Our trip to Paris on Points and Miles came about because I needed a destination for 5 days after taking a dream flight with Singapore Suites to Frankfurt. Now Frankfurt was not a planned destination at all. The goal was the Singapore Suites flight before needing to be in London on October 10th. Suites are hard to book on Singapore Airlines, but I found one for October 5th. What to do between the 5th and 10th? Alex and I started looking at where we could do a quick trip. Oh, the beauty of this points and miles game! We started talking about an island in Greece, Scotland, and a few other locations – can you even believe that is the freedom you have with a large stockpile of points? Still blows my mind that this is my life!

 

 

I used 143,000 Singapore miles to fly in Singapore Suites (valued at $9611.00) and Alex used 81,000 to fly business class (valued at $1800.00). The nice thing about Singapore KrisFlyer miles is that they are a transfer partner from every transferable currency:

• Chase Ultimate Rewards®
• Citi ThankYou Points
• Capital One Venture Miles
• American Express Membership Rewards®

 

We finally settled on going to Paris for four nights after our Singapore flights to Frankfurt, and the planning started. First, we took a cheap Air France flight to get us to Paris from Frankfurt. It was only about an hour long, and we arrived ready to start visiting Paris on points and miles!

You can hear more about visiting Paris on points and miles on this episode of our PODCAST!

 

Hotels

Our first thought when we started planning for hotels was the Park Hyatt Vendome, but it wasn’t available. We put an alert on Open Hotel Alert in case it opened up. And it worked! About a week before we were leaving, we found availability at the Park Hyatt. And then we decided against it. Jess had recently stayed there, and we had that review. We love hotel hopping and comparing them for our readers so we stuck with the three we had previously booked. You can read more about our Hyatt hotel hopping here.

 

Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile

The Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile is a great Paris hotel for many reasons and we stayed our first night there.

• Bookable for as low as 12K/night, and the rooms cost $350 normally.
• Certain rooms have views of the Eiffel Tower.
• Amazing club lounge with impeccable Eiffel Tower views.
• Good location with a 20-minute walk to Champs-Élysées

 

Hôtel du Louvre

The Hotel du Louvre is a member of Hyatt’s Unbound Collection. We stayed night #2 there.

• We booked a $600 room at this category 6 hotel (21K, 25K, or 29K points per night).
• The location is right around the corner from the Louvre and close to the Musee de Orsay.
• Really cute branding and great staff!

 

Hotel Raphael

The Hotel Raphael is a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and we stayed our last 2 nights there while it was still associated with Hyatt.

• Close proximity to Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and Champs-Élysées
• Old-world charm and luxury
• Includes breakfast when you book through Hyatt

 

Day One

Even though we were in business and first-class coming over to Paris, we didn’t get much sleep because it was a short flight. I prefer a long 10+ hour flight when I can sleep in lay-flat seats to get plenty of rest.

We arrived in Paris at about 2:00 and took a taxi (which cost around $50) to our hotel. We showered and headed out for a walk to the Champs de Elysee (20 minutes away). Of course, we stopped by Ladurée and got some macaroons. We wandered around, took pics of the Arch de Triomphe, and then had a quick dinner of pizza at a restaurant near our hotel. (So Parisien, right? Well, we did have macaroons for dessert, at least!)

 

 

To get to the Arc de Triomphe, you walk under the street in a passageway. I tell you this because the first time I was there, years ago, 2 of my daughters tried dodging the traffic over to the Arc. We could see people on top of it and milling around beneath it but didn’t know how to reach it. Luckily, they are still alive!

 

 

Day Two

We started our day (after sleeping about 10 hours!) with breakfast in the Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile club lounge. It had the most amazing views of the Eiffel Tower and a really good buffet. We actually had a hard time leaving the views!

 

 

 

Later went to meet our tour to Versailles at the Pullman Hotel and stopped at the Frame Brasserie where we shared an appetizer and delicious crepe. Again, up close and personal views of “our girl”, the Eiffel Tower. Jess had been there a couple of months before and recommended this restaurant and she was spot on – a lot of Paris food is just okay, but this was a really good meal!

 

 

Our tour of Versailles was interesting and worth the money. Paris on points and miles is so cheap that we didn’t mind splurging on a tour or two. I was surprised Versailles was so close to Paris – it was only a 30-minute drive. On the way, we got a nice view of the River Seine and the small Statue of Liberty that the U.S. gifted Paris for our large statue they gifted us. I hadn’t known about that, so it was an interesting piece of trivia! I guess there are actually Seven Statues of Liberty scattered around Paris! We saw another one in the Musee de Orsay later on our trip.

 

 

 

When we finished the tour of Versailles, we walked to the Eiffel Tower and took pictures there. We had been to the top of the tower on a previous trip so skipped it this time.

 

 

There was a little golf cart-type vehicle driven by this girl who asked us if we wanted a ride and said it was 25 Euros to the Louvre (near our hotel). This was more than our Uber had cost, but we thought, “Why not?” let’s support another female entrepreneur. When we got there, I handed her the 25 Euros, and she said that it was for one person and then pointed to the small print. Sure enough, it said per person (not that she mentioned that)! We somewhat grudgingly paid the rest to her and laughed about how little our whole Paris trip on points and miles cost that we could afford this mistake! We only paid a few hundred dollars each for this trip. That money was spent on food, split Ubers or taxis, a tour, and our cheap Air France flight from Frankfurt to Paris.

 

Day Three

This was museum day. We started at the Louvre and then went to the Musee de Orsay. We got in free to both of these museums using a Capital One Venture Card benefit. The included museums have changed but check out The Cultivist membership to see what museums you can get free access to. Quite honestly, we enjoyed the Musee de Orsay more. Fewer crowds certainly helped. But how can you go to Paris and NOT see the Mona Lisa or Venus de Milo? Tip: Have lunch at the Musee de Orsay – it’s always good!

 

 

 

We then headed back to the Arc de Triomphe and hiked the 300+ steps to the top. What a gorgeous view we had there – well worth the effort!

 

 

 

Day Four

The pinnacle of this day was supposed to be an Airbnb Experience – Emily in Paris. Sadly, it was canceled during the night. We did find this self-guided tour so did that instead. We love Emily in Paris (and her outfits) so it seemed fitting.

 

 

We had a great brunch at La Creperie and visited Luxembourg Gardens and the Pantheon. Our favorite part was watching all the children in the gardens floating their boats in the pond – so cute! We then took a boat down the Seine and saw the rebuilding going on of Notre Dame. We finished with another good dinner at Cafe Belloy and headed back to the hotel.

 

 

 

Bottom Line

Paris is always a great place to visit. Three to four days are the perfect amount of time to get the feel of the area, enjoy some delicious crepes, and feel like you have enjoyed the magic that is uniquely Paris. Being able to visit a gorgeous city like Paris on points and miles makes it all the better. There are many flights to Paris bookable with miles and many different hotel chains bookable with points making it a come true!