October 8, 2003 -- This autumn and winter, make it Paris, when it glitters, with skies that are often crisp and clear, and leaves still remain scattered along the boulevards. There are dozens of deals, but only a few pass muster here, with our choice of the best handful for your eyes only.
Go-Today.com, as so often is the case, wins the price race, with an eight-day/six-night package in Paris starting from just $379, if you book by October 31, 2003, and fly between November 1 and December 10, 2003. That's the price from New York or Newark, with add-on airfares from other cities ranging between $80 out of Boston to $280 out of Boise (fortunately, Go-Today.com provides a detailed listing of these additional gateway charges removing the guesswork for you). You stay at the Libertel Republique, a modest hotel with private bathrooms, located near the Bastille and the Place Republique, or any of about 20 different establishments of varying price categories (all the way up to $949 at the Lotti). The package includes the airfare on an available air carrier, six nights' lodging, continental breakfast daily, hotel taxes and service charges. Contact them at www.go-today.com.
Nearly as cheap is the package offered by Go-Today's sister company, Europe Express, with departures starting at $399, staying at the same hotel, with airfare, the six nights' lodging, continental breakfast, hotel taxes, service charge, and, what you get for the extra $20, a Bateau Mouches River Cruise. Add-on airfares almost exactly the same as for Go-Today, above. Contact them at www.europeexpress.com or phone 800/927-3876. Their booking deadline at this price is also October 31, 2003.
Offpeaktraveler.com is the place for another fine bargain, this one also for eight days and six nights, beginning at $449 per person, flying on American Airlines out of New York or Boston. With this package, you get the airfare, and six nights of lodging at a hotel such as the Porte de St. Cloud, in the residential 16th district, each room with private bath or shower, graded superior tourist class by the French government. It's for Monday through Thursday flights. The package also includes continental or buffet breakfast daily, hotel service charges and taxes, and a free magazine subscription. Contact www.offpeaktraveler.com for more details or to book.
If you like shopping, look to France Vacations, where the five-night package for travel from November, 2003 through March, 2004 starts at $469 from New York or Boston. These deals include the roundtrip airfare, five nights in a two-star hotel (in this case, the Sacre Coeur, located close to the cathedral in Montmarte and the Dali Museum), daily breakfast, a 10% discount at Galeries Lafayette, and city tax. Prices are per person, double occupancy, and for midweek departures on United Airlines. Airport taxes and fees are not included. Prices from other cities include these samples:
- Philadelphia, from $499
- Washington, D.C. from $529
- Miami from $559
- Atlanta and Baltimore from $569
For other cities in the Midwest and West, you must book by November 14, 2003 for travel November 1 through December 12, 2003. Some examples:
- $539 from Chicago, Dallas, Houston other midwest cities
- $599 from Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco and other western cities
If you don't like the Sacre Coeur, there are four other hotels in the same price range, in the same 18th arrondissement or in the 9th or 12th arrondissement, to choose from. For reservations and information, contact France Vacations at 800/332-5332 or check out www.francevacations.net.
Slightly more expensive is the Paris City Break offered by www.europeasap.com, which is available for departure until March 31, 2004. Prices begin at $529 for this eight days/six-nights package that includes the roundtrip airfare on a scheduled carrier, six nights of lodging with private bath or shower, daily continental breakfast, a Paris City tour, and hotel taxes and service charges. The cheapest hotel is the Hauts de Passy, a modest establishment, in a quiet residential area of the 16th district between the Eiffel Tower and the Bois de Boulogne. Contact them at www.europeasap.com.
United Vacations, affiliated with United Airlines, has a four-night/six-day deal to Paris, beginning at $564 from New York or Boston, in which you fly on either United or Lufthansa. The package has you staying at the quite nice Ibis Porte de Clichy, and gives you daily breakfast, hotel taxes and service fees. Other sample prices: $614 from Washington, D.C., $634 from Chicago, $674 from Denver, $704 from Los Angeles, San Francisco or Seattle. Prices valid for travel November 7, 2003 through March 28, 2004, but you must book by October 31, 2003. Contact them at www.unitedvacations.com/mileseur.asp or phone 888/328-6877.
All prices above are per person in a double room, and do not include airport and security fees and taxes. There are some restrictions and blackout dates involved in many of the deals, so be sure to ask.
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