American travellers now have a budget-friendly way to travel to Paris thanks to a new partnership between low-cost carrier French Bee and Alaska Airlines.
French Bee is a new low-cost, long-haul carrier that will offer daily cheap flights between New York and Paris starting at US$139 (€164) (including taxes and carry-on luggage) from June. Since 2016 it has also delivered French passengers to far-flung destinations like Tahiti, French Polynesia, Punta Cana and Réunion Island through its base in San Francisco.
Now it has partnered up with Alaska Airlines to allow travellers to purchase a combined ticket for a French Bee and an Alaska Airlines flight. What this partnership does is open up French Bee's destinations in the South Pacific to travellers coming from Alaska Airlines bases in US airports, so French Bee passengers have other options than San Francisco or New York. What's more, luggage will be checked through to the final destination and passengers can travel on the one boarding pass for the whole trip.
The new connections will allow customers to fly to Paris Orly from Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Orange County/Santa Ana (California), Portland (Oregon), Palm Springs, San Diego, San Jose, and Seattle via a transfer at either San Francisco International Airport or Newark International Airport.
Likewise flights to Tahiti will be available via a transfer at San Francisco International Airport from Boston, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas, Paine Field (Washington), Las Vegas, Los Angeles, JFK (New York), Newark (New Jersey), Orange County/Santa Ana, Orlando, Palm Springs, Portland (Oregon), San Diego, Seattle, and Washington DC Dulles and Washington-Regan National.
The combined pass can be purchased through travel agencies in the US and France and will be available to book directly on the French Bee website from a yet-to-be-announced date in spring. Flights cannot currently be booked through the Alaska Airlines website.