My Daily Rant

I must be getting old because I’m finding it easier and easier to find things to complain about. Last week it was the house appraisal charade that had me up in arms and this week it’s the joke of trying to use frequent fliers miles. Now this one upsets me even more.

Yesterday I booked flights for our next vacation. We are headed out west and our preferred airline (United) is not the most ideal for our destination. Flying United would mean connecting through the dreaded O’Hare airport in Chicago, where your chances of being delayed are greater than being mugged in Rome, and the cost would be over $100 more per person. But still, I strongly considered flying on United to 1) accrue the frequent flier miles, and 2) use my elite status benefits. It was a tough decision, weighing the pros and cons, but I finally decided to abandon United and go for the best deal with the easiest route.

And boy am I glad that I did. This morning I started to research flying to Europe this fall using my frequent flier miles. I have a very flexible schedule and I’m starting the planning process well in advance. I didn’t think it would be an issue to get a free ticket. HA. What a joke. I have two preferred airports that I would like to fly into to get to Milan –neither of which are valid frequent flier travel airports. OK, I’m willing to drive a little further so I selected Milan and let the computer pick among the 5 different airport choices, only to find that NONE of them are an option when using my ‘saver’ miles. I am so irritated. After all the hassles of travels, the airport delays, the lost baggage, the stressful connections, and the loyal usage of one airline, it would be nice to be able to take advantage of what is rightfully owed to you!