Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

No, I don't think you understand.

You don't get a stopover in Hawaii. You get a stopover at your North American gateway (ORD or JFK) on your way back from CDG. Then, months later, you can fly to Hawaii from your stopover city on a separate trip (perhaps your honeymoon, depending on how long your engagement lasts).

If you want to start your trip to CDG in ORD or DTW, you can fly ORD/DTW-NYC (stopover) - CDG also for 20,000 miles per person.

Tougher to do, but possible. More likely than not, your GF will have to join in to make this work as 2 Business/First MileSAAver fares will run 100K each. Assuming for the moment you're the usual age of a law student (20s), I'd opt for keeping this a surprise and doing it all yourself with coach tickets. When I was in my 20s, the excitement of any trip offset the discomfort I felt flying in coach. Furthermore, I like the romantic element of surprise this approach involves.

The only possible way I could see getting two business-class tickets without your GF's help: get the two personal cards immediately, meet the spend, then get a Citi/AA business card as set forth in the earlier post I cited, and meet that spend. The three cards together should get you 165K AA miles, including the 2 points per dollar earnings rate. Then get an Amex SPG (current signup bonus 25K but twice in the last two years 30K has been offered), which will allow conversion at a 1:1.25 ratio to AA, when done in blocks of 20K points. You'd get at least 25K more AA miles that way.

You'd still be short 10K miles. But, beginning immediately, you can earn miles in AAdvantage even without flying. Do some occasional dining and shopping in the AA Shopping Mall. The AAdvantage Dining program, AAdvantage Dining, will help you earn as much as 5 miles per dollar spent at restaurants/bars (with occasional bonuses higher than that). I earned 25K miles in this program last year. You have to dine at restaurants in the program to earn points, the only downside. Good thing, there's a 1000-mile bonus for new members.

The Shopping Mall gives you a few more options. There was an incident last year involving a mistake offer made by Verizon that ticked a lot of people off; however, I've generally had good experiences with it. All sorts of ways to earn miles. You like to read the NY Times on Sunday? Subscribe: https://www.aadvantageeshopping.com/...e=false&page=5. 1761 miles. Valentine's Day is coming up, and one of the retail categories with the highest earning rate is florists. Right now, most are offering 9-10 miles/dollar, but around major holidays, including Valentine's Day, the earnings rate generally jumps to 25 miles/$. There's another 1000-1500 miles for buying flowers that you'd probably buy anyway (and for some later purchases of flowers that you might not, but hey, you want to increase the chances she'll accept your proposal, right?).

The danger of this approach is that you're unlikely to accumulate enough miles before August 1. If you remain flexible on travel dates, however, you can still probably put together a trip. Just don't expect to travel at Christmas or New Year's.

I'd add, by the way, that if you go the business class route, you might be able to put together a similar strategy with other airlines as some of their business class awards during the offseason might be comparable, and all of these airline programs have similar shopping malls and dining programs. None of the other programs, however, has a similar avenue to massive miles through credit card apps such as the Citi/AA route. If your GF participates, however, you should be able to put together something with Chase's Sapphire Preferred and United cards.

Can you charge tuition to your credit card? That will up your spending.

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.

I really don't think coach is that big of a deal, but I have never been in a plane for longer than 4 hours, and the flight to Paris is 7-9 (depending on our depart city). If coach is moderately easy to obtain perhaps the rest of my energy would be better suited acquiring perks to use towards a hotel in Paris? Coach flight + better hotel Vs. Business/first flight + average hotel

Oh, did I mention the g/f has approx 50,000 Delta/Amex miles? Not sure if those are worth much, or applicable in any fashion to this proposal.

Can't thank you all enough. Easily the best forum with the most helpful members I've ever come across.

It might be a detail but be aware that there hasn't a firework for NYE in Paris for a few years and it's unlikely to change.
And I would rather travel in Y and have a better hotel in Paris than fly J and have a sh*tty, anyway expensive, hotel in Paris.

She does, but I'm still thinking a surprise trip to Paris may involve too many issues. I guess I'll make the final decision in 6 or so months, but at this point it seems pretty daunting with a high potential for drama. It will be both of our first times there, so surprise or not, the trip will be exciting.

It seems to me that nothing would be lost by encouraging your g/f to apply for the Citi/AA credit cards when you do the same. If you end up with enough mileage to obtain both tickets with your miles, fine; if you come up short, each of you should be in a position to obtain one ticket.

The advantage to AA is that AA, unlike Delta and United/Continental, currently requires 40,000 miles for a USA-Europe RT during the off-season; the other require 60,000 all year, as AA does during the high season. (These policies, of course, are subject to change.)

I would:
Keep it simple
Fly coach

If you can afford it, consider
http://www.vacationinparis.com/apts/id_180.htm
or something like it as a place to stay. Fancy hotels are great but this is more Parisian.

Longer flights put a strain on anybody. I'm in my 50s. I've given up on flying across the ocean in coach, especially for red eye flights. My sister, who is slightly younger than me, can take some medications and stay unconscious through an entire 8-hour flight. After accompanying her to Dublin in 2010 and watching her sleep all night long in a coach seat, I learned I just can't go that way anymore.

My last few TATL flights have been in BA's Club World business class. I nap but generally don't sleep long because of the aircraft engine noise. Nevertheless, even without sleeping all night long, I've found myself refreshed enough to make my first day as productive as when I made my first flight to Europe in 1998. I think it has something to do with being able to relax while lying down instead of making an effort to stay upright in a coach seat. My days in coach are over for TATLs.

I'd consider taking coach, staying in an OK hotel (check the "Travel&Dining: Destination >> The World" forum for France here at FT to find reasonable hotel recommendations that won't break the bank), and splurging on dining. Dining in Paris is a highlight but generally extremely expensive. Plus, you might have some money left in the budget to buy something memorable to commemorate your engagement.

Dude you are proposing in Paris, don't get cheap with miles. Book Biz Class and you and your GF will not miss the cattle class.

I don't see how getting Citi AA visa/amex CC's for you and her will give away a surprise trip to Paris. If you manage the AAdvantage accounts how would she she know about the two 50k mile bonus offers?

Also DL 50k is a good start. It takes 100k in Business class to CDG on Delta. So it is the same mileage cost as AA but the AA double dip makes AA more accessible.

Focused on the flight alone, of course you are correct. But there are a tremendous number of people in this world who travel in the "cattle class" who still manage to have fantastic trips.

I guess you're encouraging the OP to apply for two credit cards in his GF's name without her knowledge? Or at least to hide the benefit that she would earn with her credit if she applies?

Not really a great way to impress on your future wife that you're an honest guy. For the sake of getting off on the right foot, better to let her know that you want the two of you to apply for these cards with a fantastic mileage benefit so that you can take a trip to Paris. Then, leave the proposal as the surprise rather than the trip.

Female here. I'd go with coach and a nicer hotel in Paris if I had to choose. You'll spend a lot more time in the hotel than on the flights. On the way over, you'll either be asleep or too excited to sleep and the cramped coach seats won't matter. On the way back, maybe. (One strategy might be to book coach out and business back.)

Paris hotels are outrageously expensive. It might be a whole lot cheaper to buy airline tickets and use hotel points to mitigate the pain of Paris hotels.

1. I fly in cattle class exclusively. But if I was surprising m GF with a proposal in Paris I would spring for Biz class.

At least Biz on the return leg as outbound in Biz might tip her off to your plans. Unless she is like my GF and just doesn't understand or care enough to know how miles work.

2. I am saying he should tell her about these great cards that earn airline miles that would be able to get them free flights. That they would be awesome to have.

Why does he need to tell her about the 50k signup bonus offers? If he would manage her AAdvantage account, I am not saying he would manage her Citi accounts, it would be easy to get the 100k miles.

I don't think that is shady and I doubt she would get mad after she realizes he got them free flights to Paris. The only reason he didn't tell her about the bonus miles is because he wanted it to be an authentically special surprise just for her. He knows he is in law school and doesn't have the time to break away and do everything they might like to do together but this was something he could control. He wanted it to be something they both would cherish for the rest of their lives and that their grandkids could hear about how grandpa surprised grandma with a trip and proposal in Paris.

Just what I think. Obviously the OP morals will guide him to do right by the woman he loves. I think the topic of this post is quality and I do not want to hijack the thread.

I hope you can earn that trip! If you need help figuring out how to book or earn the trip, I would be more than willing to lend a hand for OP great idea.