Trip motivation
Flight: BNA to LGA
Getting There: Nashville (BNA) to La Guardia (LGA)
Thu morning: 2 hrs + 1 hr time change
Coming Back: Sun afternoon 2 hrs – 1 hr time change
Southwest
We love flying Southwest. We had 2 sets of companion passes from credit card sign-ups.
The Southwest Companion Pass lets you bring a companion on any flight that you book and fly and only pay the taxes and fees. (Typically $5.60 for domestic flights.) It works on paid cash tickets and award tickets. Because we have 2 passes, both kids fly for free.
You can earn Southwest points from Southwest Credit Cards or by transferring Chase points using the Chase portal. See more tips on using points and miles here.
Traveling with Inflatable Car-seats
This was the perfect trip to use our new inflatable car-seats. Because we knew we would be going back and forth between public transport and cars, inflatable booster seats made sense for this trip. We were able to deflate them and pack them and even carry them in a backpack around our adventures so we could always take a cab back if we needed to. They are very lightweight and portable and a great option for trips where you don’t want to have to lug around car-seats.
Q: Are they safe?
A: Inflatable booster seats are crash tested and meet US regulations
Q: What age can children use them?
A: Our seat said you must be 4 years old and 40 pounds
Q: Are they easy to blow up?
A: Yup. Even Carter can blow up his own although an adult should do an extra breath.
Airport Lounges, Layovers and Other Perks
The same items that we use on the plane are also good when waiting at the airport. Carter has been loving the Magic Treehouse books and Ellie loves activities in the Magic Ink and small play pack coloring books (Amazon links). We have one iPad that the family shares and we use this case to protect it.
When traveling with layovers or to new cities, we always check the website of the airport and the priority pass lounge website prior to the trip (link here). The Chase Sapphire Reserve card (in addition to others) comes with Priority Pass access which gives you a card that gets you access to lounges at different airports. Often it is more common internationally. There is a minute suites currently at BNA. There’s no real benefits but it is a nice space to sit in a room by yourself with an alexa playing music so you can take off your masks and relax.
In Laguardia, there is also a minute suites and a massage place! Did you know you can get a free massage as a credit card perk?
Another perk we got from several credit cards is Global entry/PreCheck. PreCheck is a program that offers faster TSA lines at airports. There are separate lines for PreCheck travelers, and you don’t have to remove shoes, laptops, liquids, etc. It is amazing and has saved us so much time and makes it SO much easier to travel with kids. For more on this benefit and how to use a credit card to receive it for free, see here.
Other Flight Details
The flights were straightforward. Carter has been loving the Magic Treehouse books and Ellie loves activities in the Magic Ink and small play pack coloring books (Amazon links). We have one iPad that the family shares and we use this case to protect it.
On the plane, these are our favorite masks for adults and kids from Amazon. For more on our favorite activities and tips for flying, see our post here. See this post here if you need tips for putting together a packing list.
Transportation
In New York, we relied on a combination of subways, Lyft rides, and a car rental for a side trip to New Jersey. For more on our transportation tips, see here.
