Whatever happened to the friendly skies?

Back in the day, when I worked for a completely different company, I used to fly the friendly skies pretty much twice a week. My airline of choice - Delta.

I liked Delta because they assigned me a seat (no jockeying for position with fellow passengers, who "inadvertently" elbow you in the head as they fight to get their coveted seat.) I also preferred Delta because I could rack up SkyMiles and take free flights to any location of my choice, (not South Bend, Indiana or Texarkana, Texas).

Now that I'm no longer flying every freaking week of my life (thank goodness), I generally fly Southwest Airlines - they tend to have the cheapest flights to Boise, which is where I spend most of my vacation time because that's where my family is located.

A couple of weeks ago, my mom let me know that my younger brother and his wife would be trekking from CA to Boise in order to pick up their munchkin, who has been spending his summer vacation hanging out with the grandparents.

This news excited me. I thought, "Self, you should take a couple of days off work and go to Boise so you can pick on your brother, harrass your sister-in-law, and kiss on that darling little nephew of yours." So, I listened to myself and began searching the internet for the best flight deal possible. (I rarely drive to Boise. I mean, it's 5 hours in a car for pity's sake. Can you say "numb-bum"? I'm not a roadtrip kind of girl.)

I was pleasantly surprised to find that for once, Delta had the better deal. So, I promptly got the time off, and booked my ticket. (Yeah, me!)

As time drew closer for my trip, I mention to my SIL in a comment on her blog that I will be in Boise the same time they are. Later that evening, the lil brother calls to inform me that they will actually be leaving the day before I even get into town. WTC???!!!

So, I was in a bit of a quandary as to what to do - do I go to Boise anyway, or do I move the trip and save the vacation time?

I decided to change my flight. (This is where Delta sucks rocks.)

Delta charges a $150.00 fee to change your flight ON TOP OF the difference between your original flight and the new one. (I remember when it was only $50 to change your ticket. Yeesh!)

It was almost $500 to change my flight to earlier in the week. I wasn't having any of that, so I decided to put the money towards my flight home at Thanksgiving. It was only $50 difference between the 2 flights, but I also had to pay the $150 change fee.

So much for flying the "friendly" skies.

Lesson learned: Call your brother before you make any flight plans.