That was fun to type! Especially considering I booked it about 8 hours ago. Here’s what happened:
1. Deal Dad rocks. He saw me going off the rails after three solid months of kid/illness/just crud and pulled an audible “get out of here” after it was clear the spark was fading from my eyes…
2. I saw on Twitter (reminder, you need to be on twitter!) that folks were having luck getting last minute award tickets to Europe on USAirways.
3. Dividend Miles Off Peak Awards are only 35,000 miles round trip in economy, which I happened to have in my account.
4. I got a 5,000 mile discount by having the USAirways Mastercard.
5. American Express covered the taxes and fees thanks to the Platinum airline credit.
So there you go! I now am the proud owner of 48 hours in Paris.
Thanks to your help on Twitter, I booked the first night at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome. Hope it lives up to the hype! I did this via a free stay certificate earned with my Chase Hyatt Visa.
The 2nd night is on my dime…so it’s a bit of a come down to the HI Paris Canal De La Villette. However, at $132 a night thanks to the 9 percent back from Ebates, I’ll live.
Now I have some questions for you:
This is my second 48 hours in Paris and will be indoors (last time was in July and was all outside.) Suggestions? I’m especially looking for indoor markets open on Saturdays.
So, is this nuts? Sure. But not as nuts as it seems on first glance. Yes, I’m very fortunate to have enough points saved up over the past year or so to be able to take this trip on a whim. But if you’re following even basic strategies for points collecting, you’ll know that 30,000 points takes a few months, tops. The hotel is a facial/mani/pedi, even adding in metro and food you can see is not any more than spa day.
Mommy Points wrote a fun post in defense of mileage runs last week. While this is a mileage spend and not a mileage run, I’ll return refreshed and with my spark back, hopefully with fun stories to tell. So you tell me, how nuts is it, really?
I recommend that you eat, and then you eat some more. Oh, and take a few photos for your dear dealfriend April so that I may live vicariously. 🙂
If it were me, I’d map out every chocolate shop for my own chocolate tour of the city. If you’re in the neighborhood, visit Fauchon. I’ve never been, but I’ve tasted their chocolates state-side and would kill to be able to walk into their Paris shop.
Now, a travel question for you — I’ve heard that sometimes hotel stays booked with award points will still earn points if you charge something to the room, but does that also apply to airlines? My thinking is, if you upgrade your seat at the gate using cash, will you earn mileage on the flight?
One more chocolate thought — if you buy a box to bring back to deal dad, make sure it’s a custom mix. There’s no telling how long the boxed chocolates in the stores have been sitting there packaged, but the ones out on display for the custom mixes are virtually guaranteed to be fresh. Fresh chocolate is so much better than the boxed stuff.
Love this tip. Thanks, and will bring some back…if it makes it past the plane!
have a great time!!
So glad you are taking the opportunity to go, Deal Mommy! I have only been once and would love to go again sometime. My favorite place was the Musee D’Orsay, former train station turned into a small, light filled museum. Have fun and write a long trip report for us when you get back!
Hi Amy,
I will indeed have a LONG trip report, or rather a series of them, but not at all the ones I expected!