We saved $9K on a Paris and Amalfi Coast Vacation

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We went on a romantic getaway to Paris and the Amalfi Coast without our kids and saved thousands of dollars thanks to travel rewards. In this savings report, we’ll share how we stayed in luxury hotels for nearly free in Paris, Positano, and Ravello thanks to a combination of free award nights earned from different hotel loyalty programs. If you love to travel in luxury but don’t want to spend a fortune, then traveling on points and miles is the way to go. If you’re new to the game of using credit cards points or are ready for another travel credit card, check out our favorite travel rewards credit cards.

Staying in Paris using Marriott free night awards

We flew in and out of Paris on La Compagnie, an all-business class airline with surprisingly affordable business class flights to Paris. Although La Compagnie doesn’t offer award flights, we booked our tickets for only $1500 roundtrip from Newark to Paris Orly. At such an affordable price, it didn’t make sense to redeem airline miles to get to Europe. Read our review of La Compagnie’s A321 Neo Business Class flight with lie-flat seats if you’re looking for an affordable business class flight to Paris without using miles.

We spent a few nights in Paris at Le Meridien Etoile by redeeming our Marriott free night awards that we earned from our Marriott credit cards. Read our review of Le Meridien Etoile for details on this 4-star Paris hotel in the 17th Arrondissement. We have several Marriott co-branded credit cards between the two of us, including a business credit card and a personal credit card, each of which comes with an annual free night certificate valid for any hotel stay requiring 35K points or less per night.

See our favorite travel reward credit cards to learn more about the different Marriott credit cards and apply for your own. We have the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card by Chase and the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card, but there are many options that will earn you a free night award annually.

We saved 752 Euros ($921.39 in USD) by redeeming our Marriott free award nights for Le Meridien Etoile during peak travel season. We paid only 11.52 Euros in taxes and fees for our room for 2 nights, which was $14.11 in USD.

Le Meridien Etoile Paris Hotel Savings

We also stayed one night at Paris Marriott Rive Gauche using another Marriott free night award. This hotel would have cost 423.76 Euros (or $519.14 USD) but we paid just 5.76 Euros ($7.06 USD) in taxes and fees. See our review of Paris Marriott Rive Gauche if you’re looking for a way to redeem your Marriott free night awards or points in Paris.

Paris Marriott Rive Gauche Hotel Savings

Staying at Le Sirenuse for free through Leading Hotels of the World

After a whirlwind visit in Paris, we headed to the Amalfi Coast, one of the most picturesque places we’ve visited. We literally planned our trip around our free nights at Le Sirenuse, one of our favorite hotels in the whole world. We had stayed there before (read our first Le Sirenuse review here) and had been dreaming of returning ever since. This glamorous family-owned hotel goes above and beyond to make guests feel pampered, from providing complimentary boat trips to complimentary breakfast that is out of this world. Everything at this hotel feels like a dream, so we were bursting with excitement to return.

The Leading Hotels of the World program had changed from earning award nights based on the number of visits to earning points per visit that could be redeemed at any LHW property, with the points price depending on the property and date of stay. With the new program we would not have earned enough points for a free stay at Le Sirenuse. Fortunately we had earned several award certificates that had yet to expire based on the former system and redeemed them on this trip.

We stayed 2 nights at Le Sirenuse for free using our LHW award certificates. We had stayed there before and had a personal connection to the staff. We also had top tier status with LHW. We received a complimentary upgrade to a Deluxe Superior Sea View Suite. Our suite would have cost $5,902.32 USD for 2 nights. Read our review of our most recent stay to learn even more about this phenomenal hotel that deserves a place on your travel dream list or your travel bucket list.

Le Sirenuse Savings

Staying for free at Palazzo Avino with Leading Hotels of the World

After Le Sirenuse, we stayed for free for one night with our last remaining LHW award certificate at Palazzo Avino. Palazzo Avino is perched high on the hills of Ravello overlooking the beautiful coastline. This luxury hotel would have cost $1,922.75 for our one-night stay. Read our Palazzo Avino review for details on this dreamy oasis of tranquility that should be included in any luxury Amalfi Coast itinerary.

Palazzo Avino Savings

Total Savings on our Paris and Italy trip

In total, we saved $9244.43 just on hotels for our Paris and Amalfi Coast vacation using credit card free night awards. This trip was one of the most romantic that we’ve ever experienced and allowed us time to reconnect as a couple. We are so thankful that points and miles have afforded us the opportunity to explore more of the world (in luxury) without breaking the bank. What is your dream vacation? If you know how to master points and miles earned from travel reward credit cards and travel loyalty programs, the world is waiting to be explored.

*Editorial Disclosure-The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.