My wife and I currently live in New Jersey, where my wife's parents are as well, while my parents live in Atlanta, Georgia.
Due to this Pesach being our second one since we're married, we got to follow that tradition where we need to spend the Chag with the parents, half with mine, the other half with hers.
The Wednesday before Passover, we flew to Atlanta, stayed there for the first days, and on the first day of Chol Ha'Moed, we flew to Orlando to be with my in-laws, who rented an Airbnb in Champions Gate.
FlightsWe usually like to fly with Southwest Airlines because I have the Southwest Companion Pass, which I earned by getting 2 Southwest cards at the end of 2023 and accumulating >135,000 points in January. So, for the rest of that year(2024) and the following year(2025), I get to enjoy the benefits of the Companion Pass. This means I can book a Southwest flight for myself, and I can add my wife as a companion, and she will fly for free (besides the $5.60 tax per trip).
PHL>ATL $2 (AA)
ATL>MOC 4.1K Points (SW)
MCO>PHL 15K Points (SW)
While 2/3rds of our flights were on Southwest, we flew American Airlines down to Atlanta. We had a credit from a previous flight that was delayed by an hour and a half, so we used it. That leg was on a CRJ900 regional jet, which was really cool for us. Our first time on such a small plane.
Wize Walletz24 hours before the flight, I went to the Online Check-In, and American Airlines was asking for volunteers to submit a bid to take a later flight. I submitted it for the highest amount available because it was an early flight, and we were in no rush to get to Atlanta.
Wize WalletzWe got through security pretty quickly, so we decided to sit by the food court at PHL. (Since Southwest and American don’t fly this route out of EWR, we usually drive to Philadelphia, but it wasn’t bad.) We hung out there for about an hour—during that time, I davened while my wife fed our 4-month-old, who’s already been on about 15 flights and is an absolute champ. No crying or fussing on the plane at all!
Once I finished davening, we walked over to our gate, about a 3-minute walk away. I went straight to the gate agent and asked, "Hi, I placed a bid online—what’s the status with that?" She immediately addressed me by my first name, which caught me off guard. Apparently, they had been paging me over the loudspeaker for the past 30 minutes to accept the bid. Since I didn’t hear them and never showed up, they ended up giving it to someone else, for a whopping $650 per passenger.
Note to self: when placing a bid, stay by the gate. Wandering off to a lounge or food court might not be worth it!
We started to board and they said that I could not take my carry-on onto the plane and would need to check it. I didn't feel comfortable because my Tallit/Teffilin and Shabbat Tallit were in there. I tried to see if there was any way to take it on, but the gate agent said very politely that this was a small aircraft and my carry-on just would not fit. So, I had to take the 2 bags out, and it was our "personal items" that gave one to my wife and took one myself, and when we got into the plane, we put it in the overhead bins and they were able to fit.
On the way out to the aircraft, there was no jet bridge. We had to walk outside and place our checked carry-on on a rolling cart with all the other bags.
Wize WalletzAnd had to walk up a ramp to get onto the plane. Very cool, since it was our first time.
Wize WalletzThe flight was pretty good; it was louder than usual, which I think is due to the size of the plane, but nothing too unbearable.
We got to ATL, hung out with family and friends, and had a great first days.
Early morning, first day Chol Ha'moed, we got to the ATL airport, and there was an agent outside the airport who was checking bags.
Travel tip- if these are available, use them. In my experience, the bags are the last ones to go onto the plane and one of the first to come out.
ActivitiesFirst day Chol Ha'moed we went to Top Golf just the wife and I to get a little break. (Every Tues is half off.)
Wize WalletzThe next day we went to SeaWorld and went to a few shows, no rides though. Tickets were purchased through Groupon.
Wize WalletzThursday, we went to Bonanza Mini Golfing, with the whole fam. It was a great trip, but it was a little hectic with a stroller. A lot of stairs up and down (almost every hole.)
Wize WalletzHad a really nice Second Days in Champions Gate, prayed at a nice Moroccan Minyan.
We decided to go home on Tuesday because Monday flights were outrageous.
Monday morning, we went to Buena Vista Water Sports and went boating on a pontoon for about 2 and a half hours. Although we would've liked to have a tube, we weren't able to on the pontoon; it was only available on a regular boat. You win some, you lose some.
Wize WalletzInfo for the places I mentioned:
https://topgolf.com/us/orlando/https://seaworld.com/orlando/https://bonanzagolf.com/https://paradisecovewatersports.com/