rate my sdc strategy
 

i am GM.

on a crisp sunday morning in Las Vegas.....

sunday 6am flight las-dtw is cheeeeeep compared to alternatives later in day.

next nonstop is 945

can i sdc to a connecting itinerary starting with a 700 flight to atl or lax or a 800 flight to mem and repeat until i can get hopefully on a later n/s to dtw?

(use the sdc to a connecting itinerary to get into the 3 hr window for a later LAS-DTW n/s)

if i have to fly earlier no problem, but i can't just miss the 600 and take a chance and be SOL cuz have to get back to work

or just pay the $75 difference and sleep in

I would pay the 75 to sleep Interesting stradegy, but it's a gamble -if seats will be available and then you missed your flight or mechanical, etc If you have to be somewhere at a certain time, I would not do it. Good luck

I say go for it. Life's too boring if you don't make it interesting.

it really depends on the sunday. Some sundays are zeroed out and your SDC will not happen. If it is only 75 difference, i would honestly pay it. Really depends on the past week events and the weekend events.

I only play the SDC game if i am willing to take my original routing. So if loads are high, take the original flight.

I wouldn't.
 

I wouldn't risk it, everybody misses their 6am flight, and they get rebooked later. I went to vegas 6 times last year (thurs-sun type trips), and the sunday returns (LAS-ATL/MEM/CVG) were always impossible for an SDC, and I'm a diamond.

Pay the 75 bucks, lock it in.

This.

Outbounds from LAS on Sunday are rough to get SDC'd to other flights.

There are almost no seats available today LAS-ATL, LAS-CVG or LAS-MEM. I would bet there are a total of 10-15 seats between the above city pairs.

For $75, I'd pay if you really will be screwed without the SDC. I've seen Y9 (usually meaning 9+ seats) go to Y0 in a matter of minutes about 4-5 hours before departure...

Isn't SDC free for GM?

Be bold try to SDC: DTW-LAX-SLC-LAS-SLC-LAX-DTW.

But by the time they miss the flight, the OP would already be SDC'd to a later flight - 3 hours before 7am is 4am.

Would I get up at 4am, call to save the $75 then go back to bed for a short while? Sure.