It pays to ask

In an age where airlines levy fees on practically everything, I have to give props to United Airlines for lessening the pain for my flight to Winter Bloggers in Las Vegas next month.

My original ticket, using miles, instantly tilted me. It would have taken 12 hours, by flying from Atlanta to Chicago to Washington-Dulles and then to Las Vegas.

Luckily, Gnome wanted to go to Bloggers a few days early. So I decided to see what could be done. Online, it looked like I'd have to pay $150 for any change to my schedule.

I found a nonstop (!) ticket on Delta for $325.

So, I could:

1). Try to get my free United ticket refunded for $150 and buy the Delta tix. ($325).
2). Eat the free ticky and buy the Delta tix ($325).

This created a dilemma of Freakonomics proportions - is it worth it to pay money for miles you've already accrued?

In the end, I decided to call United to see if I could make a change and pay $150, saving the $325. Of course, my itinerary sucked but it's better than paying extra money.

So I called and was happy to find out that my new itinerary cut out Chicago from the trip, saving me about 9 hours in the process.

And it cost nothing to make the change. So I guess it always pays to ask, even when you think the outcome is certain.