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Some unanticipated business required a trip to Boston so that I could attend a meeting. The meeting was scheduled for a Friday and I was thankful that I would be able to stay over the weekend and spend some time exploring the city.
I asked Susan if she wanted to join me. She did want to go, but also had some obligations that she couldn’t get out of. She looked at me a little funny during the discussion. “Didn’t you and Barbara (my ex-wife) go to Boston a couple times.” – “Hmm, I think we did. It was a long time ago”. We absolutely did, but I wasn’t going to share this with Susan.
Introduction: Business in Boston
Review: Delta Domestic First Class – Sacramento To Boston
Review: Delta Sky Club – Salt Lake City
Review: Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor
Review: Hyatt Regency Boston
Thoughts On Boston
Review: Delta Sky Club – Boston
Review: Delta Sky Club – Minneapolis
Drive By: The Escape Lounge – Minneapolis
Review: Delta Domestic First Class – Boston to Sacramento
I had about a weeks’ notice for this trip. I would fly Delta to help close in on my million miller status and my final year of elite status with them. Coach was running between $650.00 and $900.00 for the flight(s) with the correct timing. There was also a first class flight for $1,250.00. Considering the extra MQMs and that this was going to be a transcontinental flight I choice the first class itinerary.
I have complete discretion over my travel budget, and I have always been thankful for that. There are plenty of times I choose to travel in coach, but when the circumstances are correct I’ll also choose a first class fare. For myself, it’s a matter of an economic chose of the benefits I receive vs marginal cost for those benefits. As Delta has done more and more first class monetization, first class fares have really come down. First class transcontinental fare’s in the range of $900.00 to $1,200.00 are no brainers when you consider the extra MQMs and points. If coach is within a few hundred dollars of that price, even more so.
This is one of the reasons I decided not to pursue elite status with Delta after 2017. In the future it may make sense to travel with Delta on a particular itinerary, and in those cases I can pay a premium for the first class ticket. Delta has discounted its first class seats more often in order to receive the marginal revenue. From Delta’s perspective why should they give this seat away to an elite when instead they can sell it and pocket the extra revenue. From my perspective I can “buy elite status” on Delta, per flight, and look at more lucrative loyalty programs that have a better reward for return business.
The final itinerary ended up being SMF-SLC-BOS / BOS-MSP-SMF.
The connection time was 60 minutes in Salt Lake City. I actually prefer longer layovers when traveling. You can take some time to check out the airport and lounges, and they are generally more forgiving on travel hiccups. In this case the shorter connection was better priced. At least there was no need to play the upgrade lottery on this Delta itinerary.
