Starting on the 21st?

Maybe.

Not only are we going to get snow tonight into tomorrow, but there is also a forecast for rain/snow Monday night into Tuesday. Yes … that’s Tuesday, the 22nd. The day we are scheduled to fly to Miami bright and early in the morning.

Our first instinct was to fly to Miami over the weekend and enjoy a few extra days in the warm sunshine. Then, I looked at the United flights! Nope, not going to happen. Changing our tickets would mean re-ticketing at the current prices … ~ $650pp or using awards of 63K+ miles for each of us. That’s in comparison to the award tickets we purchased for 23,600 miles per person in January. Methinks these ridiculous fares are due to two factors … Spring Break and the continued increase in fuel prices.

What to do? After discussing options, we decided to just head up to the Denver Airport the day before and stay at a hotel nearby. At $400 + taxes, I felt that the Westin at the airport was "conveniently" overpriced. Just ±5 miles from DEN, however, I found a multitude of other properties to choose from.

In the end, I settled on the Staybridge Suites. The room rate includes breakfast and the hotel has an airport shuttle … all good things to have.

We are still in the dark as to the forecast details for Monday, but knowing that we have a place to stay near the airport has eliminated the stress. If the storm fizzles out, we can cancel up to 48 hours ahead. Otherwise, we’ll plan the trip north based on the timing of the storm.

In the meantime, plenty to do here at home before we get going … be it on the 21st or the 22nd.Read more