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Trip Report: 1st Class, 5* trip to NFL in London, Scotland & Dublin
When the news hit last year that the Colts would be playing the Jags at Wembley stadium in London, as a part of the European series, it sent a lightning rod of excitement through Miles. Sometimes people just need a bit of an excuse to take a trip and Miles knew this could be a BIG excuse to plan a longer trip across the pond. See my folks have always wanted to take a trip through Scotland and Ireland and this was a great way to fulfill that lifelong dream. Here’s my Trip Report: 1st Class, 5* trip to NFL in London, Scotland & Dublin
We are huge Colts fans and being able to see them play in a foreign country became a great anchor to build the trip around. The icing on the cake was that I was able to tag along for part of it, enjoy the family experience, make sure everything went smoothly AND review some great products myself. Planning a trip and experiencing it with loved ones is the biggest reward for being point obsessed.
The reviewed highlights of the trip:
- British Airways Club World A380 LAX- LHR
- London Edition – A Ritz Carlton Hotel is SOHO SEXY
- Marriott Park Lane, London
- Intercontinental Park Lane, London
- Virgin Train First Class Lounge King’s Cross
- Virgin Train First Class King’s Cross London to Edinburgh
- Caledonian Edinburgh, A Waldorf Astoria Property
- Caledonian Afternoon Tea in Peacock Alley
- Balmoral Afternoon Tea in the Palm Court
- No. 1 Lounge at Edinburgh Airport
- Aspire Lounge at Edinburgh Airport
- Intercontinental Dublin
- Lufthansa First Class Ground Services Frankfurt
- Lufthansa First Class Lounge Frankfurt Terminal 1
- Lufthansa First Class 747-8 FRA-LAX
My ride over was on British Airways A380 Club World
This flight was actually the return leg of a roundtrip I booked earlier in the year out of Dublin. As luck would have it, my flight was cancelled a few hours before I was due to depart LAX and I used expertflyer to find avail and reroute myself the following day. Since this cancellation was the airlines fault, I was able to stop in LHR instead of going on to Dublin. The reissued ticket was also bumped to full fare business class ( J ) and meant I’d earn 3x EQM. It also meant that I was entitled to compensation because my flight was delayed more than 3 hours. Phew…a lot happened very quickly. Long story short, I experienced my first Club World product and A380 flight, but thought it was a bit too quiet.
While in London I used points to stay at the London Edition, Marriott Park Lane, and Intercontinental Park Lane.
- London Edition: 50k Marriott Rewards
- Marriott Park lane: 45k Marriott Rewards
- Intercontinental Park Lane: 50k IHG
Then we bought Virgin First Class train tickets to Edinburgh for roughly $100 each.
We enjoyed our stay at the Waldorf Astoria Caledonian in Edinburgh, Scotland and utilized Citi Prestige’s 4th night free perk.
Edinburgh is a very cool city. The Caledonian could not have a better location and storied history. While the hotel and it’s staff were very nice, we found that the service could have been a bit more polished.
Our family loves Afternoon Tea, so we tried both the Caledonian’s and The Balmoral’s. The Balmoral is one of the best high teas I’ve ever had.
We even got to see the Old Course at St Andrew’s which was on the bucket list!
Then on to the Intercontinental, Dublin.
This is where my trip ended and my parents started a new chapter. We had booked them on a week long tour of Ireland with Marriott Vacation Club points. It was in 5 star hotels, included tours and transport, and all inclusive. A fantastic value of points.
The night before I was scheduled to leave space opened up on Lufthansa’s 747-8 in First Class from Frankfurt to LAX. I already had booked an itinerary home using Singapore Air Krisflyer miles, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up. I switched my flight and nabbed a First Class ticket home for 80k Miles and ~$300. Woot Woot!
DID WE LOVE LUFTHANSA FIRST CLASS? UHHHHHHHHH-YAAAAAAAAAAA
How did my parents cross the pond you ask? They flew Virgin Upper Class for $5.60 and home on SAS business class for roughly $30 a ticket. They nabbed these flights transferring Amex points to Delta and Air Canada. They loved it.
Out of pocket these flights would have cost $5k-10k. My folks were able to lie flat, sleep, and relax for less than $40 each. Between the two products that definitively preferred SAS.
Points and Miles bring dreams to reality
There is no way my family could have afforded to do this trip without points and miles. Alone, my flight home would have cost over $10k, and the hotels in London would have set us back a couple grand too. Instead we had free places to stay and very low surcharges. The entire family also got to fly in premium cabins for insanely cheap prices…
- British Airways Club World A380 LAX- LHR
- London Edition – A Ritz Carlton Hotel is SOHO SEXY
- Marriott Park Lane, London
- Intercontinental Park Lane, London
- Virgin Train First Class Lounge King’s Cross
- Virgin Train First Class King’s Cross London to Edinburgh
- Caledonian Edinburgh, A Waldorf Astoria Property
- Caledonian Afternoon Tea in Peacock Alley
- Balmoral Afternoon Tea in the Palm Court
- No. 1 Lounge at Edinburgh Airport
- Aspire Lounge at Edinburgh Airport
- Intercontinental Dublin
- Lufthansa First Class Ground Services Frankfurt
- Lufthansa First Class Lounge Frankfurt Terminal 1
- Lufthansa First Class 747-8 FRA-LAX
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.