Fair points to be sure! With an 18 hour callout starting in August, I've run the numbers and there's never a time of day (when CS calls) when there would be less than 3 nonstops that I could make, that would get me in on time. I also have a truly ludicrous number of miles (well north of a million UA miles) and the one way awards are approx 13-25K miles per ticket. I'll play it safe to be sure, but given that I will essentially be buying tickets, I feel a bit more relaxed about that. Without that option, I agree, I'd just go sit in IAH on my RSV days.

With that said... Any tips on the Houston area would be great. Or reserve tips...a buddy suggested trying to APU trips that start late the next day, giving me 24+ hours to get to IAH. I also have no clue how the FIFO order works so any tips there would be amazing...