I am proud that my son is a Marine but the Military does not do things that make sense. Daredevil is being considered for recruiters assistance. That means, if approved, he will be able to come home and help his recruiter for up to 30 days. His school does not start until Jan. 22. He was given a letter of recommendation yesterday. It says he can start RA on 9 Dec but he has to be back on 2Jan. The return date can and probably will be extended by his recruiter to Jan 8th or 9th but only after he has arrived. So, we have to pay holiday price for a ticket that will most likely be changed. This means he will have to come up with $600 to $900 to come home, depending on where he departs. He is responsible for getting to the airport also. The closest airport is Palm Springs but he could also leave from Las Vegas or LA. If we could make it for returning on the 8th I could use my 28,000 American Airline miles and get him a "free ticket". But, because the return date has to be the 2nd, even though most likely it will be changed, AA wants 45,000 miles to get a ticket.
Anybody have any AA miles they want to donate? Any other ideas? Help, I need to get my Marine home for Christmas.
UPDATE: We ended up using my miles to get a round trip ticket for the dates he will most likely travel (Dec 9 and Jan 9) and then bought a one-way ticket for the 2nd which was required even though he probably won't use it then. But, I booked it through Southwest and they are good about changing tickets. So, he will probably have a one way ticket to Las Vegas to use later. That could be trouble. But, doing it that way we only spent $365 instead of the $890 it was going to cost. Now, he has to present it to his Command tomorrow and hope they approve it.
I'd like to give a hat tip to the operators at American Airlines. I spoke with four different women and everyone of them were extremely helpful, polite and sincere. They really worked hard searching schedules and prices for me trying to find the best option. AA has let me down in the past, but I can say that their customer service over the last two days was outstanding. Thank you ladies.
Also, a special thanks goes out to Tammi for her offer and willingness to help. Tammi, People like you restore faith in the world. Thank you.
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