Category Archives: Family Travel

American Airlines Makes Lucas A Special Crewmember

Family Travel, ,

American Airlines

Leading up to our recent trip to Toronto, many frustrating things took place.

We were supposed to leave for our trip just to find out that due to a screw-up by British Airways, our flight wasn’t actually booked! We got things sorted out and took the trip a week later. However, I’m still waiting for 40,500 Avios + $143.79 to be refunded.

The following week we ran into some more bad luck. Our flight was cancelled. We were booked in biz but had to fly coach the following day. I wondered if we were owed compensation. On a positive note, Marriott customer service impressed and I didn’t lose a free night certificate. Find out if AA gave us compensation for being moved from biz to coach.

Our visit was pretty brief due to our flight cancellation as well as our flight the following day being delayed a couple of hours. As brief as our visit was, we still had a good time. Continue reading American Airlines Makes Lucas A Special Crewmember →

Michael W Travels Halloween Flight Crew

Family Travel, , ,

American Museum of Natural History

For Halloween this year, Kim, Lucas and I did something a bit different. Rather than go trick or treating around our neighborhood, we headed to Manhattan for a very interesting event.

We went to the American Museum of Natural History for their 20th Annual Halloween Celebration.

The event sounded like a great idea where we could experience the museum while trick or treating, see characters likes Curious George & Llama Llama, hear live performances and check out what other activities were planned.

We decided to have a family theme for this year’s costume. Continue reading Michael W Travels Halloween Flight Crew →

Switched Flights & A Broken Stroller, Thanks American Airlines

Family Travel, ,
american airlines
image: Google Maps

Our recent flight to Grenada was one of the odder ones that we’ve been on in quite some time.

When I originally booked our award flight with AAdvantage miles, the only award availability had us flying from New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to Philadelphia. We then had a tight connection for our next flight to Miami where we’d have an almost three-hour layover before flying to Grenada.

Here are a couple of odd (interesting) things that happened. Continue reading Switched Flights & A Broken Stroller, Thanks American Airlines →

Spend Halloween in NYC at the American Museum of Natural History

Family Travel, NYC, ,

American Museum of Natural History

As a little kid, I always found it exciting to get dressed up and go trick or treating around the neighborhood. I always got a kick out of ringing strangers’ door bells and scoring lots of treats.

In recent years, we’ve taken Lucas trick or treating a couple of times but I can’t say that it was so exciting. Then again, getting dressed up is half the fun. Check out Lucas asĀ my little burger from a few years back during Purim, another holiday where you get dressed up. Last year we all dressed up as skeletons. After Lucas picked out his costume at the store, Kim got crafty and made us ours.

This year I am really excited for Halloween since we’ll be doing something quite different from what we’ve ever done before. Continue reading Spend Halloween in NYC at the American Museum of Natural History →

A Visit to the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital

Family Travel, Trip Reports, , ,

Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital

During our trip to the Middle East Gulf States, our first stop was Abu Dhabi, UAE.

We didn’t have lots of things planned but there was one place that I was really hoping to visit, the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital.

After finding out that in the UAE, falcons get passports, I really wanted to check out the hospital even though a reader commented that they were disappointed after their visit.

During (and after) our tour I sure was glad that I went with my gut and took the tour! Continue reading A Visit to the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital →

Thomas the Train Theme Park Opens in US

Family Travel, ,

Thomas the Train Theme Park

Last summer we were invited to check out construction theme park Diggerland in West Berlin, NJ. (You can check out my review of the park here.)

It’s been a little over a year since our visit to Diggerland and Lucas still asks to go there all of the time. We were invited to come again to check out what’s new at the park after they celebrated theirĀ first anniversary.

While Lucas still loves diggers and other construction machinery, he’s also a fan of trains. Continue reading Thomas the Train Theme Park Opens in US →

Brooklyn Bridge Park, Those Views…

Family Travel, Trip Reports, , ,

Brooklyn Bridge Park

Kim and I have been visiting DUMBO in Brooklyn, NY for quite some time. However, our visits used to be pretty much, just for culinary reasons. Think Jacques Torres ChocolateĀ and the famous Grimaldi’s Pizzeria (although I wouldn’t consider them worthy of the lines they get during the busy summer months & holidays.)

A few years back Patsy Grimaldi returned to the pizza business with his new shop Juliana’s. It took over the original Grimaldi’s location and I’d definitely recommend giving it a try. (FYI- You’ll see very long lines there too.)

When Lucas was born we started going to DUMBO for the impressive Brooklyn Bridge Park. Continue reading Brooklyn Bridge Park, Those Views… →

Family Booted Off JetBlue Flight

Family Travel, ,
JetBlue Flight
image: Yahoo Parenting from Mona Doshi

A family claims to have been unfairly kicked off of a JetBlue flight earlier this week according to an article from Yahoo Parenting (which Kim sent my way).

According to what was written, it appears that the reason the family got the boot was due to questioning the flight attendants and also responding in an irritated manner.

Overall, based on what I read in the article, these things wouldn’t seem to be an appropriate reason to turn a plane back to the gate and kick a family off of a flight. Continue reading Family Booted Off JetBlue Flight →

Updates to Southwest’s Reusable Car Seat/ Stroller Bag

Family Travel, ,
Southwest Airlines
The new bag

Back in early 2014 I wrote about Southwest Airlines selling a reusable car seat/ stroller bag.

At just $15, the stroller bag seemed like a bargain. While looking up car seat and stroller bags on Amazon, I saw that many bags did sell in a price range of $12-$25 give or take. You could also just use a laundry bag for your car seat which could be bought for just a couple of dollars. Continue reading Updates to Southwest’s Reusable Car Seat/ Stroller Bag →

Global Entry Interviews For Kim & Lucas, Impressively Fast!

Family Travel, Travel Articles,

Global Entry Interview

Last Friday, I headed to JFK Airport but it wasn’t for a flight. Kim and Lucas had their Global Entry interviews scheduled.

While I was expecting some sort of wait, the process went smoothly and we were in and out in very little time.

Due to some wise thinking by Kim, we didn’t only save some time, we also saved $16 during the process. Continue reading Global Entry Interviews For Kim & Lucas, Impressively Fast! →