True story.

After decades of flying to the mainland via United Airlines (and we both used to do quite a bit of work-related flying), Meda and I have both passed the Million Mile threshold, and have accumulated a stash of well over a million miles of unused frequent flier miles. So we splurged and flew back from San Francisco on Wednesday in first class.

As the flight got underway, the flight attendant in our section stopped and took our meal orders. We were given a choice of a beef short rib, pseudo-Thai chicken, or a tofu concoction. We both ranked the short rib as our Number 1 choice, with the chicken as #2.

A while later, the flight attendant was back with a problem. It seems they were short meals, and she was looking for a “volunteer” willing to take a hamburger instead of the other cuisine options, saying it would really help them out.

It didn’t take much prodding for me to volunteer. We’re talking airline food here, after all, not fine dining. I figured a simple hamburger couldn’t be much worse than the other choices, so I said, “Sure, I’ll take the burger.”

When the meals came, I received a tray with the same salad, bread, and dessert that came with the other choices. And, center stage, instead of a hamburger there was a “brioche burger with bistro sauce.” I tried not to dwell on the lengthy list of ingredients, and was relatively successful. And the burger? Not the best I’ve eaten, not by a long shot, but also not half bad, as far as airline food goes.

So I did my good deed for the day.

And then came the surprise. The flight attendant returned, this time to thank me again for volunteering, and to tell me that because I was a good sport about it, I could now choose a reward of either a $50 flight credit or 2,500 United miles. Given our substantial stash of miles, I chose the flight credit.

Thank you, United. I guess I’ll remember the $50 hamburger when I claim the credit when making reservations for another trip.