What should you prepare when booking a Paris vacation?

Paris is a dream vacation for many, whether it’s for sightseeing, a romantic honeymoon, or just sightseeing and experiencing the world famous cuisine. If you’re planning a first time vacation to Paris, we have some helpful tips on how to prepare, such as finding the best flight deals, and having a hassle-free vacation once you’re there.

Learn a few phrases and get a translator app

If you don’t know any French, you can learn at least a few basic phrases before visiting Paris. Since there’s so many great restaurants in Paris, learning how to order food is a great place to start. You don’t need to take an entire language course, unless you’re booking the vacation well in advance and have the time to learn, but mastering a few simple phrases will be beneficial while traveling.

Having a translation app that can utilize voice translation will be great as well, instead of using a dictionary or dictionary app. You can talk into the app and have it translate automatically for you. A good translation app should also have camera features, such as recognizing and translation text in a photo of a sign. A good alternative to iTranslate and Google Translation is TripLingo.

Plan in advance to find better flight deals

When booking flights to Paris, most booking websites will show the current known fare prices – but airlines can offer discounts unannounced, and flights can drop in price. Before immediately searching booking sites for the best flight deal, consider signing up for notifications on fare prices, and flight deal mailing lists.

With a little patience, you can get a much better deal than what you’d immediately find on a booking agency website – or consider a travel agent service, as they may help you find cheap business class flights to Paris and additional amenities for much better rates than booking online.

Many people who use the services of travel agents swear that they’re able to get cheaper flights, better hotel packages, and recommendations on activities to do in your destination.

Bring your umbrella

Paris doesn’t experience extreme hots and colds, with mostly mild weather all year round, but it can frequently shower lightly during the day, except in summer. But on average, each month of the year has at least 10 to 15 “wet” days. An umbrella and light rain jacket is recommended, nothing heavy, unless you’re visiting during winter. Temperatures in winter can be as high as 46°F (8°C) during the day, then become freezing at night. In addition to bringing your umbrella, you may consider having travel insurance. Yes, it is an additional expense and it has its pros and cons, but it can still protect you in many ways, which is extremely important when traveling abroad.

Inform your bank and prepare for currency exchange

You should always inform your bank when traveling abroad, so that transactions made with your card successfully go through while traveling. You should also exchange some of your currency into the Euro at your bank, as banks will offer better currency exchange rates than airport kiosks or other currency exchange places.

You can also use an ATM that is in your bank’s network, and many banks will reimburse you for fees if you use an ATM that belongs to their network. Check with your bank for details on how they treat reimbursements, as some may have a capping limit.