Travelling to France from Canada is a dream for many, but did you know that this dream can become a reality without putting too much strain on your wallet? Many French people, or Franco-Canadians like us, take this route every year.
By making intelligent use of your points and miles, you can book flights, accommodation and even cover certain expenses on the spot. Don’t book your tickets to France without applying these tips.
The more experienced know that before diving into the strategy, it’s essential to understand the different types of points and miles available to you. So, to travel to France (or elsewhere in the world), you will have different types of points that can be used:
Travelling abroad often involves conversion fees, but some credit cards eliminate them, allowing you to save money as soon as you arrive in France. It’s an undeniable advantage, and one that makes them the “preffered” cards of our team!
For my part, one of the cards I have is the Scotiabank Gold American Express® Card, which offers the following benefits:
However, it doesn’t offer access to airport lounges, which isn’t a problem for me as Jean-Maximilien has the American Express Platinum Card® which offers Priority Pass membership and access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide. Despite the high annual fee, it’s a card that easily pays for itself thanks to the annual credits: $200 for travel and $200 for meals, in addition to its other benefits.
If you’re interested in airport lounge access, I’d recommend the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card, which gives you six free annual accesses to VIP airport lounges. There are no conversion fees, 3 points per dollar at grocery stores and restaurants, and a generous welcome bonus in Scene+ points.
Start your trip in the Air France KLM lounge at the Montreal-Trudeau YUL airport, before taking off for Paris or any other French or European city.
By using one of our Scotiabank cards to pay for your flight, you can redeem your points for a Statement credit to reduce the cost of your trip.
With 25,000 Scene+ points, for example, you can reduce the cost of a booked plane ticket by $250!
To earn airline points or miles, the best way is to have a credit card co-branded with an airline.
In Canada, Air Canada’s Aeroplan frequent flyer program is the best known, of course, and offers access to a wide range of partner flights. One of the best cards for travel rewards is American Express® Aeroplan®* Reserve Card. This credit card is the best for frequent travellers and offers, among other things:
Points can also be accumulated with Aeroplan via the following excellent credit cards offered by CIBC and TD:
To travel to Europe on low-cost flights, in addition to Aeroplan points, other airline points can be useful and accumulated, in particular via:
The latter will be useful if you wish to make a stopover via London, for example, in the off-season. You can then reach France by short-haul flight or train.
Flying Blue Miles can be earned in Canada with the Air France KLM World Elite Mastercard®. You can earn 30 XP per year to increase your Flying Blue status, and 2 Miles per dollar spent in restaurants and bars. You can travel on Air France KLM and all Skyteam alliance partner airlines.
Flying Blue Miles can then be exchanged for flight awards. As a member of the program, you have access to all classes and all seats. Prices are dynamic, starting at 21,500 Flying Blue Miles in economy class and 53,000 Flying Blue Miles in business class to Europe.
Flying Blue also offers an attractive 25% discount on award tickets for children aged 2 to 11 travelling with an adult, regardless of class of service.
Finally, in 2025, it was announced that it will be possible to combine a long-haul flight with a train journey via a single booking. It will be interesting to evaluate prices with this option for travel to France via London.
Finally, one of the best options for easy travel to France or elsewhere is the American Express Membership Rewards card, which lets you transfer your points to other programs. With the American Express Cobalt® Card one of the best cards in Canada (who doesn’t already have one?), lets you quickly accumulate Membership Rewards points that can be transferred to a partner loyalty program when you book your ticket to France. For example, 15,000 Membership Rewards points can be converted into:
To maximize your savings, as always, we recommend booking your tickets in advance or at the last minute. To find availability, use the Google Flights and Seats Aero tools to check the different possible routes and get an idea of the prices in effect at the time of your search.
Then, take advantage of the airline points programs to book on any fare class at the best price. The easiest way is to book with Aeroplan for a direct flight to Paris.
Looking at Google Flights and ticking the Flexible dates option with a one-week trip in the next six months, you can quickly see the most economical flight offers.
In comparison, you can find flights with Aeroplan and its Star Alliance partners. With Aeroplan, fares start from 35,000 points for an economy flight. This amount may vary according to availability and dynamic fluctuations in fare regulations imposed by Air Canada and its Star Alliance partners.
To make sure it’s a good deal, calculate the value of your points before booking (cost per point). Flying Blue, especially in low season, can offer significant discounts thanks to its dynamic fares in both economy and business class.
Whether you want to get to Lyon, Marseille, Nice or any other French city from Canada, it’s easy. All are particularly well served from Paris, from where you’ll find numerous short-haul flights.
Keep an eye out for Flying Blue’s Promos Rewards promotions, which regularly offer discounts of up to 50% on certain routes to Marseille, particularly in low season.
Alternatively, you can use your Aeroplan points to fly to Paris, then take a TGV (about 3 hours) or a domestic flight with Air France. In this case, use your Scene+ points to cover the cost of the train or domestic flight.
However, to optimize your points and miles, it’s best to look at other options.
That being said, if you want to reach another French city, a stopover in Paris is not the best solution. Consider the flights offered by Aeroplan ‘s partners, which can take you to other European destinations (Brussels, Amsterdam, Zurich, etc.) to save more and take a train or low-cost flight to the French city you want.
This is what we do at least once a year, so we can travel business class with our families at a lower cost. These options via Star Alliance partners often offer better value than direct flights or connections via Paris. What’s more, they avoid the high carrier surcharges sometimes found on Air Canada flights.
If you’re travelling with Lufthansa, Frankfurt airport offers excellent Star Alliance lounges, such as Senator Lounge, available to Star Alliance Gold status holders.
Similarly, flights via Zurich with Swiss also offer comfortable lounges. However, as Swiss’s connecting flights are generally very short (1 hour), it’s difficult to take full advantage of them. You could also take advantage of a stopover of less than 24 hours and visit Zurich!
An interesting tip: check out flights to Geneva (GVA), just 2 hours from Lyon by train. Point fares are often cheaper, and the SNCF train service takes you directly to Lyon Part-Dieu.
Travelling between France and Canada with points requires planning and flexibility, but also offers substantial savings. We know this well, as we’ve been travelling between the two countries for over ten years now.
Here are the key points to remember:
With these strategies in hand, your next trip to France will not only be possible, but economical too. Have a good trip!
All these routes are considered as flights of less than 6,000 miles in Aeroplan’s fare structure, which means that you can get great fares, especially in business class. These options via Star Alliance partners often offer better value than direct flights or connections via Paris. Plus, they avoid the high carrier surcharges sometimes found on Air Canada flights.
Ready to plan your trip to France? Check out our guides to Paris and Disneyland Paris.
To enter France from Canada, you will need:
No. Canadian citizens can enter France without a visa for tourist or business stays of less than 90 days. However, they must comply with the requirements of the Schengen Area, notably by presenting a valid passport and the documents mentioned above.
You can use your points from programs like Marriott Bonvoy to book luxury or affordable hotels. Some cards, like American Express Membership Rewards, also allow you to convert points into hotel stays.
Yes, some programs like Aeroplan or Scene+ allow you to redeem points to cover train tickets or journeys with partner services.
Opt for flights with partners such as Swiss or Lufthansa via Aeroplan, as they often apply fewer surcharges than direct flights with Air Canada.
We recommend:
To visit France, spring and autumn are the best times to avoid the crowds and take advantage of low fares.
You can top up with cash using credit cards with no conversion fees, or buy extra points during program promotions.
Yes, but your pet must have a pet passport, a microchip and be vaccinated against rabies.
Savings are here:
