Planning a family trip to Paris can be quite an exciting adventure. But before you get to your destination, there is a lot of work to be done. This includes booking your flight. It can be an intimidating process but not if you have the best tips for booking flights to Paris for a family. No matter if you’re an experienced traveler or taking your first trip to Paris, these tips will help you along the process and ensure that you have a wonderful family trip to Paris.
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BOOK IN ADVANCE
If you’re looking for a deal on a flight to Paris, the earlier you book, the better. Last-minute deals are few and far between, so if you need multiple tickets for your family, then you want to be early.
We often start looking for tickets to Paris up to 10 months in advance. This way we can track the price fluctuations and have an idea of what the average ticket will cost. When we see a great deal we take it and don’t look back!
USE FARE COMPARISON SITES
Check the prices for a flight to Paris by comparing the flights over several airlines at once. Booking.com is a great tool to use when you want to compare prices and book your flight to Paris. You can choose a specific airline or time that you want to fly among other options to narrow down the flights available. Of course, the best way is to sort by price!
FLEXIBLE DATES AND DAYS
When you’re traveling with your family, you often have a specific time that you’re available to travel. For most families that is the summer time, which often makes that the busiest time to travel.
We’ve found that traveling in June is the best way to travel in summer without a lot of problems that come with travel during that season. Our family visited Paris in June. The weather was perfect and it wasn’t overcrowded so we had a great experience.
Even if you decide to travel in June, play around with the days and dates that you travel since that can make a difference of a couple of hundred dollars for a family.
SET PRICE ALERTS
Make sure that you don’t miss out on the deal for your flight to Paris by setting a price alert on Google Flights. When the price drops significantly or to a certain amount, you’ll get an email alerting you of the change. You can set several alerts that cover a few dates.
Even if you decide to use the alert, you should still check manually because sometimes the best deals go by quickly.
CONSIDER NEARBY AIRPORTS
If you don’t live in or near a major city, you probably won’t get the best prices flying out of your hometown airport. Check nearby cities for more options, it can save you hundreds or even thousands.
You may find that even if you have to spend the night you may come out ahead by widening your search. Our family has saved thousands of dollars per trip by doing this. We live in Cleveland, but we have family that lives in Toronto, so we fly out of Toronto.
FLY INTO LONDON
London and Paris are fairly close with a direct train linking the two cities. If you can’t get a good deal on a flight directly into Paris, see if you can get a good deal into London.
After flying into London take the train ride to Paris which is just over 2 hours. You could also take one of the budget airlines to connect you to Paris.
CHECK AIRLINE’S OFFICIAL WEBSITES
Booking.com, Google Flights, and other sites are great for comparing flights. But you don’t always find the lowest prices there. You can gather the info from those sites and check out flights from the airline’s websites to see what price you get there.
You may be surprised to find that buying directly can be cheaper in some instances.
LOYALTY PROGRAMS
Another benefit of buying directly from the airline is the prevalence of loyalty programs. Looking for the deal from each comparison site can save you money, but there is also the opportunity to accumulate points/rewards and apply them to your travel costs.
Going direct to the airline, finding a good airline, and using them over some time can provide great benefits.
Credit cards are another way to save on travel. Chase, Capital One, and American Express are just a few companies that offer great benefits for travelers.
CHECK PASSPORT AND VISA REQUIREMENTS
Checking your passport eligibility and visa requirements for a trip to Paris should be one of the first things you do when starting to plan. Flying from the United States and Canada to France is relatively pain-free.
But keep in mind that France requires that your passport be valid for at least three months after entry and 90 days after the return date.
ENJOY YOUR FLIGHT TO PARIS
Planning a trip to Paris doesn’t have to be overly complicated. If you follow the tips in our guide, you can plan with confidence and save money in the process. With a bit of planning and preparation, you can have an amazing flight and trip to Paris. Once you have your flight booked, you’ll want to book your accommodations. Check out our essential guide on the best areas to stay in Paris to help you make your choice.
