Kayla shared her 8-day reader success story to the United Kingdom in our Facebook Group and said that we could share it with everyone here. We love, love, love to hear about your successes and know that they inspire all those who read about them. 

Flights to the United Kingdom

My husband and I just got back from our 8-day trip to the United Kingdom, and we had such an amazing time! We flew from Washington, DC (IAD) to London (LHR) on Virgin Atlantic.  I transferred 27,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards to Virgin Atlantic to book two premium seats. 

We spent four nights at the Holiday Inn Express Southwark in London for 91,000 IHG points. Getting the fourth night free is a great perk. This is definitely not a luxury hotel, but the location is amazing.  It had a free breakfast that really helped us save on food—because, man, the UK is expensive.

We spent three nights at Kimpton Charlotte Square in Edinburgh for 133,000 IHG points after taking a LNER train from London to Edinburgh, Scotland. We got upgraded to a premium king room and they left us little treats in our room after I told them we were celebrating our wedding anniversary on this trip. This hotel was amazing, and the service was impeccable. The location was also great, and I would not hesitate to stay here again. I would highly recommend it to others. (sidenote: Pam and Jess love this hotel too!)

Activities in the United Kingdom

We did two all day tours I booked through Viator.  Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, Bath, and Lacock in the Cotswolds in England we all on the tour.  We also bought tickets for the Tower of London and walked around other city places. We did a day trip to Canterbury ourselves that I booked train tickets for where we visited the cathedral and had a lovely lunch at the Weaver house and then sat and had coffee in a cafe and people-watched

Gorgeous Canterberry

In Scotland, we went to Loch Ness, Glencoe, and Pitlochry. We also had afternoon tea in Edinburgh, which was everything I had always dreamed of. We bought a ticket to Edinburgh Castle and enjoyed walking around Edinburgh.

Glencoe was so serene and peaceful.

I added up every single purchase we made, including food, transportation, souvenirs, excursions/tours, and tips, and the total came out to $3,024. We used 307,000 points from  IHG, United, and Ultimate Rewards. We had an amazing vacation, enjoying our anniversary away from our four kids and seeing so many new places.