London Layover

With a sixteen hour layover in London, we refused to waste the day.

When we knew we were going to purchase our plane tickets, and we had the money set aside, I opened a Chase Sapphire Credit Card to purchase them. I set the credit card to autopay in full every month, and then used the travel points we earned to pay for our day in London (with left over points!).

Here's what we used our points to do in London as a family:

1. No. 1 Lounge: I've never been in an airport lounge, but we used our points to enter once in the morning right after we arrived at the airport (had breakfast and rested while we waited for our first attraction to open) and again in the evening before boarding. This experience was luxurious. They had a theatre room playing our choice of kid's movie that we had all to ourselves, unlimited breakfast bar of yogurt, cereal, muffins, coffee+, and then we were each allowed to order one meal, included. I had avocado on toast.

2. Heathrow Express to Paddington Train Station: We got round trip tickets from the airport to Paddington station by train. There's something incredibly London about waiting for the train, the general rush, minding the gap, and the overall trusting, helpful nature of the employees involved.

3. London Eye: The London Eye was one of the highlights to my previous trips to London, and I knew that the girls and Matt would love it too. What a view! I highly recommend the ride if you're not averse to heights or beauty.

4. Planet Hollywood: American food in England isn't quite like American food in America, but this restaurant had kid-friendly lunch options and was on the path between the London Eye and our next stop, so we took a break from the blustery day for a couple of burgers and a salad.

5. British Museum: There is no charged admission to the British Museum's endless rooms of historical artifacts. If you're in London, you shouldn't miss a trip through. While the girls took a double stroller nap, our (already tired) feet carried us from room to room. After a stop in the gift shop to grab the girls a souvenir, we headed upstairs to have Afternoon Tea. By some jet-leg miracle, the girls napped the entire time we ate, and we were able to enjoy our individual pots of tea and trays of scones and tarts and sandwiches. When we had finished, we took two more tea trays, boxed up, to go.

Then we were back to the Paddington Station to ride the Heathrow Express back to the airport, where we stopped at a play area for a few hours to let the girls get some of their wiggles out before we popped back into the No. One Lounge (we had used points for double tickets) for some Indian Curry. Then we were off to board for South Africa!

All of that, we did entirely on points (except that we caught a couple of taxis once our feet were truly well and finished carrying us about) for free; Three+ meals, the train rides, and some entertainment! If you're disciplined enough to not spend money you don't have,  I recommend Chase Sapphire. We've also been able to use it (no fees or hassle) while we've traveled here in South Africa.

I'll leave you with some pictures, mainly once we boarded the London Eye. Our girls' distinct personalities show through as Charlotte stayed safe in Matt's arms, and Portia ventured bravely from window to window, side to side, exploring the 360 degree aerial London view unfazed.

There are lots of places around England I'd love to bring our family back to visit, but I'm thankful we took the time to get this trip in during our layover! If you're in a responsible place financially, and you want some good travel points, I'm thankful for this card! Next up, South Africa! Cheers!