Gearing up for holiday travel

I definitely made a mistake by not purchasing our Christmas tickets to Colorado before we left for Mexico. Tickets went from $450/seat to $650+/seat during this time, with availability disappearing by the minute. Given the fact we have to purchase three tickets, that's not a small change! We were about to buck up and pay the hefty price, when I decided to check for miles tickets.

Miracle of miracles, we were able to get all three tickets on miles (albeit for 50k miles/ticket, rather than the usual 25k), with the added benefit of leaving from the nearby (and very small) Westchester County Airport. The whole thing cost us $130, before the incredibly irritating charges for checked bags.

So with all that in mind, we can fly easy on Saturday morning. We have a short drive to a calm and comparatively relaxing airport, an easy connection in Chicago, and we'll be welcomed by Denver's forthcoming "Arctic Blast" by afternoon.