A day in the sky today on United Airlines. My itinerary is SAV-ORD-SEA-IAD-SAV. I start at 6:45AM and arrive back in Savannah at 11:31PM. The ticket cost was $140 using a UA voucher and will net me 10,630 Elite qualifying miles with the Double Elite Miles Promo.
The only bump possibility looks to be Chicago to Seattle on the outbound and if all goes well, I’ll be at the gate about 1 hour 30 minutes before departure. If a bump does come about it will mean an overnight somewhere, but if they need me bad enough they can have me. I wonder if the Denied Boarding Compensation has really doubled?
I made a bit of a mistake when booking this itinerary. I requested upgrades using E500′s for both the long segments ORD-SEA and SEA-IAD. The first flight cleared yesterday and requires 4-E500′s. And the return also cleared which requires 5-E500′s. Unfortunately I only have five E500′s in my account. When I tried calling to back up to coach on the ORD-SEA segment I was informed they would have to reprice my ticket as there are no more “L” class seats available. That is not going to happen. I’ll deal with it at the airport tomorrow. I could buy 4 more 500′s but that is $200 bucks and defeats the purpose of the low cost Mileage Run. Who would have imagined both of those segments would have cleared? I’ll fill you in tomorrow.
The Bump Comes Through $400
I arrived on schedule in Chicago and headed to the Red Carpet Club as planned. The front desk indicated yes,the flight Chicago to Seattle was oversold by 20. I was #1 on the list. I sauntered over to the gate about 45 minutes before departure and it was obvious that I would be bumped. The agent suggested a coach seat at 12:03 PM and I refused saying I had the flights I needed all picked. She was hesitant to go along with my plan of a 5PM flight in first class which I had checked, an 11:15PM departure from Seattle to Washington Dulles in first class arriving at 7:10AM and connecting to a 8:25 AM flight to Savannah again which had first class seats available, that gets me home at 10:21 AM instead of 11:30 tonight. I had nothing else planned anyway. And after I gave the agent a United appreciation certificate, she was able to book all segments in F class or First, which pays 150% EQM instead of 100%, a lunch voucher showed up and all is well here in Chicago land. The Cubs play at night so that is out, but I’m sure I’ll find something to keep my self busy. Maybe a nap. Proper, Prior Planning pays off again. This is a profitable itinerary. And it solves my E500 problem as United now is providing the upgrades instead of using mine.
Frugally Yours
Rick
