Trip motivation
In September 2019 over Labor Day weekend, Ben’s mom’s held a beautiful destination wedding in Key West, FL. We helped coordinate getting all of Ben’s siblings (6 of them!) to Key West and enjoyed a fun visit with family. The last time all siblings were together was our wedding in 2010! For more on the fun activities we did in Key West and where we ate, see here.
Flight: BNA to FLL
Getting There: Nashville (BNA) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) Sat 5:35a-8:50a (2h 15m)
Coming Back: FLL to BNA Tue 7:35p-9p (2h 25m)
Using Southwest Points
Ben + Jenn: 12k points/person RT
Carter + Ellie: Companion pass for Carter! Ellie was a free lap-baby at the time.
We love flying Southwest. We transferred points from Chase to Southwest for this trip. At this point in time, we still had 2 Companion Passes so the kiddos just had to pay taxes. Companion passes are a perk of getting a ton of Southwest miles in a year. We had 2 in 2019 from credit card sign-ups . This is an amazing perk and we definitely took advantage of the kids flying for free when we had the pass. 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.
Airfare for Siblings
A perk of collecting miles and points is that it made it easy to help the whole family fly there to show support for Ben’s mom. One of my credit cards at the time (AMEX Rose Gold) had a $100 airline credit per year that I used to buy Southwest gift cards. I used these cards to help 2 other siblings fly from Nashville to Fort Lauderdale as well. For the 2 siblings who lived in Pensacola, FL, American was the best option to get to the airport in Key West. We purchased 2 RT tickets with cash ($220 per person). Finally, one sibling lived in Miami and drove herself. Phew.
Airport Lounges and Other Perks
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, which gives you access to lounges at various airports. Often, it is more common internationally. There was a priority pass lounge in Fort Lauderdale but we didn’t visit because it was in the wrong terminal.
Another perk we get 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. We traveled with one of Ben’s brothers and sent him straight to the regular line when we got to the airport. We went and checked in car seats and luggage and went through PreCheck security with an extra quick check of Ellie’s milk (to make sure it’s not a bomb, I guess?). Even with all of those extra steps, we still beat him out of security. For more on this benefit and how to use a credit card to receive it for free, see here.
SUV Rental
We rented a mini-van at the Fort Lauderdale Airport through Costco travel for $240 for the weekend. We needed the extra seating to help shuttle everyone around the island. For more info on car rentals and the best credit card to use, see this post.
Fort Lauderdale to Key West, FL
After a brief visit to my sister-in-law’s home and lunch at Five Guys in Hollywood, FL, we picked up my niece and started the 4 hour drive to Key West, FL. For more on road trips with kids, see this post here. Note that there are several big chunks of the drive where there aren’t bathrooms. Specifically the seven-mile bridge and some long stretches between towns.
Key West Hotel
We stayed at the Hyatt Residence Club-Beach House on the East side of Key West. Most of the action in Key West is on the West side and if you can find a good deal for a hotel or timeshare on that side, it would be better for walkability. However, where we stayed was quieter and it was easy for us to make the 10-minute drive to the action. Rates when we stayed were $400 a night. There was a full kitchen, dining table, and enough room for 8(!) of us to stay together and sleep between the 2 bedrooms, pull-out couch, patio couch, and a blow-up bed.
We decided that even though it was pricey, it was better than trying to coordinate multiple rooms together. The hotel had games to borrow and a zero-entry pool and we had enough space to spread out. The patio was nice for meals because our kids are pretty messy eaters. One of the perks of paying cash for the hotel was that we received Hyatt points for the stay which we used immediately on our next trip. You can earn Hyatt points from Hyatt stays, the Hyatt credit card and Chase points, which can be transferred to Hyatt. Learn more about points here.
Activities in Key West
For more on the fun activities we did and where we ate, see here.
