Once again, our family is on the road, or should I say in the air...
One of our close family friends in Atlanta were due any day around Shavuot, and they knew they were having a boy. Also, it had been a while since my parents saw our 6-month-old (Pesach, lol). So, it just made sense for us to go there for chag.
Flights
Back in April, our former favorite airline, alav hashalom (iykyk), Southwest, discontinued direct flights from PHL to ATL, so we had to find another airline.
Thankfully, I was one of the very few people targeted for the limited-time “Points Offer” on my Chase Sapphire Reserve, an insane 2.25¢ per point through the travel portal. Naturally, I had to book a bunch of trips (including this one) to take full advantage of such a rare, highly targeted deal.
Wize WalletzSo I went ahead and booked us a round-trip on United through the portal.
Wize WalletzUnder 40k points for 2 round-trip tickets in first-class. I think that's a pretty good deal.
Something came up, and we had to take care of something Wednesday morning in ATL. So, I had to switch our flight to a later one. After a quick chat with a United representative, we got rebooked with no fare difference and no rebooking fee, just because I asked if it could be waived. The agent had no issue doing it and rebooked us on the 3:30 PM flight. Never hurts to ask!!
Lo and behold, my friend's wife gave birth to a son on Wednesday, and they decided to do the Brit on Wednesday night, so I had to contact United again to see if they could change my flight to Thursday. After a few attempts to charge me another $400 to change the flight, I asked to speak with their manager to see if they could waive the difference. All of a sudden, they were able to rebook me at no extra cost at 6:30 AM on Thursday. Again, never hurts to ask!!
Departing Flight
It was very risky to fly out of EWR at 12 PM on Friday with all the delays and cancellations that are going on now, maybe I should have booked for Thursday, but what's the fun in that? Thank G-D, no delays or anything, and we actually landed a bit earlier than scheduled.
Although it was a short flight and we weren't able to have a meal, we had a great flight, with amazing service.
We connected our AirPods to our screens and watched the new Mufasa movie. As a die-hard Lion King fan, I was a bit skeptical about how it was going to turn out, but I was very impressed. It was a great movie.
Wize WalletzCar RentalAfter grabbing our bags, we headed straight to Hertz and were able to pull out a brand new Buick Envista. The rate for the entire week was just $42. An unbelievable deal, using the CDP that I made for my business, and a Promo Code that was going around.
Wize WalletzHere's the car that we pulled out. Kind of looks like the Mercedes SUVs. It drove pretty well and was quite comfortable.
Wize WalletzHere's a picture of the odometer when we got into the car, only 5 miles on it.
Wize WalletzAs we headed to the gate, we were greeted by Hertz’s new AI-aided inspection system, “UVeye,” which scans the car before and after for damages, and charges “accordingly,” or whatever Hertz feels like deciding.
Wize WalletzStayWe stayed at my parents for the entire time. We all had a nice Shabbat and Chag, and they had a blast with our baby.
For the first night of Shavuot, I went around to a few different Shuls and stopped by the Atlanta Yeshiva (Ohr Yisrael of Atlanta), where I actually learned for four years. It was great seeing all the Rebbeim and all the other Atlanta folk.
On Wednesday, we went to my friend’s Brit. It was an amazing party with tons of food, drinks, and pumping music. Unlike most Brits, this one was a full sit-down dinner and dancing.
After all that, we stayed up through the night, packing and waiting to leave for the airport at about 3:30 AM.
Arriving FlightWe dropped off the car at Hertz, went through the UVeye scan again, and headed to the gate. We got there an hour early—unfortunately, also an hour before the lounges opened. Thankfully, there were some couches right by our gate that helped relax a bit after that all-nighter.
We boarded the plane, sitting in 1E and 1F. I almost immediately fell asleep to my relaxing Spotify "sleep music" playlist.
This was our 6-month-old’s 13th flight, and let me just say, absolute champ. No crying, no whining, not even a whimper. Truly a pleasure to fly with. The only downside is that on full flights, she’s in-lap. But when there are open seats, we bring her certified Doona on board and strap her in. That’s a game changer, and it’s worked out a few times. All we had to do was... wait for it... ask.
I'll give you one of the best travel hacks, if not the best: "It never hurts to ask."
Want to Travel Like This?
Feel free to ask me any questions.
