Airline mess

So I booked my flight with United Airlines from Burbank to LA on the 12/21... 1 stop at SF which is fine to save an additional 150 bucks. (total $400.. pretty cheap for christmas time) Then I get an email back in early october saying my flight's been cancelled. So I called and changed it to 12/20 (saturday)

But this week we finally started planning on vegas trip. And since some people were going to be there on friday (12/19), I called United to see if I can fly into vegas and how much the change would be. They said an additional $750 dollars! (I can hear the united airlines lady sorta laughing to herself cuz she knew it was ridiculous). So i decided just to drive to vegas from LA.

But this morning, bmao said there are cheap flights to vegas from LA. (like 59 bucks... but after taxes more like 90) So not thinking enough, I booked a flight from Burbank to Vegas.  Not bad right? Well, then I thought to myself... NY---> SF---> LA----> Vegas on 12/20 night... seems dumb. So I checked Virgin for a flight from JFK to vegas on the 12/19 and it was only $159! I called United to cancel my flight to LA... and said "sure, we'll refund you 200 bucks... but there's a $150 change fee... so you get $50 bucks voucher." I asked why the change to cancel a flight was so expensive. They said it's because I got an internet deal so it affects the other ticket price. So I said "then, what if I cancel the roundtrip ticket?" They said I would still get charged $150. SO DUMB. So I just cancelled the flight to LA.

And then I had to cancel my Southwest flight to vegas, and at least that was a non refundable, but  transferrable flight. As long as I use it within a year. I asked "what if I don't use it within the year?" Then the black lady said "Then you lose it". Booked flight on Virgin... JFK--->Vegas. The end.

Moral of the story: Get transferrable tickets or have a clear plan in advance. And don't fly with United.