great minds think alike @:-)

thinking i inadvertently picked the wrong flt combo, i checked ua.com to see if i could've picked a later PHX flight but they are all $500+ so my anticipated long layover is out

speaking of .bomb, it actually worked in my favor this time, i found the PHX connection via ITA but it didn't pull up the low fare, only the $500+ ones.

i then did a multi city on ua.com and voila there was the $149 baby

i've already checked and it looks like there's a FedEX and USPS both open on Sat very close to LAX.

that's what i'll probably do as i have plenty of layover time. if anyone has reason for me to pick one over the other, please advise.

fwiw, it seems that at least 1 luggage forwarding service (Luggage Express) offers a free bag shipment if you're a CitiAA card holder (of course i just recently canceled my card ....)

http://www.866shipbags.com/benefit/

many many thanks again