Beverly surprises the family with an end-of-summer vacation to Miami. Erica, Barry, and Adam are allowed to bring Geoff, Brea, and Ren. However, Beverly reveals the real reason for the trip (a relative's Bar Mitzvah) to Geoff, who accidentally spills to Erica.
- Butt-Monkey: The passenger sitting next to Barry. He was flying to finally meet his birth mother for the first time, but eventually decides he'd rather leave immediately and try again next year than continue to put up with the Goldbergs' antics.
- The Cameo: The captain of the plane is played by David Leisure, who played one of the Hare Krishna passengers in Airplane!
- Claustrophobia: Geoff gets this when Bev, and later Erica, confront him in the already-cramped airplane restroom, making it easy for him to give in to their demands.
- Embarrassing Cover Up: Both Beverly and Erica ambush Geoff in the airplane's restroom to make him keep quiet about/get him to reveal the reason for the trip, respectively, and loudly announce to curious onlookers that Geoff just needed help after having bowel issues.
- Fictional Counterpart: The Goldbergs fly Oceanic Airlines.
- Finger-Tenting: Erica notes Bev doing this as she explains her plan to Murray and realizes she's up to something.
- Gave Up Too Soon: After failing to upgrade him and Ren to first class, Barry resigns himself to coach, where his seat doesn't recline. He has Adam switch places with him, just in time for the flight attendant to notice the malfunctioning seat and give Adam and Brea the first class seats Barry wanted.
- Heel Realization: The Goldberg children are humbled after Beverly's "The Reason You Suck" Speech, and do everything they can to fix their mistakes and attend the Bar Mitzvah.
- Hiding the Handicap: Brea eventually gets to reveal that she is forced to wear orthodontal headgear every night, which will include while they're in Miami, but had kept it a secret to maintain her popularity.
- Innocently Insensitive: Brea keeps wanting to bring up something sensitive to Adam, and is offended when he'd rather make as many Airplane! references as he can.
- Misfit Mobilization Moment: After their Heel Realization, to get the plane flying again after causing a scene and making it land, the Goldberg children combine their talents. Erica complains to and guilt trips the front desk, Barry intimidates the staff using his nunchucks, and Adam annoys the captain into giving in by making a bunch of Airplane! references.
- Plane Awful Flight: The Goldbergs make it awful, similar to how they ruin restaurant dining. In The Tag, Barry even gets into the cockpit and dumps all the fuel out because he was amused by the word "dump".
- Sequel Episode: To "Dinner With the Goldbergs", featuring a similar montage of the Goldbergs making a fuss at different stages of the trip. The episode was even almost called "Flying With the Goldbergs"
. - Shout-Out: Adam makes tons of references to the movie Airplane! throughout the episode.
- Something We Forgot: Before boarding, Beverly makes sure that all three of the children told Pops they didn't need him to drive them to the airport. Cut to home, where Pops thinks everyone is still packing.
- Swiss-Cheese Security: Airport security is STILL lax in the 80's, with Barry allowed to bring nunchucks, ninja stars and ropes onboard, and the pilot encouraging everyone to smoke to deal with stressful turbulence. In The Tag, Adam and Barry even get into the cockpit, and Barry messes with the controls before the captain can stop him.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After the children make a huge fuss (to the point that the whole flight is outright cancelled) about being tricked into going to a Bar Mitzvah for their last week of summer vacation, Beverly tells them she felt forced to do so because, despite being wonderful children she'd love to show off, they continuously refuse to ever see their distant family (even for funerals). This gives them enough of a Heel Realization to get back onto the plane.
