A colleague of mine agreed to an interview about her trip to Paris using miles and points.

How did you get started collecting miles/points?  I’ve always loved traveling, but it’s SO expensive! I’ve always wanted to go to Europe, but with plane tickets costing around $2,000-$3,000, it always seemed out of reach. Who can really afford $10,000 for two people on a trip for a week? Not a teacher! So when Ellen (milestravelingteacher.com) mentioned that she was going on all of these wonderful trips using miles and points, I was intrigued. I got online, researched, and applied for a few cards with high points/miles and started reading travel blogs. I spent a LOT of time researching and seeing what would get me where. Million Mile Secrets was instrumental to my success. I really like that Daraius has everything laid out and gives you the inside information.

Tell us about your Paris trip.

We stayed 5 nights and 6 days. We stayed at the Park Hyatt Vendome on Rue De La Paix. It was stunning. We scored that room using our 2 free Hyatt Nights (we each got the card). Then we used AA miles (Spring Break is still considered off peak and cost only 20k each way!). We found a direct flight from DFW to CDG, so we drove down to Dallas. Our last night, I’d used 35k IHG points to book a room on Champs Elysses, but I ended up not wanting to part with all those points, so we found the Best Western Louvre and just paid cash. It was only 150 dollars. It was right next to the Opera, and only .2 miles from the Hyatt Vendome. We loved it. It was definitely a great, affordable room.

 

 

 

What was your favorite thing about Paris?

There was a lot that we wanted to see, so we planned out our days so that we could maximize our time. I loved seeing everything and was in constant awe. Make sure you plan to see places that are close to each other. We’d get up early and have a busy morning, but then come back and nap and relax for dinner and drinks out. We saw all the main sites, the Louvre, Orsay, Rodin, Eiffel Tower, Seine River Cruise, Notre Dame, Sacre Coure, Moulin Rouge, Invalides, Arc, Opera, Champs Elysses, Pantheon, St. Chapelle, the Catacombs, and many more. My favorite part though was just exploring in the evenings. The Latin Quarter was really unique and where we had our best meals (really cheap, yummy food!). I absolutely LOVED Moulin Rouge. It was quite expensive, and we weren’t going to go, but we decided to last minute. I’m very glad we did!

Anything unexpected on your trip? Funny moments?

All the inside jokes we now have! Everyone was really nice for the most part, and I was pleasantly surprised. But there were a couple people who were quite annoyed with our not so stellar French. I took 3 years in high school and I know the words, but my enunciation is awful. Usually, we’d try to speak to them in French, and they’d just respond in English (not that I minded!) If you try, they really notice.

Do you have any helpful tips about Paris?

Absolutely get the museum pass. It is so worth it. We paid 56 Euro for a 4 day pass. It gets you into all the big sites and the museums. If you go to just 4 places, you’re already saving money. Plus, you save so much time, which is your most valuable commodity when traveling. We didn’t have to stand in line for tickets, and often, we were ushered into express lines. We literally hardly ever waited in line for any place.

Also, I thought we’d get the Paris Viste Pass, which is their transportation pass, but we ended up not. It’s affordable, but we lucked out and transportation was free for almost all our trip because of high pollution in the city. The easiest way to get from the airport to Paris was the Roissybus. It’s so hassle free and easy! It took us about 45 minutes to get from the airport to the city center. Plus, we didn’t have to worry about lugging around our luggage on the metro or paying high cab fares. Tickets for the bus are around 10 euro. I highly recommend it.

Many places have a credit card minimum, so we always kept cash on us. Taxis have a 15 euro minimum for credit cards. The ATM’s were the easiest was for us to get cash, and with minimal fees! It was cheaper than changing at a bank!

Also, if you’re going to the Louvre, avoid the pyramid entrance (go visit it at night because you really should see it). We entered through the Lions Entrance on the west side. (It’s so easy to find, if you’re looking at the pyramid in the Louvre courtyard, go to the right side and enter on that wing (the door is on the street side and flanked by lion statues). We walked right in! No one else was in line! ( http://apartmentsdulouvre.com/the-louvres-secret-entrance). This link will show you an image of where the entrance is. We had to enter on the street side though since the courtyard side was closed.

What’s next for you in your travels?
We booked a trip to Rome using United Miles (it’s easy to get great trips from the USA to Europe using United) and back using AA miles (easier to find than United). We’re going the first of August. Then, we’ll be heading to Greece over Christmas. We STILL have enough for 3 more trips! All from just putting our monthly bills on credit cards and paying them off. It’s a win win!

Any advice for aspiring miles/points travelers?
DECIDE. Decide where you want to go.
PLAN. Find out which cards will get you the most bang for your buck. In my book, airline miles are always the most valuable. I generally transfer my hotel points to airline miles (wait for promos because you’ll get extra miles).
WAIT. Wait for the BIG bonuses to come up because that can get you an extra plane ticket worth of miles.
ENJOY. Have a fabulous time reaping the benefits!

Sign up for all the rewards programs you can first, because then you often get targeted for bigger bonus offers not available to the public. I got a United 50K offer and an IHG 80k offer (both of which weren’t available to the public).

Work with a friend or partner or spouse to earn more. You can tag team and get referral bonuses on most cards, and bonus points for adding authorized users. One person gets the card, ads the other as an authorized user. Wait for these to be offered as they are definitely worth it.

My favorite cards are Chase Sapphire, Chase United Mileage, Chase IHG, and Citi AA. Chase is best to transfer to United Miles.

THANK YOU, Candice, for a trip to Paris via miles and points! Next up, a weekend in San Francisco for $22*.