airways? Again, thank you all for the help.

[USER=1630]@KDC[/USER]

Welcome.

Just so that we are absolutely sure, you are looking for a paid ticket NYC to Dubai?

Not an award ticket?

All modern F products will in general be better than even modern J products.

And AF have one of the best F products out there.

However even if AF ground service is great, it still means a stop compared to a direct flight and the problem is that you will have 2 short flight which will diminish the experience compared to one long flight.

Qatar A350’s which they will begin operating to one of two daily flights to NYC starting April 1 this year is literately the same type of J seat that AF fly in their most updated planes
[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/12/08/qatar-airways-a350-new-york/[/URL]

Qatar B777 used on the other daily to NYC has an older type of cabin with seats in 2-2-2 config, it might work out if you are traveling together and can get the middle pair of seats.

But have you looked into Emirates and Etihad F on their A380?

Both fly direct to UAE from NYC, Emirates direct to Dubai and Etihad to Abu Dhabi witch is a shortish car transfer to Dubai.

Thank you all for the responses thus far. To clarify, it will be straight cash money for the tickets. We will be leaving out of JFK. That said, Etihad you would get dropped off at some bus depot and have to take a bus 90 minutes away. Emirates is really expensive. (We’re civil servants, we didn’t hit the lottery. LOL) Business class for Qatar includes a first class flight from Doha to Dubai that is like an hour long. I guess my question is do I take Qatar airways business class or do I take Air France First Class with a stop off at the First Class lounge which lucky says is the best in the world? Is the first class air France worth double what I would pay for Qatar Air? Or should I say to heck with it and take air France business class for about 3000 dollars less than Qatar air? Again, thanks for the informative responses so far and the kind words.

[USER=1630]@KDC[/USER] — If you’re booking with Etihad, you’d book to AUH, and they would send you via private town car to your final destination. You don’t have to take a bus 😉

That being said, I think [USER=268]@No Name[/USER] is on the right track here. All the options you’re looking at are going to be great. Air France first is grand, especially if you can book the new first class (look for flights that only have four seats in first class), but business class will be perfectly comfortable as well.

I think it’s hard for us to make a determination as to if it’s “worth” it, as most of us here aren’t even going to consider spending $9000 on a ticket. So it really depends on your financial situation, but if Air France [I]business[/I] class is available for $3800, and you can get the new business class, and pay for access to the lounge, that might be a good compromise?

All that being said, it kills me to see someone spending this much on tickets to Dubai. Can I ask about when you’d be traveling, and if you have any miles available at present? This can [I]certainly[/I] be done for less than $18k.

Hello Tiffany,
I have read some of your reviews and they have been great reads. Thank you for responding to me. I plan to take my father sometime in the summer of 2017. Unfortunately, all of my credit cards are all cash back so I don’t have points to redeem. I didnt really look at Etihad because I wasn’t a fan of travelling by ground for another 90 minutes or so. But a towncar sounds much more palatable than a bus. I am curious to see Luckys review of Air Frances business class with paying for lounge access. That would be a tremendous savings with I am hoping a similar experience. At the end, my dad has worked since he was 12 and he will be 65 when he retires, including retiring from the army, having fought in Vietnam. I want this experience to be very special for him so I want to get him the best experience we can afford. Anyways, thank all of you for the advice thus far. Between the travel reports and any other advice you all can give me, I have a lot to think about and discuss with my family.

[USER=1630]@KDC[/USER]

If you are planning to take you father anywhere in during the summer months I would strongly warn again Dubai, it get’s extremely warm. To the point that most of the natives with serious money leave the country and go on vacation in Europe.

Dubai is very much a winter destination some thing the hotel prices reflext.

Problem with AF J and buying access to the F lounge in CDG is in the fine print
[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2016/01/31/air-france-paid-lounge-access/[/URL]

As Lucky wrote
[URL=’http://www.airfrance.us/US/en/common/transverse/footer/edito-la-premiere.htm’]The catch[/URL] is that you have to be flying longhaul business class on a flight without a first class cabin, and you need to be on a ticket issued by Air France (regardless of whether it’s revenue or an award).

Problem is that a lot of the planes flying to NYC has First class or an old bad business class.

If you are flying your father somewhere nice why are you not considering Emirates F?

Miles can be bought from Alaska at a discount several times a year.
[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2016/02/16/buy-most-valuable-miles/[/URL]

90K miles one way to the Middle east or India, 100K to anywhere in Europe, Africa or Asia.
[URL]https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mileage-plan/award-chart/award-chart-Africa.aspx[/URL]
[URL]https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mileage-plan/award-chart/award-chart-asia.aspx[/URL]
[URL]https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mileage-plan/award-chart/award-chart-europe.aspx[/URL]
Free stopover in Dubai is possible if you still want to go.

Alaska miles can be earned quickly true signup bonuses on the Alaska Visa and the Starwood Preferred Guest Amex card.
[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/best-current-credit-card-offers/airline-credit-cards[/URL]
[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/best-current-credit-card-offers/hotel-credit-cards[/URL]

If you have a business to register the business versions of the Alaska Visa and the Starwood Preferred Guest Amex card to you can potentially earn 100K points that can be transferred to Alaska.

Minimum spend is high on the SPG cards, but the Alaska cards get 25K miles for each of the personal and business versions of the card after first spend.

Do you have family members that can help you by signing up for bonuses?

American Airlines also sells miles that can be redeemed for awards on Etihad, but it’s more limited when it comes to number of miles you can buy than Alaska Airlines.

Thank you all for your great advice. Apparently, lucky just posted Alaskan airlines miles and they are selling at a 40% discount. It seems I can snag 2 first class emirate seats for less than 9K, less than paying for Qatar business class. My idea of saving money was going on Travelocity for a discount but this really opened my eyes to traveling in premium class for less money. You all have been too kind and great. Again, thank you and take care. Maybe I’ll post my trip on here next year for my review with pics.

[USER=1630]@KDC[/USER]

I know you have your heart set on Dubai, but as I said above the whole Gulf area get unbearably hot during the summer months. Being outdoors during the day time is not fun.
[URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai#Climate[/URL]

It’s not as bad as say Death Valley. But it comes close, think about 10 degrees colder on average during the summer months.
[URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley#Climate[/URL]

[USER=1630]@KDC[/USER] — Buying Alaska miles is a great option!

Keep in mind as well that you can have a stopover in Dubai for no additional miles, and then can continue on to a more pleasant climate. [USER=268]@No Name[/USER] isn’t exaggerating how miserable the weather there is in summer. May/June will also be Ramadan in 2017, so Dubai will be hot [I]and[/I] boring.

But this sounds like a much better plan, and I’m so excited for you!