120. How Megan Used Points & Miles for the Ultimate Harry Potter Family Trip

Points Talk with the Travel Mom Squad

Alex, Pam and Jess

Places & Travel, Education, Society & Culture, How To

4.9 • 734 Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What’s better than throwing a Harry Potter-themed birthday party? How about taking your child on a real Harry Potter adventure across Scotland and London! That’s exactly what Megan did for her daughter’s 10th birthday—making the magic come alive with points and miles. In this episode, Megan explains how she made this trip happen for her family of five—and how using points made it more affordable than a trip to Universal Studios!

Flying to Scotland on Points

Megan and her family started their journey with flights on KLM Flying Blue, taking advantage of the 25% discount for kids under 12. Because they were able to book five economy tickets for just 85,000 points plus taxes/fees, they were able to splurge some on an upgrade to premium economy at check-in. Add in Priority Pass lounge access during their layover (thanks, credit card benefits!) and the whole experience got even better.

Exploring Scotland: The Highlands & Harry Potter Locations

After landing in Edinburgh, Megan and her family hit the road to explore Scotland’s most famous sights—including key Harry Potter filming locations at Glencoe, Glenfinnan Viaduct, and Loch Shiel.

From Scotland to London: Train Travel & Harry Potter Studio Tour

After road-tripping through Scotland, the family took the train from Edinburgh to London, booking first-class seats for extra space and lounge access.

London's Harry Potter Activities! Megan’s family visited:

King’s Cross Station (Platform 9 ¾) – A must for any fan.
Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour – The ultimate experience, where her daughter got to open the doors to the Hogwarts Great Hall because it was her birthday! They spent over five hours exploring movie sets, props, and magical effects.

London on Points: Hyatt Regency Blackfriars & The Cursed Child Play

For accommodations, used Hyatt points and the Hyatt Family Plan Rate, getting four nights at the Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars for:
✅ 77,000 points for one room
✅ $700 total for the second room

The hotel's location meant Megan's family got free wristbands allowing access to the prime areas for watching New Year's Eve fireworks over Big Ben and the London Eye!

To top off their trip, they saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child—a six-hour theater experience that still had the kids completely engaged. Find out what blew Megan away and why going to the play in London is worth traveling for.

Links For This Episode:

Pam’s Hotel Upgrade Template: Hotel Upgrade Form: https://travelmomsquad.ck.page/hotel-upgrade

Links:

Links For All Things Travel Mom Squad: stan.store/travelmomsquad

Episode Minute By Minute:

00:30 – Meet Megan and hear about how this trip came together
02:00 – Booking flights on KLM
06:15 – Harry Potter sites in Scotland
12:30 – Train to London
17:00 – Platform 9 ¾ & the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour
25:45 – Staying at Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars
33:00 – Seeing The Cursed Child play
40:00 – Final thoughts and Megan’s tips

If you’ve ever wanted to take your family on a magical, unforgettable trip, this episode is for you!

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	One of our favorite things about Points and Miles is the ability to make our kids' dreams come true.
0:05.4	Today, we have a special guest to share their recent trip to Scotland in London for a Harry Potter theme to getaway.
0:12.1	Welcome to Points Talk with the Travel Mom Squad. We are three moms who've discovered how to leverage
0:17.7	credit card welcome offers to get hundreds of thousands of dollars of travel expenses
0:22.1	for nearly free. We've used credit card points of miles to take vacations to places like Hawaii,
0:27.9	Paris, Greece, Maldives, Japan, and so much more. And the best part? We each still have 800 plus credit
0:35.0	scores. Imagine being able to take the vacation of your dreams for
0:38.4	nearly free. It's totally possible and we're here to show you how. Hey, I'm Alex and I'm Jess. Let's Talk
0:46.6	Point. We have a special guest on today. I feel like she does not need an introduction at this point
0:52.6	because you're all very familiar with her. It is
0:55.0	Megan, our amazing digital business manager. She got back, what, a couple weeks ago, like
1:02.3	literally two weeks ago. Yeah, from a trip with her entire family of five, they went to Scotland
1:08.6	first and then they headed down to London. And so she is here to tell us all about it. I think this started out as a birthday request by one of your daughters, right? Is that how this trip came about? We've kind of always told them that like when you turn 10, you can pick the trip and, like, help plan it.
1:31.8	And my oldest is like, she's on like book five of Harry Potter.
1:37.7	So she was like, I want to go see where they filmed the movie and all the Harry Potter stuff in Scotland and London.
1:40.9	And we're like, okay, well, I guess that's our trip for over Christmas.
1:45.3	Your 10-year-old birthday trips are way cooler than mine. Mine are like,
1:51.5	you can choose somewhere in the continental United States. Oh, I thought you made when you were 10.
1:57.5	I was like, when I was 10, my trip, my birthday was like, we can go to Toys R.S and you can pick a toy.
2:03.2	I just think it's cool, though, because, you know, if someone didn't have points in miles,
2:08.6	I'm assuming if their kid wanted a Harry Potter birthday, it would be like, okay, let's have, like, Harry Potter decorations or, like, maybe let's go to Harry Potter World.
2:14.5	But you literally took your child to Scotland to see where, like, the scenes that
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Alex, Pam and Jess, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Alex, Pam and Jess and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.