The trip worked out quite well. I used Priceline for the first time, and bid on a ** hotel. I was quite nervous about it, have always stayed at least *** before. I worked out wonderfully well! The hotel was very clean, the pool and whirlpool were open in the morning so I could use them before my flight from Buffalo to Baltimore. Until this trip it hadn't occured to me to see what the rates for parking at an airport hotel would compare to parking at the airport itself. I saved nearly half the cost, and the hotel sent a shuttle as soon as I called to tell them I'd picked up my luggage. Very happy. I had forgotten about the Southwest Airline/McDonald's alliance, but it was good for a $1 card for McD's passed out while onboard the flight. Lovely visit with family, and short enough to be cheap, my favorite I ended up buying 2 more gift cards than I'd intended because people stayed at my sister's over Christmas, and I didn't know about it ahead of time. Lovely PhD ceremony and party following. Got to trim a tree with my siblings for the first time in over 30 years! Flight home uneventful... I tried to get bumped and if only 1 more person had shown up I could have been. It would have meant getting home 5-6 hours later, and $200 and reimbursement for my flight. I was very willing, as I'd kept my schedule flexible hoping to get bumped. A wonderful Christmas, and one of the most meaningful and least costly yet. Kids loved their mp3 players, and my son had 1/2 his filled with songs on Christmas day... Hope everyone else had joyous and fulfilling holidays...