Qwkynuf

I am thinking about taking my wife to Paris for a long weekend in early December, as a "thank you" for putting up with my work schedule having me gone pretty much 5 days/week. My work travel is entirely US domestic, so I don't have much experience with international.

I am not sure what the best approach would be, under my circumstances. I would like to cover as much of the trip as possible with awards, to keep from impacting our Christmas/holiday routine.

I'm DM (since August) and haven't yet selected my 2017 choice benefits. Wife is a general member with no status. I currently have about 85k RDMs, and should be around 90k by the end of next week.

So, here are my questions -
1) I am seeing a ton of availability for 12/8-12/11, PDX-CDG at 60K each in coach, so I am roughly 30K short 7 weeks before departure. I typically earn about 5k -6k miles per week, but I am not comfortable waiting and trying to book 1 week out. This might force me to have to look at a later date.

2) I could select 25K miles as one of my Choice Benefits and would only be 5K short, which I can make up by the middle of November - does that seem like a good use?

3) Do I understand correctly that a general member can't be upgraded on an award ticket? If that is true, she would pull both of us down, and force us into the depths of steerage? Is that true even with a GUC?

4) I could gift her GM, which would allow her to upgrade with me at my DM level? That would get us to C+, but not to D1, right?

5) If I use my Choice Benefits to gift GM and take the GUCs, we could potentially (assuming availability) fly up front in one or both directions, but I would need to come up with the remaining 25k miles?

6) Sounds like I need 3 Choice Benefits....

I would appreciate any thoughts or advice on my questions above - especially if I have it all wrong.

Unrelated to the flight part (but related to the rest of the trip), I am HHonors Diamond (with about 300k points) and IHG Spire Ambassador (with about 150k points). We will need to stay 2 nights in Paris, but have no idea where would be best to stay, location wise, or what would be the best way to get around for some light "touristing" - taxi? Uber? Public Transit? Surely not a rental car?

Neither of us speak French, so we have *that* going for us!

Any thoughts on those subjects would be appreciated, as well! Thanks!

gigglypug

Personally, I would not EVER consider flying from the West Coast to Paris for just a long weekend...especially if the TATL portion was in anything less than D1.

Rather than spending 11-13 hours in the air and then battling 9 hours time difference, why not aim for a luxury spa weekend closer to home (or whatever makes your wife happy)?

If you're absolutely, utterly and completely set on Paris:

- try for D1 with GUCs (this means having to pay for the underlying tickets, GUCs don't work on award tickets) and a morning arrival. Sleep the whole way over and hit the ground running.
- I like to stay in the Hilton out by CDG because the rooms are nice and big (rooms in Paris are usually postage stamp size and very expensive for point redemption), but for such a short stay, a central location is imperative
- if you can't afford a room in the thick of it, make sure you are close to a metro station. Even without any French language skills, the metro is an easy way to get around.

Remember that C+, even internationally, is not really anything special seat wise. DL flies 767 to Europe, as a DM I'm sure you've spend some time in their C+ seat...could you get about 6 hrs sleep in them? Can your wife? If the answer is no, you'll be fairly miserable for the first 1-2 days (plus sleeping 'til noon)....

I'd strongly suggest you rethink your destination and save Paris for when you can stay longer...and do it right.

Mr. Tickets

I agree. I would not consider a two night stay in Paris. That is really only one complete day, not counting the day of arrival, which you won't likely feel like doing much except maybe walking around some.

Also, it sounds like you are thinking there are complimentary upgrades going TATL. That is not true, unless you get an op-up due to an over sale in coach. Also, as mentioned before, there is no way to upgrade mileage tickets, except with more miles, which it sounds like you are short of to begin with.

I would also suggest a domestic trip to someplace that might even be
nonstop from your home town, if that exists.

dilbertsdaddy

Have you already used your PM choice benefits? If not the miles from that and DM selection might give you enough.

Instead of miles maybe a cheap fare and use GUC's? Bear in mind departing CDG/LHR in D1 with miles or GUC results in high fees (I think of it as a luxury tax). AMS does not have it.

Getting C+ would be nice on the way back during the day if you and the wife can get the 2 seats by themselves. My wife and I did that back from LHR last year and it was nice. Food was good, seats were comfortable, watched several movies. I was dreading it but actually enjoyed it.

I agree with others that the trip over would be bad C+ or not. To each his own but personally I would stay on the couch and watch football all weekend before I would do it.

Sorry, but I do not have any specific hotel recommendations; however, I can say that in general I get treated better as HH Gold than IHG Spire as far as perks in Europe. IHG is hit/miss for Spire in my experience. If breakfast and lounge access is important to you (it is to me) then Hilton takes it. If you want a better redemption rate, IHG takes it.

CarmenOM

Much as I love Paris, it does seem far to fly for just 2-3 days on the ground. If you decide to do it, I would definitely recommend staying right in the center of the city --- Ile St. Louis, the Marais, San Germaine, the Sorbonne neighborhood, and the area around Luxembourg gardens are all charming and interesting.

DO NOT rent a car; driving and parking in Paris would ruin your vacation. Uber has been controversial; I'm not certain about the current status. Taxis are easy to use there. The Metro covers the city well, as do buses. Best of all is walking. The city is compact, about 10-12 miles across, and no matter where you walk you will see something historic, or beautiful, or interesting, or all of the above.

If you want to consider closer alternatives and prefer a city to a resort, think about Mexico City. It's a sophisticated city with great food, outstanding museums, and intriguing neighborhoods, all at reasonable prices. Uber works really well there. Although it's an international destination, the Delta flights to MEX are eligible for medallion upgrades and the upgrades are often easy to get.

nikitta28

I have to really second the opinion that Paris is WAY too far to go for a weekend. The time change will KILL you. You will be miserable and uncomfortable. Why not go to Hawaii and blow some of those hotel points?

Cool places to go

Kona, Hawaii
Panama City, Panama
Costa Rica - Anywhere

BHammy

About 10 years, I gave my wife a Valentine's Day present: weekend trip to Paris.

Yes, a 2.5 day weekend...we LOVED IT!
And we even did in coach on an A330 through AMS (if I remember)

Just last year, we did it again...actually less/more: 1 day in London, 1 day in Paris, then 4 days in Dublin - with another couple....LOVED IT! (that was in D1 from JFK)


As for OP's flight options:
Aside from some lucky, low point options, I'm not a fan of booking Award tix:
- No MQMs earned
- No GUC usage
- No complimentary TATL upgrades

Personally, I'd check availability for GUCs clearing first, before selecting them (if you have no other use for them) Buy the tix - using PWM to knock down the price, using your miles - but you'll still get MQMs for the flights.

Remember, as of Oct 13th, you and the Mrs will upgrade domestically at DM level when booked together. But if using GUCs, once cleared on the TATL, you can then have them extended to the domestics for higher priority.

No worry about not speaking French. After an introduction, most hosts will ask you: Deutsche or English when you give them a blank stare.

Our first trip, we stayed at a local hotel near the Boissière metro station. Close to Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe. And yet the Metro can get you most anywhere.
Our second trip, we used points at a Marriott Renaissance over by Tuileries station. This puts you closer to the Louvre, Pont Neuf, Notre Dame.

Highlights we experienced: lunch at Jules Verne - inside the Eiffel Tower (reservations way in advance). Take a walk down side roads away from the touristy stuff - you'll find some wonderful 'local' cafes.

airmotive

Just to pile on...
If you're on the east coast, a weekend in Paris is a beautiful thing.
If you're on the west coast, it's two days on airplanes and an exhausted crash in a hotel.
Springtime in Paris is lovely. December is cold, grey and wet.
Might I suggest Belize? Costa Rica?
Fewer time zones. Shorter flights. Cheaper flights. MUCH cheaper accommodations, yet exotic enough that your wife's friends will be a wee bit jealous.
Oh...and then there's that whole warm, sunny beaches thing, which never seems to get tiresome.

nikitta28

I'd hesitate on Belize because you need another plane to get to San Pedro.
Kona/Waikola- easy peasy
Panama City - easy peasy
Costa Rica- probably some drive from the airport

jrl767

other "cold, grey, and wet in December" options to consider ... particularly if you can snag a nice downtown hotel room/suite with a fireplace ... might include Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria, Portland, and San Francisco

DiscoPapa

Global upgrades cannot be used on Pay with Miles tickets.

BHammy

Good catch - thank you DiscoPapa ^