JoAnn,

Thanks for the invite. Cards are really not my thing. I will leave it to you experts. I'm sure there will lots of other offerings to immerse myself in.

I called United this morning to inquire of the cost of the lowest price, upgradeable tix from LA to Nice. It's too early to book, but I wanted to get an idea of fare. United quoted me a little over $1,400 PP for upgradeable tix, flying with their partner, Lufthansa! We are considering using miles to upgrade the over-the-water portion of the outbound flight. Steep, when you factor in the cost of tix and adding miles to that!