Auf ruf airlines

Posted Thursday, June 07, 2007 2:45 PM

I always wondered if there shouldn’t be a "Wedding Airlines" specifically designed with guests in mind … like not only do you get an inflight movie ("Father of the Bride," "My Best Friend’s Wedding," "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”) you also get to order the wedding present from the plane (so you don’t have to worry about shipping) and there is three times the normal space for hanging bags.
OK, it is a bit far-fetched, but in this day and age, not entirely out of the realm of possibility.
Yesterday I decided I could put it off no longer: I had to book a flight for us from L.A. to the Windy City for one of our auf rufs  (we’re having two). Adam will have an aliyah (he’ll be called to the Torah), I’ll get to give a dvar Torah (speech) on the portion of the week and the congregation’ll bless us. I thought writing the speech would be the toughest part of the weekend.
Not even close.
Apparently that weekend is the Chicago Marathon … and American Airlines knows it.
As a gold flier (see honeymoon story) I knew I could to book us in a "more leg room" exit row, which Adam loves because his legs are longer than mine. I also knew I could put in for an upgrade, and hoped we would get it because we were engaged in first class on a Thanksgiving flight (I’m sentimental like that).
When I went online to book the flight, I clicked on this lovely button that provides prices for every time and with every type of ticket: regular, cheap, really cheap, upgrade and first class. I saw the prices and thought: why can’t there be a simcha fare … there is a bereavement fare, shouldn’t a wedding or bar mitzvah be just as important? We went for really cheap because while the perk difference is minor, the price difference was major. And as long as the cheap seats land at the same time the expensive ones do, it’s all good.