If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you will have seen all my stories and posts this month have been ALL about London and the Fantastic Beasts VIP premiere. I am still a little overwhelmed & in shock by the whole experience if I’m honest! So I am starting a series of posts to answer ALL of your questions about the sweepstakes, London, and the premiere. I’m going to answer the basics today and will be specific about our days in subsequent posts. I’ll be posting pictures on Facebook as well so check there as well. I’ll be adding back in links to this page from future posts so everything is in one place too, so be sure to check back or visit the blog weekly as I’ll be posting on Fridays about this! Now, on to all about the Fantastic Beasts UK Premiere VIP Experience! (all posts linked at the end)

How did you win?

In the middle of October I was online and saw an ad to enter the sweepstakes. As it was for AT&T customers, I really didn’t think twice about it since they already have my email address & phone number anyhow, so I entered in my info and didn’t give it another thought.

Then, on Oct 26, I got a call at work that I almost didn’t answer. I did, and a lady asked for me then said those famous words “Do you remember entering in the Fantastic Beasts Premiere VIP Sweepstakes?” Now, if you’re like me, you’ve received dozens of calls with a similar line telling you that you’ve won a cruise (by way of a time share and lots of scamming) so I was still pretty skeptical at this point. Since I actually remembered entering, I thought that likely she was calling to say I was among a hundred winners who didn’t win the grand prize, but won free tickets to see the movie in theaters or something like that. I mean, no one really wins the BIG PRIZE in real life anyhow right? So naturally I thought it was some advertising ploy and consolation prize.

Then she told me that I really won the real prize and she was sending over some forms for me to sign and that there was a quick turnaround due to some issues on their end. Then I heard her dogs barking, and I literally started laughing. I was CERTAIN it was not real, so I started asking more questions while she explained they worked remotely and apologized for her pups. I did a quick search of the marketing agency and the sweepstakes again, and despite my propensity for skepticism, I started feeling like it was the real deal so I agreed for her to send over the info to the email she had for me.

Fast forward to the next day and I had found my tribe (who miraculously could all make the short notice work minus the husband), gathered all the info, and sent it in and sent over all the details (in an encrypted password protected file of course – skepticism lives on. Then conversations started via phone and email, & that Friday I got a GIANT box with lots of AT&T swag & I finally lost all doubt. THIS WAS REAL.

More info from the sweepstakes can be found here. All sorts of BONUS CONTENT for the movie can be found here also.

What did you win?

There were two winners for the sweepstakes, one for the Paris premiere and one for the London premiere, and I won the London experience.

Grand prize winner 2: A trip for the Winner and 4 Guests to London, England to attend the London premiere screening of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald on or about November 11–November 16, 2018. Includes air transportation, 5 nights hotel accommodation and tickets to the event. [from the sweepstakes entry form]

Now that’s what it said but let me tell you they knocked it out of the park with all the accommodations and all of the special goodies. Remember that giant box? It was filled with two duffle bags of goodies and a box of items to boot. Neck pillows, blankets, headphones & splitters for the flight, adapters, notebooks, pop sockets, and umbrellas all branded and ready to go for all 5 of us. Not to mention a Nordstrom gift card to get red carpet ready. This was the first of many little surprises throughout the trip!

Each night when we returned to the hotel, we had a London or Fantastic Beasts surprise treat waiting on us in the rooms and each set was so thoughtfully put together complete with handwritten notes. When they said all inclusive, they really meant it – we hardly paid for anything outside of souvenirs out of pocket and I was shocked at the continuous VIP treatment and generosity throughout the experience.

Our contacts with both The Marketing Arm & AT&T were absolutely amazing!

Where did you stay?

We stayed at the Trafalgar St. James. It was in the best location and was absolutely beautiful! We had 3 rooms and plenty of space for everything and everyone. There was a lovely little pub across the street, Trafalgar Square in the other direction, and access to several shops, restaurants, and museums within walking distance.

The hotel itself had a fun little bar downstairs, a rooftop restaurant, and the decor was eclectic and luxurious. I will post more about the hotel another post as well!

What was your itinerary?

This was our basic itinerary (seriously the bare bones version) full of several surprises and activities. When they said VIP experience, they really weren’t kidding.

Sunday, November 9th – fly out of Birmingham
Saturday, November 10th – arrive in London & evening activities
Sunday, November 11th – day trip sightseeing around London
Monday, November 12th – day trip sightseeing around London
Tuesday, November 13th – Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald Premiere night!
Wednesday, November 14th – day trip sightseeing around London
Thursday, November 15th – travel day home