I live in the East Bay, about 45 miles from SFO. I am thinking about trying out Modesto Airport (MOD) for an upcoming trip. MOD is about 70 miles from home, a mere 25 miles' extra drive vis-a-vis SFO (and "easier driving miles" provided you're not going in the commute direction in I-580 between Dublin and Livermore).

The fare (booking class T) for my planned itinerary is $284 round trip from SFO or $301 round trip from MOD. I've checked the MOD option in the past and have never seen the differential this small. The MOD flights connect to/from the same itinerary from/to SFO. The MOD-SFO flight is 41 minutes, 78 miles.

Pluses of trying out Modesto for the extra $17:
- Free long-term parking at MOD counteracts the long-term parking and/or BART fares of using SFO (also factor in the San Mateo Bridge toll if you want to be nitpicky).
- 2 extra flight segments/ 1000 extra EQMs (retail value=~$20, more if this is the 1,000 miles that makes the difference for crossing an elite threshold this year).
- The short turboprop flights over the Bay Area would be fun.

Negatives of using Modesto:
- The obvious extra travel time involved
- Itinerary in both directions would involve two connections (SFO and ORD) instead of just one; hence two opportunities for missed connections. I suppose if I missed the SFO-MOD flight on the way home and it was going to be a long wait for an open seat on a later flight, I could simply go home and ask UA if they'd confirm me to fly that segment on the upcoming Saturday (that'd be kind of a fun thing to do on an otherwise open weekend) so I could l go retrieve my car (you think they'd play ball?).

Anyway, just wondering if anyone has any wisdom on this proposed plan.