Vegas Bound for the NCAA Tournament: Our New Family Tradition

Last updated on May 21st, 2016 at 02:46 pm

If you do it twice, it’s a tradition, right? Well, I am on a plane headed to Las Vegas to watch the first round of the NCAA Tournament with Mrs. Jeffsetter and an ever-expanding group of friends. This is something we started doing last year and we had such a great time that we needed to do it again this year.

As I alluded to in an earlier post about the best time to book a flight, we are getting here using a companion pass from my Delta Reserve Card and this brought our total airfare to $384 as a couple. This would have been at least $1,200 if we had chosen our preferred dates/times for travel. It would have cost 120,000 miles for the flight, so the companion pass was clearly our best option. The only downside is staying an extra night in Vegas, but since hotels are so reasonable here we didn’t mind.

Even better, we were originally scheduled for a late night flight to be eligible for a companion pass fare (leaving at 9:55 PM), but I was able to take advantage of my Platinum Medallion status with Delta to take an earlier flight. I think it’s worth noting exactly how this was done:

1. This morning I was first able to confirm a seat on the 7:55PM flight for free using the Delta same day confirmed rule, which allows you to confirm a seat on a different flight for the same day within a 24 hour window. I was able to do this for free since seats in our fare class (L) were available on the 7:55 flight.
2. I was not able to get same day confirmed on our preferred 2:30PM flight, but they added us to the standby list for that flight and said I could check at the airport to see if we would be able to get onto the flight.

As expected, our upgrades cleared and we will be arriving in Las Vegas several hours earlier and hopefully better rested to take on the tournament this weekend.

I complain about Delta all of the time, but the fact is that having status with them can be very valuable at times (if you know how to play the game). This is one of those times.

Who Does Jeffsetter Root For?

Even though I have lived in Minnesota my whole life, my favorite team is the Arizona Wildcats. I have a lot of family in Tucson (where the University of Arizona campus is located) and I have been visiting them since I was an infant. They have been my favorite team since they made it to the final four when I was 5 or 6 years old. The 1997 NCAA championship is still one of my all time sports highlights (although long distances behind the Minnesota Twins winning the World Series in 1987 and 1991).

Arizona is a #1 seed this year and has a very complete team, so I definitely like their chances of winning the tournament. I know that if they win, many people in the Jeffsetter family will be happy!

Who Does Mrs. Jeffsetter Root For?

Mrs. Jeffsetter went to Indiana University (IU) and is a big fan of their basketball team. Last year they were a #1 seed that underachieved and this year they didn’t make the tournament. That makes her a Wildcats fan this year!

Does Anyone Else Enjoy the Tournament?

I know that this is a travel blog, but the NCAA tournament is one of my favorite times of year. Who are you rooting for? Say it now so that if your team wins you can take credit!

P.S. For some reason I can’t bring myself to use the words “March Madness” to describe the NCAA Tournament in my verbal or written communication. I think it has to do with the registered trademark symbol.