How A Delta Flight Diversion Brought Us Home Ahead Of Schedule & Earned Us 10,000 Miles

A flight diversion, under most traditional circumstances, seems like a defeat to the traveler who is looking to avoid missed connections and a plane full of groans. The story we are going to tell you, however, turned a diversion into an unexpected travel jackpot. This incident occurred on a Delta Air Lines red-eye flight from Kona International Airport (KOA) to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) three years ago. During this time, fog had settled over Seattle, preventing flights from touching down. Bret Changler, a long-time Delta loyalist, was seated in First Class on the Boeing 757 operating this flight when the pilots announced that the aircraft would be diverting to Portland, which just so happened to be his final destination.