Is The Free Ticket Worth The Cost?

I was excited to find out that I have upwards of 40K skymiles via my business credit card. Well, depressed to realize that over the past two+ years I've spent enough money to earn that many miles but heh - now I have miles to spend and I do have places to go!

When I originally got the card I couldn't wait to spend the hardearned miles on personal R&R. Well, the realities of the ebb and flow of cash flow is such that now I realize that I really need to use those points for business air travel and not much-needed personal forays. So I went online today figuring that with the amount of miles I have I can certainly get a ticket from the Pacific Northwest to Chicago for a tradeshow.

Well yes...I can...in a way. Apparently I can get tickets for the days and times I need but it will cost me an additional 7,000 miles. Alternatively, I can get tickets for the day and time I need for the trip out there and the right day for the way back for less then the amount of miles I currently have...aka...for free. So what's the catch? If I take the free ticket I will end up being routed through Atlanta on my way home. Yep, put a picture of the United States in your head right now. I would travel from Chicago to Atlanta, have a layover, then get back on a plane and travel from Atlanta home. Is it just me or is Atlanta not exactly on my way home?

Truth be told I am considering it. My thinking is that I'm usually so wiped out after these tradeshows that I sleep all day anyway so I could just sleep on the plane. But on the other hand that's a really backa$$ward way of getting home.