5 Great Things To Do With Tweens In London

Tower Of London FREE tour with your ticket

London is a great city to explore with tweens and teens. There is so much to do,  no language barrier, easy public transit and affordable. So with so much to do, where do you start?
Here are some ideas, of course, there are many more things to do, but here are a few ideas:

1. Tower of London and the Crown Jewels - This may seem touristy at first look, but it's a great look back at history plus the FREE 1-hour tour is fantastic. Look online for discount tickets, but you must buy these in advance and bring your email voucher to the window to exchange for tickets. Even so, the Tower is not cheap with prices L24.70 for adults and L11.70 for children. Your ticket includes the Crown Jewels exhibit which has a separate line inside and is a stunning display of crowns, sceptres and jewels. 

Standing inside the hallway leading to the House Of Commons

2. Sit inside Parliament - This is an amazing opportunity to sit inside the House of Parliament and the House of Lords. Both houses have a public viewing area. You can check the website online to see the day's agenda. If you visit on Wednesday, you may even get to see the Prime Minister. This is FREE, but you have to wait in line for security so leave lots of time. 

The Making Of Harry Potter is a must do!

3. Visit The Making Of Harry Potter Studio - So whether you are a Harry Potter fan or not, you will want to visit this studio outside of London. It's an amazing look inside what it takes to create a blockbuster movie. This time, one of the artists who created the masks was there showing us how the masks were made. You have to buy your tickets online and in advance. Then you take a train from the London Euston Station to Watford Junction. Trains leave frequently, but some are direct which takes about 20 minutes and others stop more often and take about an hour. The HP shuttle will pick you up at the train station, but bring cash to pay the fare. 

Variety of bite size sandwiches and hot tea are served first 

Followed by an impressive dessert tray

4. Traditional Afternoon Tea - So this is a must while in London. There are lots of options and I would check groupon.com to see if you can get a deal. My personal favorite is the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory AfternoonTea at the OneAldwych Hotel.  It's a bit pricey, but this meal can cover both lunch and dinner plus it's an experience. 

5. See A Live Theatre Show - London rivals New York City for live theatre. However, London theatres are smaller and more intimate than the NYC counterparts. You can find discounts online for shows and at the 1/2 price ticket booth in Piccadilly Circus. 

Other notable things to do include the Churchill War Museum, The London Eye, Buckingham Palace changing of the guard and more. Let us know what other gems you find in the comments below.

Visiting London With A Teen On A Budget, Sort Of

London on a budget with a teen? It is possible and here's how to do it. We already covered flights in a previous post so let's start with hotels. Start with awardmapper.com to see if you can use your points or miles. FREE is, of course, always the goal! I couldn't find any good values for my points or miles for mid July. So I turned to bed and breakfast type hotels. I always look for breakfast included when travelling with my kids. If you start off with full tummies, it just makes the day better. 

Belgrave Road in London

There are a ton of budget hotels on Belgrave Road near the Pimlico metro stop. Most include breakfast and run about $100 per night for a private room and bathroom. We stayed at the Melbourne House. It is centrally located near a metro stop. Breakfast included croissant, cheese, meats, yogurt, fruit, coffee and orange juice. We even made sandwiches one day for lunch on the train. Only downside, there is no elevator! The farther out of town you go, the cheaper the hotels are, but you are out of town. 

From Heathrow, you can take the express train to Victoria metro station. Pick up an Oyster card in the to pay for the express train and pre-load it with funds. This makes riding the metro in London so much easier. You can use the automated machines to add funds. When you are ready to leave London, scan your card again so you get your deposit and unused funds back. 

Now what to do in London with a teenager. Where should we start? To be honest, I did not expect to like London as much as I did. It was quite a charming city with lots of places to walk. We started by walking by Buckingham Palace and through the nearby park. Then proceeded to walk to Big Ben. Of course, stopping for ice cream on the way. Be sure to include a chocolate flake on top of your ice cream!

The Tower Of London was a definite highlight of this visit. There are discount tickets online, but you may need to wait 30 minutes to recieve a confirmation email with your ticket voucher. You have to take the voucher to the customer service window to exchange it for tickets. The tower offers free walking tours every 1/2 hour and I highly recommend at least doing the 1 hour tour for a part of the time. Includes lots of good history. There is a separate line for the Crown Jewels exhibit, but it is included in your ticket price. Definitely take the time to see the exhibit which includes many crowns, scepters, and much more. 

We walked by Big Ben, River Thames, Westminster Abbey, Parliament Square and then hopped the metro to the theatre district, Picadilly Circus. FYI, Westminster Abbey closes at 3:30pm. The changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace happens at 11am. Checked out the 1/2 price booth near Leicester metro stop. There is a board in front that lists the shows available for that evening. We were able to pick up 2 tickets for 22.50 pounds each to see American In Paris. Awesome!

London with a teen is not complete without a day to the WB Tour, The Making of Harry Potter. I must admit that I have only read the first book, but this exhibit and tour is fascinating even for the non fan. You must book tickets online and in advance. I couldn't find any discounts so we just spent the money. When you buy your ticket, you are assigned a time to enter. Do not stress out if you are late or early. Once you arrive, you actually can enter within 30 minutes of your assigned time. You will need to take the train to Watford Junction. The train leaves from Victoria Station and you can buy tickets from the automated machines or the ticket window.  Tickets are 9 pounds there and 4 pounds to return. It can cost more during rush hour. The trains leave every 20 minutes or so and the train takes about 20 minutes. It took us 1.25 hours to reach Watford Junction. Once you arrive in Watford Junction, you will need to wait for the Harry Potter shuttle bus. The ride to the park is included in your ticket. The driver will ask you to pre pay your ride home so be sure to have 2.50 pounds per person.

You can bring your own food and drinks into the park. There is a cafe inside and it's not too overpriced. The tour begins with a guide who takes you through the grand hall and then it is a walking tour that you do at your own pace. There is a lot of reading about the different sets and costumes. Plan to spend about 3 hours at the park.
You can't be in London without enjoying high tea. We chose the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory High Tea at One Aldwych Hotel.  It is inspired by the hotel's partnership with the musical. This was definitely not almost free, in fact, for two of us, it cost about $115. Definitely a splurge, but worth it if you love chocolate. Starts with little sandwiches and then a dessert platter. Lots of interesting teas as well and a nice atmosphere.

So all total, we spent $400 for the hotel, $115 for the high tea, $100 for Harry Potter, $40 for the Tower Of London, $45 for a show and $100 for transportation. We ate fish and chips one night and at an inexpensive restaurant the other. You could spend less, but we enjoyed the splurges.

Secret Flights For Big Savings!

Fifth freedom flights are the ultimate secret in air travel, according to CBS Travel Reporter Peter Greenberg, The Travel Detective.  What is a fifth freedom flight? It is a route that a carrier flies outside of its home country. Fifth freedom flights must have pick up rights in that country. For example, you may fly Air New Zealand between JFK and London without ever touching ground in New Zealand, but even though Qantas flies daily from JFK to London, you can't book that flight because the airline doesn't have pick up rights.

Here are some samples from travelcodex.com as of Dec. 2016

North America

• Philippine Airlines: New York JFK to Vancouver
• Cathay Pacific: New York JFK to Vancouver
• Air China: Montreal to Havana

South America

• Emirates: Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires
• Turkish Airlines: Sao Paulo to Buenos Aires
• Qatar Airways: Sao Paulo to Buenos Aires
• Air Canada: Santiago to Buenos Aires
• KLM: Buenos Aires to Santiago
• Air France: Buenos Aires to Montevideo

Europe

• Air China: Vienna to Barcelona
• Air China: Athens to Munich
• Korean Air: Vienna to Zurich
• LAN: Madrid to Frankfurt
• Ethiopian: Stockholm to Vienna 
• Emirates: Lanarca to Malta
• Emirates: Athens to Lanarca
• Air Malta: Munich to Catania

Transatlantic (North & South America)

• Singapore Airlines: New York JFK to Frankfurt
• Singapore Airlines: Houston to Manchester
• Emirates: New York JFK to Milan
• Air India: Newark to London Heathrow
• Air New Zealand: Los Angeles to London Heathrow
• Air Tahiti Nui: Los Angeles to Paris CDG
• Jet Airways: Toronto to Amsterdam
• Uzbekistan: New York JFK to Riga, Latvia
• South African Airways: Washington Dulles to Dakar, Senegal
• South African Airways: Washington Dulles to Accra, Ghana
• Air China: Madrid to Sao Paulo
• Ethiopian: Sao Paulo to Lome, Togo
• Ethiopian: Los Angeles to Dublin
• Ethiopian: Newark to Lome, Togo
• Ethiopian: Dublin to Toronto (westbound only)
• Ethiopian: Dublin to Washington Dulles (westbound only)
• Pakistan International Airlines: Manchester to New York JFK (westbound only)

Transpacific

• Air France: Los Angeles to Papeete
• Singapore Airlines: San Francisco to Hong Kong
• Singapore Airlines: Los Angeles to Seoul
• Singapore Airlines: Los Angeles to Tokyo Narita
• China Airlines: Honolulu to Tokyo Narita
• United: Manila to Koror
• United: Hong Kong to Singapore
• United: Tokyo Narita to Seoul
• Delta: Tokyo Narita to Singapore
• Delta: Tokyo Narita to Manila
• Delta: Tokyo Narita to Taipei
• Delta: Tokyo Narita to Shanghai
• Delta: Tokyo Narita to Saipan
• Delta: Tokyo Narita to Koror

Gulf

• Lufthansa: Doha to Kuwait
• Lufthansa: Bahrain to Dammam
• SWISS: Dubai to Muscat
• KLM: Bahrain to Doha
• KLM: Muscat to Abu Dhabi

Oceania

• AirAsia X: Gold Coast to Auckland
• Emirates: Auckland to Sydney
• Emirates: Auckland to Brisbane
• Emirates: Auckland to Melbourne
• Emirates: Sydney to Christchurch
• LAN: Auckland to Sydney
• China Airlines: Auckland to Brisbane
• China Airlines: Auckland to Sydney

Other Intercontinental

• EVA: Bangkok to Amsterdam
• EVA: Bangkok to London Heathrow
• EVA: Bangkok to Vienna
• Emirates: Bangkok to Sydney
• Emirates: Singapore to Melbourne
• Emirates: Singapore to Brisbane
• China Airlines: Delhi to Rome
• Royal Brunei: Dubai to London Heathrow
• Qantas: Dubai to London Heathrow
• Garuda Indonesia: Singapore to Amsterdam
• Garuda Indonesia: Singapore to London Heathrow
• British Airways: Singapore to Sydney

Tip of the hat to Fly Pointy End.com

How I Flew To London r/t For Just $350

My daughter and I in front of Buckingham Palace

     When my daughter finished the entire series of Harry Potter, six months faster than I anticipated, I started thinking about a quick fall trip across the pond.
     And guess what? Best decision ever.
     October is what they call in the travel biz, low season or off-peak. That means great deals for you if you can adjust your schedule. Usually, I use points to travel, but this trip, I was able to find a flight for $125 from JFK to London Gatwick on Norwegian Airlines. I reviewed what it was like to fly on  Norwegian Airlines in this post. For that price, it's worth it just to pay cash. I purchased the flight with my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card since I was trying to reach the minimum spend on that one plus travel earns 3x points so it's a win-win. This is my new favorite card and you can check out the reasons why here. If you decide that the Reserve is too steep, then check out the Preferred and use my link. 

London offers so many awesome things to do

      On the return, I looked at flying back to JFK, but found that flights all the way to Los Angeles cost the same price about $225. So why waste time and Southwest points to get from New York to the west coast.
      So for $350 per person, we got two round trip tickets to London. Since the Sapphire Reserve includes a $300 travel credit, we actually spent just less than $500 for the flights. Plus made a dent in the minimum spend and got 1,500 Chase Ultimate Reward points. I talk about how to use those points for incredible savings in this post.
      I'll talk about some great things to do with tweens in London in a future post, but the bottom line is if you can swing an off-peak trip to Europe, it will save you a ton of money and miles.
       If you decide to apply for the Sapphire Preferred, please use my referral link. It will help support this blog. 

Eurostar - How to find seats on a budget

Travelling from Paris to London couldn't be easier these days via the Eurostar high speed train. You can have breakfast in Paris and lunch in London. Amazing! I remember the old days when you had to take the train to the coast and then the ferry across. It was a 12 hour trek.
Couple of things you need to know to make your Eurostar experience a good one.
Book your ticket online early! Ticket sales open 60-90 days before the travel date. Check Eurostar.com for tickets and prices. The price will go up as it gets closer to the departure date. A friend of mine bought hers the day before and it cost $400 per seat. Ouch! If you book early, it will cost $45 per seat.
One of my favorite how to ride the rails website is seatguru61.com. By the way, the Eurostar train services London, Paris, Brussels and other cities in those countries.

The Eurostar leaves from Gare Du Nord in Paris and arrives at the Victoria train station in London. Arrive early for departure because you need to pass through passport control which took us almost an hour. Once on board, seats are comfortable and there is WIFI, but it is spotty. The train is very smooth even though you are travelling at 85 mph. In fact, it really doesn't feel like you are going that fast until you ride on a regular train.
So bottom line, book early and enjoy the ride!

Why Priority Pass Lounge Access Is Great For Family Travel

       

We added a slice of cheesecake at Bobby Vans

         My new favorite credit card is the Chase Sapphire Reserve. I have been waiting almost a year to drop under 5/24 so I could be approved for this card. Chase limits you to five credit cards every 24 months. This includes all credit cards not just Chase cards. So you have to be strategic when applying for cards. I reached my 5/24 limit a year ago when I applied for two Southwest credit cards in order to secure the companion pass.
          But recently I dropped below again as some old cards began to fall off. Woohoo!
You can check out my past post comparing the Sapphire Reserve vs the Preferred if you are interested and consider using my referral link if you decide to apply.
One of the perks included in the Sapphire Reserve card is FREE membership to the Priority Pass Lounge network. The network has 1200 lounges in 143 countries.

         You have to activate your membership, but it's a simple online process. Then you will receive your card in the mail. You do need to carry your card with you if you plan to use the lounge network. You can also enroll in the mobile app.
         You can check the website to see what lounges are available in different cities around the world.
Some airports offer a variety of lounge access in different terminals with snacks, wifi, drinks even showers.
         But here's the best part, some airports offer credits at specific restaurants. On the website, you will see the restaurant, menu, credit offered, hours and any other pertinent information. On a recent flight from JFK to London, we saw that Bobby Vans Steakhouse was on the lounge site.

          The restaurant was past security in terminal 8  so you need a valid boarding pass and be sure to leave enough time to go back through security again in your flight terminal. But the restaurant offered $28 per person credit. With the Sapphire Reserve, your membership is good for you and a guest. Most entrees at Bobby Vans run about $15-$30 so it's very generous. You will still need to pay tax and gratuity.


       
       My daughter and I enjoyed Ahi Tuna Burgers, Baked Mac And Cheese and a slice of cheesecake for dessert. The bill came to $63 dollars and then they deducted the $56 credit. Pretty sweet! And sure beat the dinner served onboard our flight to London.

The Grain Cafe in London Gatwick

         On our way home from London Gatwick, we noticed the Grain Cafe was also included in the Priority Pass Lounge network. This cafe is located on the second floor after you pass through the security while you are waiting for your gate to be announced on the board so it's super convenient.
          The cafe has sandwiches, baked goods, salad, coffee, tea and much more. The 15 pound per person credit goes a long way. We actually asked for everything we wanted and the sales person told us we will had 5 pounds left and stuck a few croissants in our bag. YUM!

Grain Cafe Staff Puts Extra Croissants In Our Bag

        Since we took away here, there was no tax or gratuity so they just handed us our food and off we went.  The value of this perk on this trip was approximately $100. Even though the annual fee is $450 on this card, the perks make this card totally worth it.
In a future post, I'll review the Chase Travel Portal and how my daughter flew to New Orleans for $45.
That's how we do it at almost FREE family travel.

Top 5 International Places You Should Visit In 2020

Sandboarding in Huacachina, Peru

I love to travel outside of the US. The culture, traditions, and food around the world are amazing and provide a great learning experience for my family. The more different from what I'm used to the better. It's a chance to show my children what a small place we occupy in the world. So coming from that perspective, here are my top 5 international places you should visit with your family in 2020 and we have a tie for the #1 spot: 

1. Peru, the Amazon, and Machu Picchu - There is so much history and diversity in this country, it is a feast. You can live in the Amazon and walk through the jungle with a medicine man, ride the sand dunes in a buggy and on a sandboard, and visit the spiritual site of Machu Picchu. The people are friendly, the food is delicious and the country is easy to navigate. In addition, flights in and out of Lima are plentiful and except for visiting Machu Picchu, it is affordable. Check out my previous post for my itinerary. Plus if you open a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve credit card, you can get a discount on flights through the travel portal. 

1. Thailand - Traveling in Thailand for almost a month has to be our family's favorite trip of all time. We rode elephants, zip lined, visited more temples than you can count and were blessed by a monk. The people are friendly, the culture is incredible, the food is amazing, the beaches and nature are like nothing else. Once you secure your flights, traveling in Thailand is cheap. I sell our itineraries for $5 each. Check it out! and if you open a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve, you can get discounts on flights. 

2. Ecuador - Located right on the equator, Ecuador offers a unique experience in altitude and geography. Quito is located at 9,000 feet above sea level and includes a picturesque historic quarter. You can also easily make a day trip to the cloud forest and the volcano. The country uses the USD as currency making travel easy. Check out my previous posts for details. 

3. London - My last trip to London was in the early 90's, now I've been to the city twice in the past two years and I must say I loved it. It was easy to navigate except for the cars driving on the wrong side of the road, a favorable exchange rate and had enough culture to satisfy my thirst for different. Flights to London are pretty cheap right now and it's a great place to jump off to anywhere else in Europe. Check out my previous posts with things to do with kids and how to find cheap flights to London. 

 4. Cuba - I would put Cuba at #1 except that most people think you can't visit anymore due to changes in the laws. But you can visit Cuba and I highly recommend it. You can check out my previous posts with details about how to visit this country and amazing people. It's actually pretty easy to navigate, very safe and so culturally and historically interesting, it's crazy. If Trump gets reelected in 2020, the window to visit Cuba may close entirely. At this point, you can hop on a Southwest flight and use points, so take advantage while you still can. If you decide to open a Southwest credit card, here are your options. 

5. Panama - Just a year ago, we went to Panama City and the San Blas Islands. All I can say is wow! The Panama canal is a feat of engineering that you just have to experience plus the historic quarter is well preserved. The city bustles with energy and the country uses the USD so it's easy to navigate and inexpensive. If you have time, I highly recommend renting a sailboat and exploring the San Blas Islands or visiting one of the surf beaches. Check out my posts for details and how a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card may help you get a discount on flights.  


Other places that should make the list include South Africa, Israel, Costa Rica, the British Virgin Islands, and Japan. So where are you going? Let us know in the comments below and we can help you get there for almost FREE. 

How To Find Amazing Point Deals On Virgin Atlantic

People ask me all the time how I find great flight deals to Europe. There are no tricks, but there are some tips to find them. 

#1 is planning early. If you haven't started planning for next summer, you are late! But I'm here to help. 

#2 is knowing where to look for those deals

#3 is having the points available to jump on them when you find them

Let's go step by step and see what we can find. Suppose we are looking to go to Europe in summer 2025. Usually, I look for flights at least a year in advance so I can find the best deal and get my points earned in time to buy the flights when they open 330 days in advance. But sometimes you can't plan that far out so let's see what's around now. 

My two favorite airlines currently to hop across the pond are Virgin Atlantic and Flying Blue (KLM and Air France).

First, let's check Virgin Atlantic to see how many miles we would need to book Washington DC to London on July 8th.

Even now, you could book a flight from Washington Dulles to London for just 6,000 Virgin points and $73 in taxes in July 2025. Pretty sweet. Last month, Chase was offering a 40% transfer bonus and this month American Express is offering the same deal. With the transfer bonus, this flight would only cost approximately 4,000 points. Crazy! 

For a family of 5 like mine, you are talking just 20,000 points and less than $400 to hop across the pond. 

Now let's check Flying Blue. 

Flying Blue is the loyalty program for both KLM and Air France. It's not the loyalty program for Virgin Atlantic, but that airline shows up on the portal as well. But now look at the points. On Flying Blue, it would cost you 20,000 miles and $124 in taxes for the one way flight from Washington Dulles to London. Still a great deal, but definitely not as good as on Virgin Atlantic. Occasionally, Chase and Amex will offer transfer bonuses to Flying Blue as well making this deal even better. 

To find these deals on Virgin, you will need to start at the reward seat checker. Once you enter your departure and destination airport, you will get a view of the month you choose and available reward seats. 

Then you go to the actual website and put in your dates to locate the flights. 

Now here's where it gets interesting. You might be saying this is all great, but I don't have any Virgin Atlantic or Flying Blue points. 

That's true, most of us don't. 

But if you follow my blog or have worked with me in the travel coaching program, you know how much I love flexible points. My favorite flex points are Chase and Capital One and this is when they come in especially handy. 

Both Chase and Capital One are transfer partners for Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic. You can read here about how to transfer your flex points to dozens of different airlines and several hotel chains. 

Remember once you transfer your points, you can't get them back even if the flight is no longer available. 

Right now, you can pick up 75,000 Capital One points by applying for the Capital One Venture or Venture X cards. 

• Both come with a 75,000 bonus for a $4,000 minimum spend. 
• The Venture card has a $95 annual fee and the Venture X has a $395 annual fee because it also comes with a $120 Global Entry credit, Priority Pass membership and a $300 travel credit. 

For Chase points, our favorite cards are the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve credit cards. 

Both come with a 60,000 point bonus for $4,000 minimum spend. The Preferred has a $95 annual fee and the Reserve has a $550 annual fee, but comes with a $300 travel credit, $120 Global Entry credit and Priority Pass membership. 

Don’t spend tons of money on your next vacation. Instead, let us help you travel for almost FREE forever. Join our coaching program today, and start making your travel dreams a reality—just like this success story!

We can’t wait to see you in the program and help you unlock all the amazing travel rewards waiting for you.

Woohoo! Let’s make your next trip an AlmostFREE adventure!

https://travelplus.virginatlantic.com/reward-flight-finder/results/month?origin=LHR&destination=JFK&month=02&year=2025

What I Thought About My First Time Flying With Norwegian Airlines

I have to be honest with you, I was a little nervous about flying on Norwegian Air on my recent flight from JFK to London. I had never flown on the airline before and since it is a discount airline, I wanted to make sure I followed all of their rules so I didn't end up paying with my wallet. 

I booked a "lowfare plus" ticket online so I could choose my seat because I was flying with my 13-year-old and we wanted to sit together. If you don't upgrade, the airline will assign you a seat at check-in. But even with the upgrade, the ticket cost me $125 per person. You can't beat that!

Be sure to join Norwegian's Loyalty program, you will earn a few miles and you can apply them to any future flight. The upgrade also came with meals onboard and we got to choose if we wanted regular, vegetarian or vegan.  

My small carryon bag got approved! 

          After seat selection, the next item discount airlines try to upcharge you for is luggage. Norwegian allows all passengers one small carry on and one personal item. If you upgrade to lowfare plus, you get a checked bag for FREE. If you typically check a bag, I highly recommend this upgrade when you book your ticket. Don't try to pay at check-in! It gets really expensive. We saw people at check-in paying hundreds of dollars for their suitcases. 

       You get a small carry on for FREE, BUT the airline takes this very seriously. They actually do it by weight and not size at check-in. Your bag has to weigh less than 10 kg. The service rep told me if it's slightly over, she will pass it through anyway. But when my bag weighed 11.2 kg, she said no way and asked me to pay $100, ouch. 

And here's the kicker, it's not just your carryon bag, they put your personal item on the scale too. Needless to say, once she did that I was pretty far over 10kg.

           The rep was helpful and suggested I take things out of my suitcase like my shoes and toiletries to bring the weight down. 

Now I'm standing at the counter with my shoes, laptop and toiletries in my arms, but we did it and she approved my bags without charging me. 

Once we left the counter, of course, I stuffed all of the items back in the suitcase. Not sure what this process proved, but consider yourself warned. 

On the return flight from London Gatwick, they actually checked bags again at the secondary security. This time they had a bin and seemed concerned about the size of the bag. 

Boarding the airplane was another experience. Each boarding pass has a letter on it assigning you to a group. However, there is no signage about where to line up like Southwest Airlines and the reps just call out the groups and a mass of people crowd toward the door. 

Everyone has an assigned seat, but I think people were concerned about overhead bin space. 

It took a long time to get everyone on the plane.

Once we were onboard, the plane was quite nice. It was a Dreamliner so my teen had a great time dimming the windows. I thought there could have been more legroom, but I flew Southwest this past weekend and I think it was about the same. The flight crew was super nice and attentive. I didn't eat the meals because we visited the Priority Pass Lounge. I'll be writing a blog post about this perk that you will need to check out. The entertainment system offered a decent movie selection too. 

One thing that surprised me in the week leading up to the flight, I received several emails like this one offering me a chance to bid on upgrades. Apparently several airlines including Aer Lingus offer auctions for upgrades. Some passengers report scoring an upgrade for the minimum bid, but it seems like many are denied. It all depends on how many empty seats are on the plane. 

Would I fly Norwegian Air again? Definitely. It cost me $350 round trip JFK-London-LAX. Yep, I would say that's worth it. That's how we do it at almost FREE family travel.