Paris – livingmydream.travel

We recently spent two days in Paris, France during the peak season of June. We wanted our accommodation to be luxurious without spending too much money. So, we decided to use Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points to book our stay for free.

We chose Hyatt Paris, Madeleine, a luxury 5-star boutique hotel near Paris Opera house. It is located in the 8th arrondissement in Central Paris. The average per night cost for a standard room during our stay was around USD 700+. Instead of paying USD 1400+ for 2 nights , we used total of 50,000 Chase UR points to book this hotel. Here is how you can do it as well:

Step 1

If you don’t have a World of Hyatt account, create one now. Once you have the account, you will need 50K points in your account to book this hotel for 2 nights. We transferred the points to World of Hyatt from Chase UR account. The total number of points will vary depending on the hotel and the length of stay. If you don’t have the required points, you can rack up points quickly by signing up for a new credit card:

Apply for Chase World of Hyatt credit card and you can earn up-to 50K signup bonus points when you meet the minimum spending requirements. Apart from the sign-up bonus, the best thing I like about this card is that you get one free night every year you keep this card.

Apply for Chase credit card that lets you to earn and transfer UR points to travel partners. Two of the personal card options are: Chase Sapphire Preferred, and Chase Sapphire Reserve. Both the cards are currently offering 50K+ points as signup bonus when you meet the minimum spending requirements. There are freedom cards (Chase Freedom & Chase Freedom Unlimited) as well that lets you earn UR points but they don’t let you transfer those points to the travel partners. Chase also gives you the option to combine the points from all your Chase UR cards (2 Sapphires and 2 Freedoms) into one account. We suggest you put all the UR points from all the eligible Chase cards into one of the Sapphire card account. Once you have the points required for the hotel redemption, follow Step 2 to transfer the points to your World of Hyatt account.

Step 2

If you have 50K points in your Chase UR account, follow this step to transfer it to your World of Hyatt account. If you already have the points in World of Hyatt account, go directly to Step 3. To transfer the points, login to your Chase account and open the Chase UR portal for your Sapphire card. Click on “Transfer to travel partners” link and next click on “Transfer points” next to World of Hyatt. Now, enter Recipient and Member ID and click “Continue”. Enter number of UR points to transfer and confirm. The points will be available to your World of Hyatt account instantly once you confirm the transaction. See the screenshots below:

Step 3

It’s time to book your hotel using points. Open Hyatt’s website, and select the “Use points” option and provide your destination and dates. You should be able to see the available hotels with number of points required.

For the dates shown in the screenshot above, the hotel price was USD 580 per night or 25000 World of Hyatt points. When you use the points, you are getting value of 2.9 cents per point for this particular reservation. The price of this hotel can be as high as USD 700+ during the month of June & July, but the points redemption rate of 25K is fixed based on the hotel’s category.

If you have Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card, you can even book the hotels directly without transferring the points using their travel portal. But, you get fixed value per point depending on the card. For the Preferred card, you get 1.25 cents per point and 1.5 cents per point for the Reserve one. As you can see, you are getting double the value per UR point by transferring it to World of Hyatt account in this case.

Conclusion

We talked about how you can book luxury Hyatt hotels with Chase UR points by transferring it to your World of Hyatt account. In the sample reservation above, we are getting value of 2.9 cents per point which is much higher than the fixed rate that you get when you book directly through Chase UR. But, remember this might not be always true! Always check the value per point you are getting before you transfer the Chase UR points to travel partners.

Arriving in Paris

We landed in Paris CDG airport and took a regional RER train to reach the city center. You can also take Uber or taxi if you are willing to spend more. We booked two nights at a boutique hotel in the central Paris: Hyatt Paris, Madeliene. This is one of the expensive hotel in the area which costs around 700 USD per night during the peak season but we booked it using Chase UR points for free. We will talk about how to book it using points in the upcoming posts.

Best things to do in Paris

There are so many things to do and see in Paris. Of course, we couldn’t cover everything in two days. But, here are some of the things that we did and really liked during our stay:

Top of the Eiffel Tower

If you want to save time pre-book your tickets online by visiting their official website so that you don’t have to stand in queue for hours just to get the tickets. We got the tickets to top of the tower. There is an option for just the second floor as well which is little cheaper. You will have to stand in line again for the top floor lift from the second floor. But, the line for the top was not too long when we visited during the peak season. The view are amazing from both the second floor and the top. But, we recommend going to the top of tower as well for more expansive views. Do remember to book tickets online!

After visiting the tower, we spent some time sitting near the fountain in front of the tower. It was really hot when we visited in summer and there were lot of people taking a dip in the fountain pool to get some relief from the heat. It is a great spot for pictures as well! Once you are done, climb up to the nearby stairs of Trocadero for more insta worthy pictures.

Take a cruise on Seine River

A Seine river cruise is a must do in Paris. The views along the river is mesmerizing. The boat takes you through many of the cities landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre as you cruise by!
We booked Bateaux Mouches Seine River Cruise which included dinner, drinks and live music along with the beautiful views of Paris from the deck. They were vegetarian friendly as well. We had a wonderful time and we highly recommend it. Here is the Expedia link for the one we booked.

Visit Arch de Triomphe and Champs-Elysees

It is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle. It commemorates French military victories and French soldiers who died in battle.
In order to get to the Arc take the underground passage, so that you avoid crossing the busy traffic.
If you are planning on going to the top of Arc de Triomphe you have to buy the tickets and climb few stairs. The view from the top is worth taking those stairs as you have the 360 degree view of the entire city and the Eiffel tower.
After visiting Arc de Triomphe you can walk down the Champs- Elysees: “A Shopper’s Paradise”. It is 1.2 miles long street known for its theaters, cafes, and luxury shops.

Visit the Saint Chapelle

The Sainte-Chapelle is a royal chapel in the Gothic style. It has amazing stained glass windows. Arranged across 15 windows, each 15 metres high, the stained glass panes depict 1,113 scenes from the Old and New Testaments recounting the history of the world until the arrival of the relics in Paris.
Don’t forget to go to the upper level which can be accessed via staircase. You will be amazed by the spectacular stained glass on the upper level.

Louvre Museum

The Louvre is the world’s largest art museum and a historic monument in Paris. The main attraction of the museum are the Mona Lisa and the statue of Venus de Milo.
We would highly recommend buying tickets in advance. We couldn’t go inside the museum because the tickets were sold out for that day. However, we did take some good pictures outside the museum.

Take a walk along the Seine River

You will find many locals sitting along banks of the river just hanging out with friends and family enjoying food, wine and music. We spent an hour or so sitting/walking along the banks and it was really relaxing time for us. We highly recommend finding some time for this in between visiting the touristy spots.

Paris Delicacies

No trip to Paris is complete without indulging yourself in some delicious sweet treats. So don’t forget to indulge in Macarons, Eclair au chocolat, Crepe to name a few.

Time for some useful tips!

Buy your tickets in advance – If you want to avoid waiting for hours in line, book your tickets online ahead of time. During peak season the tickets on the counters are sold out early or there will be a long line, so planning ahead will be useful. Always try to use the official websites for buying online tickets.

Be ready to walk – Wear comfortable shoes as most part of the city can be enjoyed on foot.

Buy Museum pass – If you are planning to visit lot of Museums in Paris, consider purchasing Museum pass. The Museum pass allows for free admission to number of attractions in Paris. It will save you time as well as some money.

Take Metro/Bus – Taking Uber or taxi can be very expensive. Save some money by using public transport within Paris. Also, if its your first time in Paris you can use Kapten (app like Uber) and get new customer discounts for first few rides.

Buy local travel SIM – There are travel SIM cards available at Relay Stores. We bought the one from Orange, valid for 14 days in 30 EU countries. Here is the link.

Know the greetings – It comes in handy if you know the greetings in French. When entering and leaving a shop, greet and say good-bye to the staff. A simple bonjour(Hello), monsieur/madame(Mr/Madam) , au revoir(Goodbye) and merci(Thank you) are considered a virtual necessity for politeness.

Beware of Pickpockets – Only keep essentials in your wallets. Don’t carry too many cards. Keep your backpack over your chest and always be vigilant.

Tag: Paris

How we booked luxury hotel in Paris for free using Chase UR points ..