I’ve been planning my trip to the Olympics since March 2023. I’ve spent countless hours pouring over the ticketing platform, researching the best neighborhoods to stay in Paris, figuring out the Metro, and finding any way to save money.
When my parents and I secured our first round of Olympics tickets in May 2023, the time came to book our Airbnb. We wanted to stay in the city center of Paris, but apartment rentals were going for more than $25,000 at the time. So when we booked a three-week stay in Rueil-Malmaison, a suburb of Paris, for roughly half the cost—about $13,000—I thought it was a steal.
Fast forward to a month before the Games. A friend visited me here in Spain, where I’m currently based. She lives in Paris and explained that she heard hotels and Airbnb hosts were having difficulty filling their listings, as prices were exorbitantly high and people were canceling. As a result, many places were offering steep discounts to try to get bookings.
Upon hearing the news, I thought, What if…? Since our Airbnb in Rueil-Malmaison had a free cancellation policy anyway I did some searching on Airbnb to verify if what my friend said was true—and it was. I found a two-bedroom apartment in the 11th arrondissement, steps away from Place de la Bastille and the neighborhood of Le Marais. It’s about 230 square feet larger than our booking in the suburbs—and it even has air conditioning, a rare feature but a big bonus during the hot Paris summers. The best part: It only costs $9,000 for three weeks. I booked this apartment and canceled the other booking, resulting in a net savings of more than $4,000.
It’s true, last-minute travel to the Olympics is still possible
It’s not just an anecdotal thing; even big travel platforms are clocking the trend. “It’s fantastic news for people who haven’t given up on their dream of going for Olympic Gold in Paris this summer,” explains Gilbert Ott, a spokesperson for point.me, a flight search and service that finds the best ways to book travel with points and miles. “Airline seats bookable with credit card points and airline miles are wide open right now, both to Paris and nearby cities, which can be a great hack for finding opportunity if Paris is tight from your city.”
A good mantra in life and in travel: It’s never to late. “As we get closer to the Summer Games, we see that Americans are still looking to book last-minute trips to Paris,” says Ben Harrell, the US managing director at Booking.com. “Searches to Paris are up 69% compared to last year, with growth in both single travelers and couples looking to stay in the French city during the Games.” Everyone’s still trying to get to Paris—and so should you, if seeing the Olympics is on your bucket list.
If you want to turn your Olympics dreams into a reality, here are some strategies for booking a last-minute Olympics trip, from flights and Airbnbs to the Games themselves.
Be flexible about how you’ll travel to Paris
To start, determine the best option for flying to Paris that meets your needs. The beauty of Europe is that major cities and even other countries are close together and often accessible via train, says Hayley Berg, a lead economist at Hopper, the cheap flights search tool: “Avoid the crowds at Charles de Gaulle airport and you can see more of Europe while you travel.” If you can’t find an affordable flight into Paris, try flying into London, Brussels, Amsterdam, or even Munich and taking the train over.
