Air France is got one-way biz class ticket to Paris, or vice versa, for 50k flying blue miles + $250-300 in taxes and fees, you can also book the same flight through Virgin Atlantic for 48k Virgin miles + $500ish.
It is a toss-up call on which way to book through with, AMEX can transfer points to both programs, so if booking with Flying Blue it costs 50k AMEX points+$270 ish, if booking through Virgin it costs 36k AMEX points + $500.
so in theory, you can book an RT ticket direct flight to France in business class equivalent to approx $1700 for each person, by opening a new AMEX Gold earning you RT tickets for 2 persons, or AMEX Plat earning you travel to Europe twice for 2 persons.
Seats are fewer in the fall but wide open from Dec to Apr.
