For our family trip to London in 2012, I bought the London
Pass. I ended up buying this because I am a big Rick Steves fan. During my
first trip to Europe, I read several guidebooks. After all, one does tend to
over plan for their first ever European trip. I enjoyed Steves’ guidebook the
most. He usually has great tips on how to maximize your value on your vacation.
And so it is that he highly recommends city passes.
The London Pass provides access to many of the top
attractions in and around London. It even includes a public transportation pass
for different number of days, as needed. And one advantage of this card not to
be overlooked is its Fast Track entry, basically providing line cutting access.
As I recall, the only big attraction that we had to pay for beyond this pass
was the London Eye. During our week, we got to see Westminster Abbey, Tower of
London, Hampton Court Palace, go on a Thames River cruise, and more. The one
caveat I have to state is to warn you that the Thames River cruise is NOT
hop-on/hop-off. Once you’re onboard, enjoy the ride. Only get off when you are
done with the cruise. I made the mistake of only going three stops and getting
off. When we attempted to re-board, we were denied when using our London Pass. :(
On another note, I am a BIG musical theater fan. Surprisingly,
the price for musical theater was very reasonable. Even with the strength of
the Pound vs the US Dollar, the prices ended up being a fraction of Broadway
prices. During our stay, I watched three musicals, We Will Rock You, Rock of
Ages, and Wicked. There are various sites that sell discounted theater tickets.
I used Cheap Theatre Tickets for two sets of tickets. I also purchased another
set while in London inside one of the tube stations nearest the West End, London’s
theater district.
In all, our time in London was enjoyable and packed. My only
comment on this post about miles and points is that I did use my Chase Sapphire
Preferred card during this trip because it does not charge foreign transaction
fees. If your card charges you foreign transaction fees, then you should look
into getting a card that does not so prior to your next international trip.
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