I've travelled to Paris before with my parents, but this is my first time making travel arrangements for myself. I'm looking to travel around May 20th, 2005, and would like to get a feel for airfares at that time of year.

The cheapest I've found is something called a "contract" fare for $540 dollars (taxes and fees included) through 1800cheapseats.com. Is this legitimate? Also, will fares likely decrease below that level in the near future?

As for a hotel, I've made a refundable reservation at the Hotel des Champs-Elysees (a 2 Star in the 8th District, ~2 blocks North of the Champs-Elysees near the FDR Metro station). I was surprised to see the photos on the website, the rooms were neatly furnished and of decent size, there was a private bathroom, air conditioning and an elevator. Is there something that I'm missing or a red flag I should know to avoid with this property?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I haven't heard about people staying there, but it does look very nice for that price range and location. The price is very good for that location. I imagine the rooms are smaller than they might appear in the photos, but I do like the style a lot. I think the owners have a little creativity. It's got all of the amenities one would expect of a 3* hotel, also. It looks good to me.

There's a good review of it on www.paris.org/Hotels

Double check the airfare by entering your dates at both www.mobissimo.com and www.onetravel.com IF you come out with nothing lower than your Cheapseats fare I would go ahead and book it.

Have you looked on TripAdvisor for possible reviews of your intended hotel?

Thanks for the help. I booked the tickets and found a good hotel review on trip advisor.

Am I missing something??? I don't see 4NK8R post a price for the hotel room, except for the note that it is a 2-star (which is surprising for all the amenities they are offering)

Do I just need another cup of coffee???

Sorry, the rate was 98 euros per night for a double. Maybe I needed another cup of coffee last night when I was posting the original message...