TR: Pesach to the US with family

[mevinyavin]

Introduction
This TR is intended to provide useful information in case any of the things I did for this trip spark useful ideas for readers. Entertainment is secondary, pictures will be minimal, and it will be heavy on what may be good to know but light on other details.

I booked cash tickets with EK in August 2024 for Pesach 2025, paying under $700 a ticket. At the time, Aegean was not flying (they started in December or January, don't remember). I reasoned that I would go if they flew and stay if they didn't. (I've made Pesach nearly every year since I got married - and once when I was a bochur - and we were capable of that flexibility, with a plan ready for making Pesach quickly.)




EK allows choosing seats (before 72 hours) only for those with status and those flying with infants, so the seating chart was completely empty. For the first flight, we got row 23 (bulkhead) for four seats and two behind them in row 24. I was originally able to choose Rows 18 and 19 for the return by only paying $19 for one of those seats, but when the system automatically moved half of us, I ended up taking three bulkhead seats in row 38 and three behind them in row 39. (I didn't bother asking for a refund.)

The tickets allowed for more suitcases than we could possibly bring, but we still had to get those suitcases to and from the airport. We originally planned for five suitcases, two carry-ons and backpacks for every kid (plus one for me). Then a friend asked me to take matzos for his parents. I asked if he would drive us to the airport, and he agreed if I would also take a carry-on size with haggados for a friend (who paid $100 for the privelege). He drove us in a ten-seater City Car (we are two adults, four kids and toddler) which we used the money towards. We also brought 2kg hand and 6kg of machine matzah for the sake of our own independence (and to help our hosts), packed inside our towels/clothes. I figured they don't need to be sholeim, just food. Lemaaseh the extra thin was basically shvorim but the rest was just as whole as it is when we don't travel with it.

Presents are more and more difficult, like bringing kishuf to Mitzrayim. We brought a few 40-shekel silver-and-wood matches holders from Shaarei Revacha, and a bunch of die-cast cars made like EY models - an Egged coach bus (though those might be obsolete), some Israeli ambulances, a monit or two, mishmar hagevul and mishtara cars.

Day 0
The most important aspect of twenty hours of travel is entertainment for the kids, followed by food (as most kids are picky eaters). We purchased about 200 shekel worth of new books and a bunch of coloring books. I brought three mp3 players with music and stories on SD cards and various cheap headphones (wouldn't let them near mine). For food, I brought about 2kg of belgian fries and my wife baked 2kg of potatoes. I brought rolls and cheese for one meal and hot dogs for the other meal. My kids will happily eat any of these cold, and indeed, they did. We did 95% of the packing the day before, leaving only some laundry that had not dried yet and things like pajamas. I'm proud that I remembered to switch my charger cable from EU to US. Passports and boarding passes went in my backpack, together with tallis/tefillin, diapers, unused shopping bags and large freezer bags, the camera, and some of the books that didn't fit with the kids. We planned for the possibility that we would need to check in the carry-ons; nothing terribly important was inside them.

TBC

[mevinyavin]

Day 1, part one
Got home from netz and finished up with the packing. We had arranged to leave at 9:15, but forgot that the 9:15 pickup for a car that is ten minutes away which THEN has to get to the driver's house for the extra two suitcases before coming to us = more like 10AM departure, which is probably when the non-control-freaks leave anyway.

I marked all of our suitcases and carry-ons with a thin band of bright-yellow electric tape, so I added this to the two extra suitcases which he gifted to me. (No idea how I would recognize them otherwise.) I also added their contents to my master list of what suitcase had what items. He packed my two extra suitcases as my personal shliach, anyways. 

We got to the airport in good time, took the obligatory travel photo, and went to wait on line. As dual citizens with tickets on the US passport, the sequence was as follows: First security ("Did you pack your bags?") - IL passport, check-in: US passport, oversize: IL passport, main security line: IL passport, and boarding: US passport.

Aegean security was very busy because they had several flights going out around that time (including two leaving before ours). As we got towards the front, we watched a shrew of a check-in agent giving everyone a hard time. A couple with an infant and a toddler was made to go on without any carry-ons because the plane had no room. What would they do on the ten hour flight from Athens? Not her problem. They took what they were able to carry and left... We said some tehillim.

B"H we got the other agent (there were only two working economy), a matronly type who was very polite and patient. The suitcases were checked one by one (though the one with the seforim was a 1/2 kilo over), but she made us take the two duffels to the oversize area. Then she looks over our carry-ons, and tells us that the plane has no room and we have to check them. My wife pleaded with her that we have a long flight after, and she let us keep one of them. She also didn't weigh it, so we stuffed what we could into it. She also let us stuff the kids' winter coats into a suitcase she had already weighed when one of the kids complained about it. Against my better judgement at the encouragement of the agent, she tagged our stroller to ATH. Oversize was quiet and we were out very quickly.

Security took a very long time but was almost uneventful. For travel, I always put all of the things that would ring in a metal detector into one ziplock bag (keys, coins, mp3s, phone, flash drives), which gets put in my jacket. They pulled my jacket to get a better look at my flash drive (this model: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D6QMRNK7/?tag=cl03f-20&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER), which is made entirely of metal and larger than average. When I pulled off the cap and they saw the USB-A plug, they left us go. Frozen water, ice packs and eye-drops passed through without incident.

We arrived at the gate about ten minutes after boarding was supposed to have begun, which it had not. (This vindicated my departure time.) There was enough time to daven Mincha and then we boarded. Aegean gave us an entire row (sparking the inevitable fight over who gets the window seat). We solved this by promising the window to the kid who didn't get one for the flight back, though I warned them that anything could happen and we may not get the same type of seats.

Aegean handed out snacks but we had been unable to order Kosher so we declined. (I could have but it wasn't very important.) The kids got an Aegean version of some card game. The flight was barely 90 minutes and we landed on time, even though we had left late.

The first hiccup was on the bridge out of the plane, when the agent informs us that there had been too many trollers on the plane so they had checked them all, and they would need to be picked up by baggage. Various people asserted that this would be unacceptable because of the short connection, so he said they would look into it. We waited. I suspect I was the only one who wasn't concerned as the time went by (thanks to these posts by @ShimonFly and @Darth1 https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=70484.msg2853557#msg2853557). 25 minutes later, the rep said that they had decided to send all of the strollers straight to their final destinations, and that we should look for them by baggage claim there (not by the bridge).

We then needed to get boarding passes for EK printed and then go through security. EK agents were periodically showing up and getting passengers off the line, but we were not one of those. Security confiscated one of the ice packs and one of the bottles of water, but not the other ice pack and water which was packaged together with the eye drops.  As we left, there was one final EK agent calling for "any passengers connecting to Newark", and we were whisked through the airport with one security person and one EK agent. We got on the plane a mere seven minutes before taxiing (on time). Due to a lack of room, the carry-on was kept in business during takeoff and landing but we got it by us during the flight.

TBC

[TzviR]

Loving it! Thank you!

[BESED]

The first hiccup was on the bridge out of the plane, when the agent informs us that there had been too many trollers on the plane

Boy is that a hiccup!

[mevinyavin]

Boy is that a hiccup!

Indeed.

[Sniderlaw]

Thanks for the TR. Please give details on the transfers in Athens. I'm super nervous about it as I've received conflicting information. Where to walk, what documents needed and how long it takes

[mevinyavin]

Thanks for the TR. Please give details on the transfers in Athens. I'm super nervous about it as I've received conflicting information. Where to walk, what documents needed and how long it takes

Be precise. You are transferring from what to what and in which direction and how were the two flights booked?

[yfr bachur]

Thanks for the TR. Please give details on the transfers in Athens. I'm super nervous about it as I've received conflicting information. Where to walk, what documents needed and how long it takes

My wife did it about a month and a half ago, both directions, (with an infant) Agean/Emirates single ticket and she had no specific scouting report what to do, and she had no issues.

[yfr bachur]

Boy is that a hiccup!

I would have checked all the trollers too 

[mevinyavin]

D1 Part 2
Emirates staff was courteous and helpful, even keeping up with the huge demands of our family for water (we could drink a 2-liter bottle in three minutes between us). They delivered a kids package within a half hour of takeoff, consisting of a little backpack with coloring books and implements that can flatten out into the size of a pencil case. The baby got his own little bag with wipes and three plush squeaky toys, which of course resulted in a game of who he could crawl over to hand them to. (He got to the Arab businessman in the next row with the extra legroom seats, who was wearing a mask and curious to find out who was tugging his pants-leg.) Our neighbors were good-natured about it, B"H. Next to us was this older Indian couple who smiled at the kids but did nothing else but sleep. There weren't that many frum couples in economy; flight was about 30% Arab, 50% Indian, and 20% Israeli and frum. I think all of the frum people were couples with young kids but no one our family's size.

The meals came in these bulky, awkward cardboard boxes (see here: https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=24510.msg2929548#msg2929548), which made it difficult to hold on to because the kids weren't interested. We gave out whatever any kid was likely to touch (which wasn't much), but the kids didn't really take to anything. (I collected the coffee and tea for my own use, and they were very useful during our travels in the US.) My wife and I ate the main, which was fine if very middle-east-flavored.

Within two hours, most of the kids were sleeping, and those awake were reading the books we bought. One mp3 player was used by my 11YO and later my 6YO, with the technicality that the in-ear headphones were too big for their ears. Next time, I need to remember to bring the smaller silicon pieces. My wife and I both got to rest for a few hours.

As noted in the post referenced above, the fish meal was not at all nogea. We had to remember to finish all of the raw veggies we had with us and throw out the rest of the cheese. The rest of the flight was uneventful, with us landing at 9PM. As we were fairly close to the front of the plane, we got out pretty quickly and the line for US customs was short. The luggage came out pretty quickly and our stroller was present and intact.

Our grandfathered Golan phone plan includes 50 days per calendar year outside of Israel for free incoming (and one of my lines has a US number, too), but we could only dial IL numbers (up to 500 minutes). I sat down at the exit and emailed my mother, who had sent a driver for us for $90. The guy had come in a minivan and was disturbed to see our suitcases. He blustered about lacking the space and needing to send another car, but it soon became apparent that this was his way of negotiating more money. (I had no idea what his problem was; there was plenty of space in the car for our luggage.) After a few minutes, he offered to take us for $130, and I didn't care enough to argue. He packs the car himself in three minutes flat (so much for no room), and got us to Pomona in forty minutes - about 10:30. I was amused to see that he was very friendly as soon as negotiations had been concluded.

Our suitcases ended up all over my mother's living room, and the kids were all sleeping immediately... kidding! Everyone was up past 2AM.

Day 2
Thursday, April 3rd
The original plan had been to head down to Brooklyn for seeing our family and various personages there. However, when we saw that the Monsey bus would cost us more than $90 per trip and a car service would barely cost more, we opted to stay in Pomona for the day. We consolidated our bags, got some food at Evergreen Uptown and some of the things we had neglected to pack (deodorant, mouthwash), and had some of our Monsey family over to visit. (Actually, the other half of the semi-detached where my parents bought was later purchased by my wife's cousin, so some of our family was right there.) My kids had a blast with the kids on the street. This time, it took until 11PM for the kids to go to sleep.

Pomona essentials:
Scheiners minyan factory https://18forshay.com/
Beis Medrash of Haverstraw (BMH) for close-by davening when actually on schedule https://www.godaven.com/shul-details/23582/bais-medrash-of-haverstraw
Kehal Bnei Torah of Mt. Ivy for the largest just-upgraded shul in the area (if you want to donate: https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/822942309)
Kehal Mevakshei Hashem for Sanhedria Murchevet alumni https://www.kmhshul.com/
Arrive car service if you don't drive https://www.arrivemonsey.com/
Evergreen Uptown for groceries and fast food (https://www.evergreenkosher.com/uptown), Dollar Tree for housewares (https://locations.dollartree.com/ny/pomona/1581-route-202)

[ExGingi]

I would have checked all the trollers too 

I would have dumped them.

[ExGingi]

Day 2
Thursday, August 3rd

These Gen Z'ers and millennials. First they bring Black Friday in July, and next thing they do is move Pesach to August. But the neat thing I'd like to learn is the time warp travel when day 1 is in April and day 2 in August. This is something that must have been developed by some whiz kid that really likes school.

[yfr bachur]

We had to remember to finish all of the raw veggies we had with us and throw out the rest of the cheese.

Agav, the cheese is likely fine, and tomatoes definitely are.
Just declare and say that you are coming from Israel and IL tomatoes are allowed and that there's no meat pieces in the cheese.

[yfr bachur]

Agav, the cheese is likely fine, and tomatoes definitely are.
Just declare and say that you are coming from Israel and IL tomatoes are allowed and that there's no meat pieces in the cheese.

no longer true IINM
You can always check at
https://acir.aphis.usda.gov

[mevinyavin]

Agav, the cheese is likely fine, and tomatoes definitely are.
Just declare and say that you are coming from Israel and IL tomatoes are allowed and that there's no meat pieces in the cheese.

The purpose of throwing things out was not to avoid breaking the law/ being caught, but rather, to save the extra time that making the declaration would cost us.

[mevinyavin]

These Gen Z'ers and millennials. First they bring Black Friday in July, and next thing they do is move Pesach to August. But the neat thing I'd like to learn is the time warp travel when day 1 is in April and day 2 in August. This is something that must have been developed by some whiz kid that really likes school.

At least this typo was caught while I had the chance to fix it. 

[mevinyavin]

Days 3-4
Friday morning, we called Moishe's car service for 11AM, headed to Staten Island to my brother-in-law for Shabbos. The car came a few minutes early and the driver made no move to rush us. The cost was $110. We had originally packed a suitcase specifically for the Staten Island trip, so getting out was relatively smooth.
Eltingville is home to a Young Israel, a branch of Oorah, and a community kollel and yeshiva (the latter of which was closed for bein hazmanim). The family we visited had spent many years with us in EY before moving to the koller, and we thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with them. (We helped occupy their kids so they could prep for Pesach.  ) The neighborhood was peaceful and quiet, and within walking distance of an Aldi, Walgreens and CVS, as well as the MTA's Eltingville transit center with a local bus to Brooklyn and express buses to Manhattan.

Day 5
Sunday morning, we went on a day trip to Brooklyn, taking the Staten Island shuttle. The shuttle costs $10 per person (except little kids) and you can pay with a card. We needed to be driven to the first stop, though. In Brooklyn (they drop off along Ft. Hamilton and 49th street, just like many other frum bus companies), we got around with quite a bit of walking and one bus ride, visiting one brother-in-law, a cousin we are close with, a very good friend of mine and his family, one choshuveh Rebbitzen that my wife is close with, and my Rebbe. We had lunch at Kosher Hut because that's where we were at Mincha time. This friend and I have a "minhag" of going out together for ice cream (this holy custom is more than fifteen years old), so we went to the Ice Cream House and got some. At our last visit at around 6PM - another friend of the family - the kids fell asleep on the couch. As such, we took another one of Moishe's car service rides back to Staten Island ($90). Total number of lollipops my kids got from the people we visited: four.

Day 6
I left my family in Staten Island and caught a ride with an avreich to Brooklyn. I had a few errands to run (after taking a short walk around Bingo like a good tourist).

I headed into a branch of TD to determine the status of our accounts there. Originally, I had been very happy with them, but a few years back, they started shutting the accounts on the slightest strange activity - and after hours on the phone, telling me I could resolve the account "by walking into the branch." After this happened a few times, we stopped using the account, and a few years after that, they sent us a letter saying it was closed. I don't trust anyone, so I wanted confirmation. Instead, I got a few printouts of my cousin's accounts being closed! (He has the same name.) Unfortunately, I only discovered that she had been looking at the wrong accounts after I got back to Staten Island, and I never got actual confirmation. Maybe next time.

In Chase, I cashed a savings bond my parents had dug up. It had been issued shortly after I was born for $100, and even though it had long-since matured, it continued to accumulate value. It took the teller and bank manager together about twenty minutes to figure out how to process it, and then they deposited $415 into the account. (I think the $100 from back then was worth more than that, but hey, it was a cool gift. I think it made the teller's day, anyway.)

I decided not to be cheap about being contactable in the US and rented a phone at Hoffys - $25 a week (iirc). The phone had texting but I pretended it didn't so I would be potur from getting and responding to them. I stopped into Amnons for lunch and into China Glatt to get some food for supper at my parents, as I couldn't predict the availability of food there later. I also picked up some replacement food for my brother-in-law's house, as my kids had made a significant dent in his supplies.

The avreich headed back into Staten Island in the mid-afternoon, and after cleaning up where we stayed, we took the car service back up to Pomona. The driver asked if he could charge us $6 more to take a faster route, and I was happy to say yes at those prices. The kids were asleep by the time we arrived, so we were able to grab a Maariv at Rabbi Scheiner's and eat before going to sleep.

Moishe's Car Service: 917-854-5050

Eltingville essentials
Eltingville Transit Center https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eltingville_Transit_Center
Aldi https://www.yelp.com/biz/aldi-staten-island?osq=aldi+grocery+store
S79 to Brooklyn (connects to the R train and the B8) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S79_(New_York_City_bus)
Staten Island shuttle: Meir Transportation 718-342-3000

No one needs info about Brooklyn, right?

[ExGingi]

No one needs info about Brooklyn, right?

Wrong!

What Hechsher does Amnon's have nowadays?

[moko]

Wrong!

What Hechsher does Amnon's have nowadays?

[ExGingi]

Never heard of this. Is it considered a good Heimishe Hechsher?