Bits: 10% off Etihad fares with Amex, £278 J to Paris with Air France, The Railway Children tickets

News in brief:

10% discount on Etihad flights for Amex cardholders

Etihad is offering a 10% discount on flights in all classes to American Express cardholders.   You need to book via this special website here.

The last day to book is July 15th although you can travel at any point until December 31st.

lastminute.com Eurostar flash sale to Marseille and Lyon

I wrote about the new Eurostar routes to the south of France here.  Until the end of today, lastminute.com is running a flash sale on Standard Premier seating to Marseille and Lyon.  Take a look here for full details.

These routes are also a good way of redeeming Eurostar Frequent Traveller points as they are priced at the same level as Paris, despite it being a far longer journey.

£278 business class tickets to Paris with Air France

Air France is currently offering business class return flights from Heathrow to Paris for £278 return.

Whilst we are used to seeing low cost business fares from British Airways at weekends (you need to stay a Saturday night to get this price) few other European airlines have caught on.  Indeed, Air France still wants £645 if you want to fly from Manchester to Paris for the weekend.  £278 is a step in the right direction although I would have thought £199 would be a more suitable price.

You would get SkyTeam lounge access at Heathrow on this fare (reviewed here) plus lounge access in Paris.  It is probably of most interest to anyone who needs to knock up a KLM or Air France flight to stop their miles expiring.  Bookable on airfrance.co.uk.

…. and a rail deal closer to home

Finally, lastminute.com also has a special deal running on tickets to see The Railway Children.  Following a run at Waterloo, it is now operating from a purpose built theatre at King’s Cross.  The performance features a real steam train which plays a pivotal part in the show as you can see from the picture above.  Full details here.