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Why I Turned Down A $1,200 Voucher

The answer is not “because it was for Delta Airlines,” though it was Delta doing the offering. 🙂

The $1,200 Offer

I checked in for my flight from Athens to JFK and was notified that there was a chance that they would be looking for volunteers due to an oversold situation. Being that it was the only Athens to JFK flight of the day, I could certainly understand that. I didn’t think anything else about it until I reached Athens the next day and every airline representative I encountered asked if I would like a $1,000 voucher and a night in a hotel and food vouchers to take the same flight the next day. They were asking every passenger that and began to announce it over the speakers.

It turns out that they did need 6 people in the end to take advantage of that! The offer was pretty decent as you can get a lot of travel (and miles) for $1,200 (they took it up from $1,000). Plus, a night in historic Athens on Delta’s dime? However, I was not found on the list of the 6 names that took Delta up on that fine offer.

Why I Turned It Down

Let me back up a little bit. I had to fly to the US for a conference for a few days last week and the flights I was using just lined up enough that it was going to leave me in NYC for about 13 hours, overnight. My dad was going to be returning home on that same day from a trip, so I put together a little plan as a 60th birthday present. I used miles to fly him up to JFK to meet me and got us tickets to the Yankee game as well as miles on a ticket back to his home the next morning.

We were both really excited about it and looked forward to it. I do not get to see my dad all that much since I live outside of the US so an opportunity to spend some time with him, even for just a few hours, is really worth it. Plus, as Yankee fans, we would be able to take a game in together – and that is always a good time!

Did I give a moment’s thought to taking the voucher and missing this meetup with my dad? Not even for a second! I was really wanting to see him and I knew he was excited about it as well. In a way, however, the offer was kind of a gift. It is not often that you can come close to putting a price tag on spending time with family. Well, Delta (unknowingly) tried to put a $1,200 price tag on a few hours of time with my dad and I knew immediately that it was not an option. Maybe if they offered $15,000… 🙂

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About the author

Charlie

Charlie has been an avid traveler and runner for many years. He has run in marathons around the world for less than it would cost to travel to the next town - all as a result of collecting and using miles and points. Over the years, he has flown hundreds of thousands of miles and collected millions of miles and points.
Now he uses this experience and knowledge to help others through Running with Miles.

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