Originally Posted by Yoshi212

WN typically had 3 nonstop flights between MDW & BUF leaving at 9:00, 13:30 & 22:20 arriving ~2h30 minutes (90 min flight+1 hour time change). If you were to leave after work on Friday you can grab a relatively inexpensive hotel near the airport (there are man) and then drive the nice 3 hour drive to Ithaca the next day. I know you said you had a hotel in SYR but you might be able to find something closer to Ithaca.

Originally Posted by guv1976

AA and UA also have unrestricted award inventory; it's just a question of how many miles you are willing to pay. WN's award seats are priced based on the available cash price, so a WN award seat will not necessarily be a bargain, but might still cost fewer miles than an AA or UA unrestricted award to SYR.