It’s not possible to summarize my long weekend going to a friend’s wedding. That because it was a significant trip not just for the bride and groom, but Rita and I. As a result, rather than try to condense the weighty feeling of going back to what you know just as you approach one of life’s milestones, my thoughts will probably get mixed into other posts.

But for those of you that like my economic analysis, I couldn’t resist saying something about the trip there. Namely, Rita and I booked a one-stop flight to Oakland through Ontario. WE did it because it was cheaper than flying direct. However, the flight ended up being overbooked (this was a Friday). So they needed volunteers to be shifted to another flight. The irony was that this flight left only five minutes later and was also one-stop, going through LAX instead. And for the privilege, Southwest provided us not just with a voucher, but they also refunded our tickets for the original flight onto said voucher. A total value of around $500.

Once aboard, we noticed that the plane was only about half full. Sitting in row twenty, there was no one behind Rita and I until we reached Los Angeles.

One the way home, however, our flight was cancelled. Not because of a weather delay or mechanical problem, I learned but likely because it was too empty. Not only that, but it was Southwest policy to delay another flight to “fill it up” with passenger stranded by the cancellation. This is because unlike the old days when a “direct” flight on Southwest went through three cities or so, now it is more like five. Those worried that air travel has become the “Greyhound of the Skies”, take heart. This whole operation smelled more like Amtrak than anything else.

It took some cajoling in Oakland, but we had them put on on another one-stop flight home that left a little bit early than the one they wanted to put us on. But the voucher, it’s still good for the next year. And hopefully, so will Southwest.