How points and miles made our first trip to Paris possible

Points and miles changed the way I look at travel.

Before I learned how award travel worked, some trips felt more like nice ideas than real plans. Paris was one of those places for us.

My wife had the Eiffel Tower painted on her wall as a child. It was always one of her dream destinations, but for a long time it felt like the kind of trip you talk about “someday.” When I started learning about points and miles, I realized “someday” did not have to stay someday.

That is one of my favorite things about this hobby: it can take a trip that feels out of reach and turn it into an actual booking.

For our first points trip to Paris, we used Air France points for our round-trip flights and stayed at the Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile. That combination gave us a way to make the trip happen without it feeling financially overwhelming.

Why this trip meant so much

This was not just another getaway for us. It was personal.

There is something special about watching someone experience a place they have imagined for years. Seeing the Eiffel Tower in person, walking through Paris together, sitting down for long meals, and just getting to say we really did this made the trip feel bigger than the booking itself.

That is why I always come back to the same idea: points are not the goal. The trip is the goal.

Points and miles matter because of what they make possible. In our case, they helped make one of my wife’s biggest dream trips real.

The booking side of it

I love the strategy side of travel, but I try not to overcomplicate it.

For this trip, the win was simple:

• We booked our round-trip flights with Air France points.
• We booked the Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile for our stay.
• Instead of paying cash for every major part of the trip, we used the rewards I had spent time learning how to earn and redeem.

That is the kind of redemption I care about most. Not flashy for the sake of being flashy. Just practical, valuable, and tied to a trip we truly wanted.

What points and miles changed for me

Learning this hobby changed more than one trip.

It changed how I plan.

Instead of assuming travel has to cost whatever the cash price says, I now look at the full picture:

• Which airline or hotel programs fit the trip?
• Should I pay cash or use points?
• What transfer partners give me the best option?
• Which cards or rewards currencies actually support where we want to go?

That mindset opened up possibilities that felt much smaller before.

It also gave me more confidence. The first time you book a trip with points, everything starts to click. You stop seeing points as abstract numbers on a screen and start seeing them as flights, hotel nights, and experiences you may not have booked otherwise.

Paris was that reminder for me.

The moments I will remember

Of course, the logistics matter. But what stays with me most are the moments.

The Eiffel Tower views.

The excitement of finally arriving.

The meals.

The city streets.

Watching my wife enjoy a place she had dreamed about since she was a kid.

That is the part of points and miles content I always want to keep front and center. Behind every transfer, award search, and booking confirmation is a real experience waiting on the other side.

Why I share this

I share points and miles because I know how easy it is to assume this kind of travel is only for other people.

A lot of people hear “Paris” and immediately think it is too expensive, too complicated, or too far away to make sense right now. Sometimes that is true for a season. But sometimes the gap between the dream and the trip is simply learning how to use the tools available to you.

That is what happened for us.

I learned more about points and miles, stayed patient, and used that knowledge to make a meaningful trip happen.

My biggest takeaway

If you are learning points and miles right now, this is what I would tell you:

Do not learn the game just to collect points.

Learn it so you can make a real trip possible.

For us, that first big proof-of-concept trip was Paris.

And because of that, I do not just see points and miles as a hobby anymore. I see them as a tool that can create memories, open doors, and make dream trips feel reachable.

Paris was my wife’s dream trip.

Now it is part of our story.