Well, I'm back in Richmond and the plan worked perfectly!

I made it into ATL from Vegas on time at around 5:20 this morning. Got upgraded at the last minute for the flight -- my first red-eye in First. It was nice.

Anyway, when I got to ATL, I asked the agent in the CRC what she thought of availability on ATL to RIC later in the day. Told her the whole story -- I was completely honest with what I was planning to do -- didn't see a need to make anything up. The agent didn't think it was a problem at all, she just said "sure, just call us 3 hours before any flight and you should have no problem -- it's wide open all day".

Went home. Slept. Relaxed. Ahh, nice.

About 3:30, I called SMS and simply said "I'm traveling from ATL to RIC today, I'd like to do same day confirmed for the 6:30 flight." Not a problem, I was confirmed over the phone. $25 fee was waived because I'm PM

About an hour later, I realized that I didn't want to deal with rush hour traffic through town to get to the airport for a 6:30. Called SMS again to ask about availability for the 9:30. Agent said that it looks excellent now, but too early to do SDC.

Called back at 6:30 (from home still -- taking a chance, I know). Easily confirmed for the 9:30. No fee. Printed BP, everything was on time, and now I'm back in RIC.

I would definitely do this again. Seems that Delta really doesn't mind -- as long as you play by the 3 hour rule. The free SDC benefit is great for GMs and PMs.

BTW, Vegas was a blast. I recommend checking out Mix, at the top of THE Hotel at Mandalay. Great view and cool atmosphere.