Paris is reopening June 9 - here's how to fly there for just 45,000 miles round-trip

May 19, 2021

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23 min read

Paris, France with Eiffel Tower in background

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France recently announced plans to welcome foreign tourists back on June 9, 2021, provided they're eligible for a "health pass" that states the traveler is either fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or is in possession of a recent negative COVID test. This means Americans will soon be able to visit the capital city of Paris and enjoy its museums, incredible food and awe-inspiring architecture.

As one of the first major European destinations to reopen to Americans, France will undoubtedly be a huge tourist destination for Americans this summer.

With that in mind, you'll want to book your award flights and hotels early to avoid award space drying up. Today I'll show you how to book flights, hotels and activities in Paris using your points and miles.

Airfare to Paris

Paris is home to two major airports, each with flights to the U.S. (Photo by olrat / Shutterstock.com)

Paris has two major airports: Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Orly (ORY). Almost every long-haul flight goes in and out of CDG, which is what we'll focus on in this post. However, if you're connecting through another European city, you may find yourself flying into or out of Orly. While Orly is slightly closer to the city center, Paris has a very comprehensive public transit system, and it's quite easy to get downtown from either airport.

During normal travel times, you'll find nonstop flights to Paris from both large and mid-sized American cities on Air France, American Airlines Delta, United and others. Your options are a bit more limited during the pandemic, but you can still fly to Paris from most major cities across North America.

Here are your best options in each airline alliance.

The cheapest Oneworld award tickets to Paris

Cheapest Oneworld award: 45,000 miles round-trip in economy (off-peak), 100,000 in business class with Etihad Guest

American Airlines operates a number of flights to Paris from its U.S. hubs. (Photo by Zach Griff/The Points Guy)

If you're a Oneworld loyalist, you'll likely find yourself flying from the U.S. to Paris with American Airlines. The airline flies directly to the city from a number of hubs, including Chicago-O'Hare (ORD), Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW), Miami (MIA), New York-JFK and Philadelphia (PHL). Right now, the airline is only operating flights to Paris from a handful of these cities, but we'll likely see routes resume when France reopens to Americans.

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The cheapest way to book American awards is with Etihad Guest. You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Rewards, Citi ThankYou or Marriott Bonvoy points to the program and book for 30,000 miles in economy or 50,000 in business class, one-way. Off-peak economy class costs 22,500 miles each way if you're willing to travel between Nov. 1 - Dec. 14, 2021.

Alternatively, you can book flights with American AAdvantage. You'll pay 30,000 miles one-way in economy and 57,500 in business class. Off-peak travel will set you back 22,500 off-peak and aligns with the same dates as Etihad Guest. While not as cheap as Etihad, this is a good deal if you already have American miles ready to go.

(Screenshot courtesy of British Airways)

Another option is booking with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. You'll redeem the same number of miles as with AAdvantage, but you can include a stopover in an American hub. For example, you can fly from Charlotte (CLT) to New York-LaGuardia (LGA), spend the weekend in NYC, and then continue to Paris for no extra miles.

(Screenshot courtesy of Alaska Airlines)

Those with Chase Ultimate Rewards points can transfer to British Airways Executive Club to book American Airlines awards to Paris. The carrier uses a distance-based award chart, so you'll pay more points on longer flights and pay per segment on connecting flights. This means that a flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Paris (CDG) with a connection in Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) will cost more Avios than a direct flight from Chicago to Paris. Check out our full guide to British Airways Avios for more info.

How to earn points for an Etihad award to Paris

In my opinion, booking with Etihad Guest is your best bet due to low redemption rates, lack of fuel surcharges and how easy it is to earn points with the program. If you're looking to boost your Etihad balance, you can open a Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and transfer your Capital One miles to Etihad at a 1:1 transfer ratio. The Venture card currently offers 75,000 bonus miles after you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

The cheapest SkyTeam award tickets to Paris

Cheapest SkyTeam award: From 43,000 miles round-trip in economy, 115,000 in business class with Flying Blue

Fly from numerous U.S. gateways to Paris with France's own Air France. (Photo by Nick Ellis/The Points Guy)

The SkyTeam alliance has the most options for flying to Paris from the U.S. Air France is a SkyTeam member that flies from most major U.S. airports to Paris. Plus, its partner Delta Air Lines flies from most of its hubs and focus cities to the French capital.

During normal travel times, you'll find SkyTeam service to Paris from the following U.S. airports. It's unclear if service will resume to all cities post-pandemic.

Atlanta - Air France, Delta
Boston (BOS) - Air France, Delta
Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) - Air France
Cincinnati (CVG) - Delta
Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW) - Air France (seasonal)
Denver (DEN) - Air France (seasonal)
Detroit (DTW) - Air France, Delta
Houston (IAH) - Air France
Los Angeles (LAX) - Air France, Delta
Miami (MIA) - Air France
Minneapolis-St.Paul - Air France (seasonal), Delta
New York-JFK - Air France (to CDG and ORY), Delta
Raleigh/Durham (RDU) - Delta
Salt Lake City (SLC) - Delta
San Francisco - Air France
Seattle/Tacoma (SEA) - Air France (seasonal), Delta

Generally speaking, the cheapest way to book these awards is with Air France/KLM's Flying Blue program. Flying Blue employs dynamic award pricing, but you can often find economy and business class one-way flights starting at 21,500 miles and 57,500 miles, respectively. These are excellent award prices, but you'll be subject to mild fuel surcharges.

You can transfer points to Flying Blue from American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou or Marriott Bonvoy.

You can also book Air France and Delta award tickets with Delta SkyMiles, but pricing varies greatly due to Delta's dynamic pricing. It's become harder to find reasonably priced transatlantic tickets with Delta miles, especially in premium cabins. You can usually get the best deals when booking round-trip tickets with your miles. Even then, you're usually looking at 200K+ miles round-trip in business class — here's a look at round-trip pricing from New York-JFK to Paris (CDG).

If you can't find a good award on Air France or Delta, you can book connecting tickets with other SkyTeam members like Aeroflot, Aeromexico, Air Europa, Alitalia or KLM Royal Dutch. Each of these airlines flies to various U.S. airports and Paris, so you can build out an itinerary that works best with your schedule and points budget.

How to earn points for a Flying Blue award to Paris

Chase is currently offering great signup bonuses on a handful of its credit cards. Each of these cards earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points that you can transfer instantly to Flying Blue:

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
Ink Business Preferred Credit Card – Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
Chase Sapphire Reserve – Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

The cheapest Star Alliance award tickets to Paris

Cheapest Star Alliance award: 55,000 miles round-trip in economy, 88,000 in business class with ANA Mileage Club

You can fly United's new Polaris business class nonstop to Paris. (Photo by Zach Griff/The Points Guy)

Star Alliance flyers will find themselves on United Airlines for direct flights from the U.S. to Paris. United operates flights to Paris (CDG) from its hubs in Chicago-O'Hare (ORD), Newark (EWR), San Francisco (SFO) and Washington-Dulles (IAD). Service may not be available on all of these routes. Still, we're hopeful that full service will resume once the travel world recovers to pre-pandemic international travel.

The cheapest way to book Star Alliance awards to Europe is with Asiana Club. This program charges just 25,000 miles one-way for economy and 40,000 for business class. You'll pay high fuel surcharges when flying with some Star Alliance airlines, but United is exempt. The major downside to Asiana Club is that miles are hard to earn — you can only transfer points in from Marriott Bonvoy.

The second cheapest way to book Star Alliance tickets to Europe is transferring Amex points to ANA Mileage Club. You book tickets for 55,000 miles round-trip in economy and 88,000 in business class. Unfortunately, you can only book round-trip tickets — not one-way. The program adds high fuel surcharges on select Star Alliance airlines like Austrian, Lufthansa and Swiss.

You can also add a stopover and open-jaw to your ANA round-trip ticket at no additional cost. This means you can book something like this: Newark (EWR) to Paris (CDG), Paris to Copenhagen (CPH) and Copenhagen to Newark via Munich (MUC) for no extra points.

If you're looking for a one-way ticket and have Amex, Capital One or Citi points, you'll get the best rates with Avianca LifeMiles. Award tickets to Europe cost 30,000 LifeMiles one-way in economy and 63,000 one-way in business class. That said, we've seen some awards price at 27,000 LifeMiles in economy.

(Screenshot courtesy of Avianca LifeMiles)

Finally, those with United MileagePlus miles or Chase points — which transfer to United — can also redeem for United flights. United recently switched to dynamic award pricing, so it's hard to say exactly how much you'll pay for these flights. I've found the lowest price for flights from the U.S. to Europe in economy class is 30,000 one-way and 60,000 in business class. You can also take advantage of the Excursionist Perk on round-trip awards to add a free stopover in Europe.

The Star Alliance is home to other carriers like Air Canada, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Swiss, SAS, Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines. Each offers flights to both the U.S. and Paris, so booking with one of these carriers could be a good option if you can't find United award space.

How to earn points for an ANA award to Paris

Booking with ANA will generally yield the best deal on United flights because of its low redemption rates and Amex transfers. Here's a look at American Express cards you can use to earn Membership Rewards points to transfer to ANA:

American Express® Green Card: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership. Plus, 20% back on eligible travel and transit purchases in the first six months, up to $200 back in the form of a statement credit. Earn 3x points on dining at restaurants, travel and transit (including flights, hotels, transit, taxis, tours, and ridesharing services), 1x points on all other purchases ($150 annual fee; see rates and fees).
American Express® Gold Card: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $4,000 on eligible purchases with your new card within the first six months of account opening. Earn 4x points on dining at restaurants; 4x points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per calendar year; then 1x points); 3x points on airfare purchased directly from airlines or American Express Travel; 1x points on all other purchases, ($250 annual fee; see rates and fees).
The Platinum Card® from American Express: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 on purchases on the Card in your first six months of Card Membership. Earn 5x points on airfare purchased directly from airlines or with American Express Travel (earn 5x points on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year), 5x on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel, and Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts; 1x on all other purchases, ($695 annual fee; see rates and fees).

Paris Hotels you can book with points

You can use your hotel points to stay in Paris without spending a Euro. (Photo by Valeria Schettino/Getty Images)

Paris is home to thousands of hotels, many of which you can book with hotel points. Here's a look at some of your best options in each major hotel loyalty program.

Hilton hotels in Paris

The Maison Astor Paris, Curio Collection by Hilton in Paris. (Photo by Ben Smithson/The Points Guy)

Hilton has several great options in Paris. You'll find most of the group's hotels concentrated in downtown Paris, giving you easy access to everything from the Louvre to the Palace de la Concorde. Remember, Hilton Honors doesn't have standard award pricing for award nights, but these hotels consistently price on or around the prices below on off-peak dates:

Canopy by Hilton Paris Trocadero: 80,000 points per night
Hilton Paris Opera: 79,000 points per night
Le Belgrand Hotel Paris Champs Elysees, Tapestry Collection by Hilton: 52,000 points per night
Maison Astor Paris, Curio Collection by Hilton: 80,000 points per night

How to earn Hilton points

Consider opening a Hilton cobranded credit card to earn more Hilton points. Each comes with a solid welcome bonus and has various benefits like elite status, an annual free night and more. Here's a look at the current lineup of Hilton credit cards:

Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card: Earn 150,000 points after you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card: Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors bonus points and a Free Night Reward after you spend $2,000 in purchases on the card in the first three months of card membership
Hilton Honors American Express Card: Earn 70,000 Hilton Honors bonus points and a Free Night Reward after you spend $1,000 in purchases on the card in the first three months of card membership.
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card: Earn 150,000 Hilton Honors bonus points and a Free Night Reward after you spend $4,000 in purchases on the Hilton Honors Business card within the first three months of card membership.

The information for the Hilton Aspire Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Hyatt hotels in Paris

Hyatt is home to some of the best hotels in Paris, like the Park Hyatt. Even the higher-end Hyatt properties in Paris are reasonably priced from a points perspective and are placed around the downtown area. Here are some of the TPG team's favorite Hyatt properties in the French capital that you can book with World of Hyatt points:

Hôtel du Louvre: 25,000 points per night
Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile: 15,000 points per night
Hyatt Paris Madeleine: 25,000 points per night
Le Pavillon de la Reine & Spa: 40,000 points per night
Park Hyatt Paris, Vendôme: 30,000 points per night

How to earn World of Hyatt points

You can transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards to World of Hyatt or earn with the Hyatt cobranded credit card.

World of Hyatt Credit Card: Earn 30,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening. Plus, up to 30,000 more bonus points by earning 2 bonus points total per $1 spent on purchases that normally earn 1 Bonus Point, on up to $15,000 in the first six months of account opening.

IHG hotels in Paris

IHG has a suite of properties in Paris, too, with over 20 properties in the Paris area. These are placed all over the city and range from budget-friendly Holiday Inn properties to five-star luxury at the InterContinental Le Grand. Like Hilton, IHG Rewards now prices awards dynamically, so the award prices below are based on off-peak dates:

Crowne Plaza Paris, Republique: 38,000 points per night
Hotel Indigo Paris, Opera: 50,000 points per night
Holiday Inn Paris, Notre Dame: 24,000 points per night
InterContinental Hotels Paris, Le Grand: 75,000 points per night
Kimpton St Honoré Paris: 70,000 points per night

How to earn IHG points

You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to IHG or earn with an IHG cobranded credit card:

IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card: Earn 140,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
IHG Rewards Traveler Credit Card: Earn 80,000 bonus points after spending $2,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

Marriott hotels in Paris

Marriott has 33 properties in the Paris area, with brands ranging from the hip-and-budget-friendly Moxy Banke Opera to more luxurious Westin and Design Hotel properties. Whatever you choose, you'll be sure to stretch your Marriott Bonvoy point value and have a great experience in Paris.

Here's a look at some of the best Marriott properties in Paris:

Hotel Banke Opera, Autograph Collection: 50,000 points per night
Le Metropolitan, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel: 50,000 points per night
Moxy Paris Bastille: 40,000 points per night
Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hotel: 60,000 points per night
Renaissance Paris Republique Hotel: 60,000 points per night
The Westin Paris, Vendôme: 70,000 points per night

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points

You can transfer points from American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards to Marriott, but it's not usually a good deal. I recommend earning Marriott Bonvoy points with a Marriott cobranded credit card instead.

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card: Earn 3 Free Night Awards (each night valued up to 50,000 points) after spending $3,000 on purchases in your first three months of account opening.
Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: Earn 150,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after spending $6,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months; plus, earn 50,000 points after you stay six eligible nights at Marriott hotels through Jan. 31, 2024. Offer ends August 9.
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card: Earn 75,000 bonus points after you use your new card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first three months of card membership.
Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card: Earn 30,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in your first three months from account opening.

Radisson hotels in Paris

Radisson has two properties in Paris, both of which can be booked with Radisson Rewards points. These properties are centrally located, but unfortunately, we couldn't find award availability for either property at the time of writing. We're hopeful that Radisson will open award space at these hotels when the coronavirus pandemic subsides, and France opens its borders for tourism. Here's a look at the properties:

Radisson Blu Hotel, Paris Boulogne
Radisson Blu Hotel Champs Elysées

How to earn Radisson Rewards points

Earn Radisson Rewards points with a Radisson cobranded credit card. Here's a look at the current offers:

Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature® Card: Earn 50,000 points after your first purchase plus 35,000 points once you spend $2,500 on your card within the first 90 days of account opening
Radisson Rewards Visa® Card: Earn 30,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 on your card within the first 90 days of account opening

The information for the Radisson Cards has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Activities

There's no shortage of things to do and see in Paris. If you're pre-booking tours or other activities, you can save booking through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal. Your redemption value will vary based on the type of Chase credit card in your wallet. Chase Freedom cards can redeem at 1.0 cents per point, Chase Sapphire Preferred at 1.25 cents per point and Chase Sapphire Reserve at 1.5 cents per point.

For example, Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders can use 5,392 points to book a tour of the Louvre. This tour lets you skip the long lines that often form at the entrance to the Louvre and includes a comprehensive tour of the museum in English. This is the perfect way to brush up on your art history while learning more about some of the world's most important works of art.

Or, you can book an Eiffel tower tour, complete with champagne and skip-the-line access to the top. You'll pay just 7,704 points per traveler for this tour. As someone who's visited the Eiffel tower in the past, the ability to skip the line is worth it in its own right. These lines are often excessively long during peak travel times.

Ground transportation

The Paris RER provides quick transport from the airport to downtown Paris. (Photo by Sorbis / Shutterstock.com)

You have several ways to get from Paris (CDG) to your hotel. The first is taking the Paris RER from the airport to the city. This costs 10 Euros one-way — equal to roughly $11.88 — and takes 40 minutes. I've visited Paris numerous times and almost always use the RER to get into the city.

You can also take Uber or a local taxi from the airport to your hotel too. Paris taxis charge a flat rate of 50 or 55 Euros from the airport to the city center depending on where you're staying. On the other hand, Uber prices vary based on traffic and demand. I recommend checking the price of an Uber when you land and going with whichever option is cheaper if you opt to take a car.

You can use the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card to offset all travel charges with points, including train tickets, taxi fare and Uber rides. Your points are worth 1 cent apiece toward these purchases, so you can use roughly 1,188 points to cover a one-way RER train ride from the airport.

Bottom line

There are lots of nonstop flights between the U.S. and Paris, from major hub airports like ORD, JFK and LAX. On top of this, hundreds of hotels can be booked with various hotel points. This makes Paris one of the easiest cities to book with points and miles. But book soon — flights and hotels will fill up quickly when the country reopens its borders in the coming weeks.

For rates and fees of the Amex Green card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Gold card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum card, click here.

Featured image by V_E/SHUTTERSTOCK

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.