Air France - Travel Deals

I am a big fan of a few things: finding that item you’ve wanted to ages is 50% off, multi-leg trips and extended vacations/travel and anything and everything that has to do with France—which is why the latest offer on Air France allowing free stopovers in Paris when you book a multi destination trip made me jump for joy. It knocks 2 things off of my above list right off, leaving me only to go in search if a killer outfit and marked down prices to make it a full trifecta of wonderful. Air France offers free stopovers in Paris.

It has been said on more than one occasion that you haven’t really traveled until you have traveled through India. If being sick, traveling on absurdly crowded buses and trains, and being thrown into a mix of a billion people constitutes real travel, I can understand why so many people chose to spend a weekend in Vegas or a week at Disney World.

India, of course, is a country with more than just unpleasant aspects. In fact, it is a downright lovely and fascinating country to visit in its own unique way. At first the sights, the sounds and the smells may overwhelm you. That might not ever go away. But after you get your feet wet you’ll find that the positives far exceed the negative and that the maxim about not traveling until you have been to India is a positive indictment.

Getting to India is rarely cheap, but there are certain airlines that offer up decent prices on flights from time to time. Air France is one of those airlines. They are certainly worth looking into while you plan your India trip and you begin your life as a “real” traveler.

You can feel the history when you are in Naples, Italy. The city was founded in the 6th Centure BC by the Greeks and was given the name Neapolis. The name is slightly different today but the city remains true to its roots. Agriculture and its port activities still drive Naples engines, although with modernity there has also come a move towards more white collar and service sector jobs.

In 1995, the historic center of Naples was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. I don’t know one person who has traveled to Naples and not checked it out. You really must too. It is charming. Naples also has a rich cultural history with historic churches on nearly every corner, some quality museums that are often overlooked by tourists, and an underground city – “Napoli Sotteranea” – that holds many fascinating catacombs and tunnels for you to explore.

Flying directly to Naples from the United States is not usually as cheap a flying to Rome, but Air France has some spring deals that are more than worth checking out.

Southern Italy often has a reputation for crime, poverty and unpleasantness and that might be well earned to some degree, but that doesn’t mean that Naples isn’t a fascinating city worthy of being included on your Italian itinerary.

Paris has a tower. Seattle has a needle. Parisians like to drink coffee in cafes. Seattlites drink a lot of coffee. Paris has a river. Seattle has a sound. Paris is one of the great cities in Europe. Seattle is one of the great cities in North America. It is a marriage made in heaven and now the two cities will be connected like never before.

Air France has announced that it will have direct flights from Seattle to Paris with service starting on June 11, 2007. This is excellent news for anyone living on the west coast as direct flights to France are not always easy to come by. The initial rates aren’t that bad either. The listed price is $600 one-way, which for the busy summer season is within reason.

In addition to the Paris flight, Air France also will fly from the Seattle-Tacoma Airport to Barcelona, Spain and the rates are roughly the same as the France flight. Seattle has long been an international, cosmopolitan city and flights to the heart of Europe are long overdue.

For accommodations in both Seattle and France, check out the hotel search engine. It often is able to find rates that are better than you’ll find anywhere else.

Here’s some good news for those of you who have the white headphones from your iPod permanently attached to your ears. Apple Computers has reached an agreement with Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and United to allow you to hook your iPod into their in-flight entertainment systems. Instead of watching whatever horrible movie that is being shown on your flight, you can crank up that Paris Hilton sex tape you so adore from your iPod and watch it on the seat-back display in front of you. Now if only iPod’s could cook good food traveling would never be the same!

Air France special offers

In honor of Bastille Day, Air France has given a nod to its home country and put fares around the globe on sale at low, low prices.

These are flights that originate in the US and can take you almost anywhere - Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Flights are for this fall and winter and are being sold at rates ‘far below market price’ - or so they say.

Still, we’re pretty impressed with the likes of these (one way listings):

New York - Amsterdam……………………$199
Boston - Paris…………………………………$268
Detroit - Zurich……………………………….$284
Miami - Rome………………………………….$286
New York - Athens…………………………..$289
San Francisco - Barcelona……………..$296
Miami - Copenhagen………………………$296
Atlanta - Venice………………………………$309

Must book by July 28.

Air France special offers