Today’s Airfare of the Day goes to China Southern Airlines Business Excursion Fares between Tunis and Siem Reap, with stopovers in Paris and Guangzhou.
I got aware of this fare through a post on FlyerTalk (access here). The price is more than right so I decided to check it out.
Fare Details:
- Fare: China Southern (CZ) I2AHTN TUN to REP
- Route: TUN-CDG-CAN-REP
- Booking class: TUN-CDG books into Z (Business Class); CDG-CAN-REP books into I (Business Class).
- Price: USD 964.
- Valid for: Round trip fares.
- Flight restrictions: Travel must be on CZ/AF metal.
- Ticketing restrictions: Ticketing must be completed at least 45 days before departure.
- Minimum stay: 6 days after departure.
- Maximum stay: 3 months after departure.
- Stopover restrictions: Unlimited stopovers permitted.
- Transfer restrictions: Unlimited transfers permitted.
- Surcharges: For tickets sold in Egypt/Cote d’Ivoire/Mali/Benin/Senegal/Niger/Burkina Faso/Togo, a surcharge of USD 800 per ticket will be added.
- Sales restrictions: Tickets may not be sold in Nigeria.
- Cancellations: Any time. Ticket is non-refundable.
- Changes: Permitted for a EUR 240 fee.
- HIP exceptions: The Higher Intermediate Point rule does not apply for stopovers.
Booking examples:
A fare search using Matrix ItaSoftware shows plenty of availability for May and June.
Here are examples of a mock booking through JustFly.com:
Fare construction example for those interested in using a travel agent to book it:
Mileage Accrual
The following mileage accruals were estimated without considering any elite status bonuses.
TUN-CDG segments book into Air France (AF) Z fare bucket. For these segments, the mileage accrual is as follows:
CDG-CAN-REP segments book into China Southern (CZ) I fare bucket. For these segments, the mileage accrual is as follows:
Cost per mile estimated for the most generous accruals:
Conclusion
This fare is interesting for many reasons. First of all, the CDG-CAN segments can be booked both on CZ or AF metal, so you can have good French cuisine and wines on your way there, and Char Siew buns on your way back.
Second (and third) reason of interest: unlimited stopovers included, and no HIP rules. This means you can have stopovers both in Paris and Guangzhou for no extra cost.
And last, the fare doesn’t seem to have date/seasonal restrictions, so it should be valid until End of Schedule. I was able to get availability for May and June, but the original FlyerTalk post mentions availability during October/November.
The only drawback: fare is associated to routing so it only works for TUN-CDG-CAN-REP. No creative routings allowed.
To take most advantage of this fare including stopovers on the routing, I’d suggest to look for a skilled Travel Agent and let them work their magic.
Fare rules
