Originally Posted by
darkom
A stopover in Hawaii would be amazing, but certainly starts adding up the $$$/time. My initial thought was to do "weekend" in New York with dinner our first (and unbeknownst to her, only) night at a very memorable French restaurant, e.g. Daniel, Per Se. Sometime after the dinner make a comment about I wonder what REAL French food tastes like.. and present her with the two tickets to Paris? That type of surprise may require far too many obstacles, but I could still employ the same stopover tactic your post illustrates even if she knows we're ultimately going to Paris.
Not to be a negative Nancy but does your GF have a valid passport? I totally understand the value of a surprise but one of my friends forgot about this aspect and his surprise trip to Venice had to be delayed because his GF couldn't get a passport in time. If your GF does have one, it might not be that hard for you to surreptitiously obtain her passport and bring it with you to NY.
As far as credit cards, you should probably stick with economy for your airfare as you have not also secured hotel accommodations. IMO the hotel will be more memorable than the flight. Business award for you and a paid ticket for her might be a better option if you're willing to splurge for that.
Assuming that can get the 2 AA cards, you might also consider applying for a Sapphire Preferred at the same time if you can handle the spend requirements. After 3 months, you could also go for the Hyatt card. Using the UR points, you could get some extra nights at the Vendome but, as always, you may need to book early which is not realistic at this point. Another "memorable" use would be to spend 2 nights in a standard room and spend some extra for 2 nights in a suite. I'm not sure how long you intend on staying in Paris but this is 1 idea. (Note: UR points transfer at a 1:1 rate to Hyatt)
I'm not sure what your overall budget would be for this itinerary so my recommendations reflect that. If you would be willing to spend $2,000 over what would be required to book this trip as outlined, we'd have even more suggestions. It just depends on your situation.