ccerts

Booked AA plane tickets to LHR returning from GDG in August for myself, wife and 16 year old daughter. I jumped on the Hilton Honors Aspire Card thinking I could do 8 total nights in London and Paris all on points (and get free upgrades with new Diamond status). I'm now finding big faults in my plan and regretting opening the Hilton Honors Aspire Card. I don't care how the 8 nights are split up; budget is a big deal here. I just want this to be all on points and of course good walking location and decent room to accommodate anxious teen is preferred.

My hope was 450k Hilton points could be enough to cover if I also did the following.....

a). 5 Nights in London (or Paris) by booking 4 nights with points and the 5 night free (that's still a thing, right?).

b). 3 nights in Paris (or London), paying 2 nights with points and the 3rd night the Aspire Card Free Standard Night Reward Certificate.

But now I see summer Paris/London prices are crazy expensive. My 450k points won't be near enough for all the nights. Any suggestions?

smmrfld

Go during a season with lower rates. And don’t book air or anything else that is nonrefundable or difficult to unwind until you have all the pieces in place.

Dr Jabadski

It’s good to periodically reevaluate things but finding faults isn’t a reason to regret opening an Aspire card. There are several threads documenting the value for many of us of an Aspire card, including Hilton Aspire Card Moneymaker?.

Yes, still a thing, as per Fifth Night Free on Award Stays and Making sense of Hilton reward options.

I think Paris and London have been crazy expensive for MANY years (part of the reason I’ve accumulated large balances in several hotel programs). Maybe just plan the 5 nights in London using Hilton points, find another way to pay for Paris nights. 112,500 points per night (5th night free) would make many London hotels bookable, my go to London hotels are 60K or 70K per night.

arlflyer

A few thoughts...I'll say up front that I do agree with the above about generally having your trip all planned before you pull the trigger on anything, but what's done is done and we all learn somehow, so we'll work with what we have:

• If you want specific help, provide specific dates. No one is going to steal your identity or your soul or whatever based on knowing you are from MKE and going to Europe for 8 specific days in the summer. If you have specific dates we could help down to providing advice at the property level.
• That being said, picking general dates in August (I used Tues-Sun 8-13 Aug so it at least covered a weekend) and searching 2 adults + 1 child, there are some options out there. I'm seeing 4 or 5 Doubletree and Hilton brand properties with 2-double, double + single, queen + sofabed setups in the ~50-70K point/night range (so 200-280K for 5 nights using 5th night free). Are they the absolute nicest places in town? No, but perfectly serviceable.
• I'll note that it's that 3rd person that is the killer - if you search for just 2 adults there are a ton of London options at reasonable prices. Because adding the 3rd person gets you into the territory of multiple larger (e.g. not twin) beds, or bed + sofabed, that becomes the domain of "premium" room types, and thus astronomical points redemptions. It may be helpful to search 2 adults and then scour the results to see if any workable room types get mixed in - perhaps something that was miscoded but could actually sleep 3 (but be darn sure!).
• Do you have the opportunity to perhaps go out of chain for other currencies? If you and your spouse don't have MR cards, you probably have time to open a couple and earn some MR bonuses. What about Chase points or such - transferrable to Hyatt, MR, etc.?

(Editorial note: How on earth do I get a blank line before a bulleted list? No matter how many I add in the editor, they all disappear when I post...I don't think it used to be this way)

qed

In London, you could try the the Hampton by Hilton London Waterloo. They have a Queen-with-sofa-bed room at a standard award cost of 60K points per night. For a five-night stay, with the last night free, just 240K points. Paris is harder, and its not an ideal solution, but the Hilton Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport has family rooms at 50K points per night. It's a long trek into the city from CDG but I have seen past reports from folks that have made the commute and still had a good time. Plus, if my math is right, you come home with 60K points and the Aspire cert in your pocket. Good luck!

ccerts

All points made are fantastic. Thank you! I have much to learn. Would love to go off season, but can't take the teen out of school. What is with these stupid European rooms? Don't Europeans have children? So spoiled here in the states that 2 beds isn't extra or deemed a premium room. Crazy that a 3rd person jacks up the prices so much. I'm now considering 2 rooms for the 3 of us; probably good for the wife and kid to not hear my snoring.

Hampton by Hilton London Waterloo at 60K is an option, but like Hilton London Angel Kings Cross more because they have an executive lounge! And Hilton Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport has family rooms at 50K points per night is brilliant. Might change the last night that. Don't book anything that is Non-refundable? Absolutely, you just never know these days. And, I do have about 50K Chase points, but saving those for excursions on the trip. My thinking so far...

60K 1st Night DoubleTree by Hilton London Angel Kings Cross
60K 2nd Night DoubleTree by Hilton London Angel Kings Cross
60K 3rd Night DoubleTree by Hilton London Angel Kings Cross
60K 4th Night DoubleTree by Hilton London Angel Kings Cross
FREE 5th Night DoubleTree by Hilton London Angel Kings Cross
74k 2 ROOMS 6th Night Hilton Garden Inn Paris La Villette
74k 2 ROOMS 7th Night Hilton Garden Inn Paris La Villette
37K 2 ROOMS (1 Free with Certificate) Hilton Garden Inn Paris La Villette
-----
425K total

arlflyer

I'm presuming that this was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but also...most Europeans don't take summer holidays to London and Paris.

Your plan above looks good to me.

corporate-wage-slave

Angel is actually quite a good place to take a 16 year old, since people actually live there! So there are shops and cafés and streetlife which are not just for the tourists. Ditto Camden and Camden Market next door. There again Waterloo is much nearer the centre of London, in some ways it is the centre of London. I guess you aren't going to make a big mistake there. HGI La Villette isn't open yet, but in many ways that is Paris' answer to Islington, just more central. Both are cosmopolitan areas. I doubt your daughter will ever forget her trip to London and Paris, which I guess is the point of you doing it. I wouldn't overdo the budgeting, it's an investment. The CDG hotel really is in the airport, and it's quite a way out of town. OK for one night between flights, I can't recommend it as a springboard to the City of Light.

Get the wife to tip your chin 2 or 3 cm upwards when snoring - your tongue is in the wrong place and usually it won't wake you. Exactly the same reason why when doing CPR for someone in cardiac arrest, we tip the chin upwards in adults and children over 1 years old.

Admiral Ackbar

Have you never been to Europe? Cities are much denser than in North America, space is at a premium, especially in London. Nothing stupid about it.

SPN Lifer

What I have had to do is use a period on that line, and then color it white. When quoted, it will show up as white on the gray background.

Alternatively, one could make the period gray, and it will not show when quoted.

Stgermainparis

I’ve been doing the point thing for two decades and basically just give up using them for hotels every summer if we are in Europe. We are a family of five and that typically bumps us to 2-3 rooms. Very frustrating and makes using points difficult if we want to try to squish to two rooms bc those are property specific. So feel your pain.

Bc you’re looking at a chain, you might message or call Hilton and ask about a rollaway. I recently did that with an airport hotel and weirdly the king room would not allow a rollaway but the two twin one would. Both capped guests at 2 when booking online. But I think I’ll just quietly send third kid in with his siblings.

steveholt

Others may disagree, but: if you're going on a big trip to London and Paris, I wouldn't make the executive lounge a priority. Is it nice to have a free drink at night? I suppose. On vacation, do you really want to prioritize spending more time in the hotel when you can be out exploring those cities, both of which have excellent food + bars?

I wouldn't stay by CDG just to use Hilton points. You're much better off actually going to get a room in Paris, even if it means paying cash for that room + using all of your hotel points in London.

MissJ

I agree. I wouldn't stay by CDG for any other reason other than a super early flight. Would not even consider it as part of a full vacation trip. Making that trip daily would pretty much ruin the entire vacation and you would get absolutely no feel of the city you were in. I've spent plenty of single nights out at CDG before 6:00 a.m. flights and would not do any more than that.

I did have to look up that Hilton Garden inn listed in your plan since I've never stayed at that specific hotel (obviously) but it looks fine, not remarkable but okay if that's the only option. Your plan seems good.

yakel

Completely agree; don't stay near CDG. Far far better to spend the extra money/points to stay in the center of Paris. It'll make a huge difference in your trip enjoyment IMHO.

yakel

Agree on both points; why worry about the Executive Lounge when in London or Paris...far far better to be out on the town.