Deal alert: Book flights to Paris from $449 round trip

Not that anyone needs an excuse to visit Paris, but an airfare sale that saves you big money is certainly as good a reason as any to pack your bags to one of the world’s most alluring destinations.

There is an excellent deal happening right now where you can score tickets to the French capital in early 2024 for less than $500 round trip — almost half the price of what this fare would typically cost. Be it the museums, the culinary delights, the shopping, or even Taylor Swift that attracts you to Paris, this is a good opportunity to plan your itinerary.

The sale includes flights from U.S. cities such as Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. There are options on Icelandair, Scandinavian Airlines, and TAP Air Portugal; the best prices we found were Icelandair and SAS fares, though. The travel window for this sale is generally between January and March 2024, but you can also find good prices as far out as October and November. However, this does not apply to July and August, when the Summer Olympics will take over the city.

As is the norm with these fare deals, the tickets are for the economy tier, so they include a personal item and a carry-on bag. Upgrading so you can check a bag will cost you between $30 and $60 each way, but in just about every instance, it will save you money compared to simply paying for the checked luggage. Also, almost all the heavily discounted itineraries we found involved flights with a layover.

Deal basics

Airlines: Icelandair, SAS, TAP

Routes: Chicago, New York City, San Francisco and other U.S. cities to Paris

How to book: Browse Google Flights, then book directly with the airline

Travel dates: Mainly January through March 2024, although you can find some discounted flights up through November 2024 (July excluded)

This deal was originally sent out by Going, formerly known as Scott’s Cheap Flights. Sign up for Going to get deals up to 90% off via its Premium membership, which users can try for free for 14 days and then $49 per year. You can also upgrade to the Elite tier for $199 per year and receive all the Premium deals plus premium economy, business-class and first-class alerts.

Sample flights

If you want to spend Valentine’s Day in one of the world’s most romantic cities and you live in New York City, Icelandair has round-trip economy flights from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) for just $467. This includes a brief layover in Iceland’s Keflavík International Airport (KEF), the airline’s principal hub.

We found a similar fare price for the same route between New York City and Paris on Icelandair in March.

We mentioned earlier that this fare sale extends as far as November 2024. Well, we found Economy fares out of Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Paris in early November for just $471 round trip.

That’s the same price we found for flights out of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Paris in January, again on Icelandair. This route usually costs about twice that amount.

It’s hard to top this price we found out of Washington, D.C., on Scandinavian Airlines. The carrier is offering economy tickets from Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Charles de Gaulle Airport in March for just $449 round trip — an incredible deal.

This ticket includes a free carry-on bag, but a checked bag would cost you $210. So if you’re a light packer, you can really save money here. Also, note that the return flight includes a long layover in Copenhagen, but hey, there are worse cities to spend a day in.

SAS also has the same $449 fare price for the Washington, D.C.-to-Paris route in October if you’re looking to do some long-range vacation planning.

While West Coast flights to Paris are a bit more expensive, there are still deals to be found. SAS has flights from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Paris in March for $652, a notable discount from normal prices.

Finally, for the Swifts planning their travel around Taylor Swift’s 2024 tour dates, you can book flights to see her shows in Paris in May and save big money. SAS has $541 round-trip fares from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) to Paris in early May. The superstar performer is playing four consecutive shows at the La Defense Arena May 9-12. (You might want to start looking at hotels soon, too, since they are filling up quickly.)

Related: Paris Pocket Guide: What to see, do, and eat in the City of Light

Maximize your purchase

When you book this deal or any travel, be sure to use a credit card that earns bonus points on airfare purchases, such as:

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: 2 points per dollar on travel
American Express® Gold Card: 3 points per dollar on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel
The Platinum Card® from American Express: 5 points per dollar on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel, on up to $500,000 of these purchases per calendar year
Citi Premier® Card (see rates and fees): 3 points per dollar spent on airfare
Chase Sapphire Reserve: 3 points per dollar on travel

Bottom line

Take a break from your last-minute Christmas shopping and start searching for flights from your city to Paris. And remember what we always say: The more flexible your travel schedule is, the more likely you’ll be to score the best possible fare price.

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