Parents Attending out of state meet on the cheap?

[skschlag]

We have 2 out of state meets, one in mid-jan, one in mid-feb. I booked hotels for both of these in early November. State wil require a hotel as well. That is in March, and we will book that probably in early January.

 

[Musicmama]

Thank you! I know what I'm going to be doing tonight!

 

[skschlag]

We are booked and not even sure D is competing this season. sigh

 

[CMA25]

A tip for booking hotels...book each night of the weekend as a separate reservation. That way you are covered once the meet schedule is released, and you won't get hit with a higher rate for changing your reservation. Of course, check the cancellation policy of your rate before booking!

 

[Musicmama]

A tip for booking hotels...book each night of the weekend as a separate reservation. That way you are covered once the meet schedule is released, and you won't get hit with a higher rate for changing your reservation. Of course, check the cancellation policy of your rate before booking!

Thank you! Practically read my mind because I was just wondering how to manage that. I only have the schedules of the first two meets so far. I'm hoping the others will follow soon, but I also know from reading on CB not to count on them being posted much in advance!

 

[cbifoja]

We book the entire weekend as soon as I get the meet schedule. We do make sure to reserve rooms that can be adjusted as needed and then cancel the nights we don't need. This way we get the hotels that we prefer and that is something that is a priority for us. We've gone to the same meets for the past several years so I pretty much know where I want to stay when we have to travel.

 

[bookworm]

How far ahead is it generally wise to book hotels for meets?

I have booked a year in advance and then I periodically check to see if the rate drops, and then rebook...

If you are too late for the host hotel, you could try going on a local college website in the city of the meet and seeing if they have any special rates, as many do....for example, if you are going to the Chicago meet, go on the UIC website for visitors,and there's a link, with the discounts, of hotels in the city.

 

[bogwoppit]

For a 3 night stay I would look at AirBnB. I use them a lot when I travel. I often get great places for way less than a hotel room, plus I get a real kitchen. Then you you shop and cook like at home.

Regardless of where you stay do pack a cooler for the actual meet. Drink and real food are very pricey at meets, plus many meets sell lots of junk.

 

[duyetanh]

I agree with those saying not to stay at the cheapest place out there....back in the day , we started staying at Embassy Suites, with another family , and we'd get the 2 double beds, the pullout in the front suite ( which is a separate room, so nice if you are sharing)..so that's accommodation for 6 people...a fridge and microwave in the room. The embassy has a great cooked to order breakfast ( included) and I'm sure you could snag a yogurt or cereal for the road/ later as well. In the evening, they have a drinks and snack time and depending which one you're at, I've had nachos and pizza to chips and veggies and dip...all included. One of the Embassy suites I frequent even has free laundry!

So even if the rate was say $160...which unless you're in a big city it probably won't be, and you share, that's about 90 bucks a nite ( with tax) and your breakfast and snacks are taken care of.

And the set up of a hotel is just much safer than the motel set ups that open onto a parking lot... I stayed in one in 2005 with my daughter in PA and we were so scared shi*less by the other clientele there ( that we could hear screaming at each other) , that we fled in the middle of the night and checked into a hotel at 2 in the morning! Lesson learned...I was a gym mom with her little gym girl and doing it on the cheap, but I never put us in that terrifying position again.

Omg I could have written this whole post. Been there, done that, (in terms of the scary situation), and we are now embassy people. And yes we score food for snacks also, lol...

 

[duyetanh]

.
Also, remember most Hiltons (including all sub brands) have a good discount with USAG as they are a sponsor.

Can you explain this better for the clueless please. Thank you!

 

[duyetanh]

We are booked and not even sure D is competing this season. sigh

Oh I am sorry.

 

[MILgymFAM]

I, too, would skip the college meet and stay for one night instead of three. That's the easiest way to save a lot of money. As for food, we avoid most hotels that offer free food because we do have food restrictions. We usually pack my vitamix and make protein smoothies for breakfasts and then buy salads, sandwich fixings, and instant soups (you can use the coffee pot for hot water) for lunches/dinners.

 

[flippin out]

If you can pack along a crockpot, you can pack ingredients or stop at grocery near hotel. Can set up crockpot, go sightseeing and have a meal ready when you get back.

I also book the entire weekend of meets as soon as out schedule is released and then cancel whatever is possible when hosts release session times. Makes it easier ....I also keep an eye out on Priceline and snag a deal there if possible if I feel the hotel I booked was a bit pricier than I'd like, then cancel earlier reservation

 

[raenndrops]

Unfortunately her meet is extremely early on Friday morning and then we're staying for the college meet on Sunday so we have to stay the three nights. Any other meet and we would only be staying the one night so it wouldn't be as big of a deal to find a cheap hotel.

If she competes early friday and the college meet isn't until, sunday you could make the drive twice cheaper than extra days at a hotel. We have a meet yearly that is three hours away. We drive both ways the same day if we can.

I suggest a hotel with free breakfast for Thursday night. Drive home Friday after the meet and drive back Sunday for the college meet... if it starts early, with you and another adult, one could drive there and the other could drive back.

 

[bookworm]

And depending where you live, if you are near a college with Gymnastics anyway, a lot of meets are free or pretty reasonable for a ticket....so you could attend an NCAA meet but not incur the hotel costs of staying extra days if you did that on a more local scale.

We have a couple of college programs within 20 minutes to a few hours away from us....if finances were tight, I'd look into doing something like this and saving the hotel/ meal costs.

 

[Ali'sMom]

FWIW, eating on the cheap, my DD loves "Cup Noodles".
We had a meet at Atlantis in the Bahamas. There was NO cheaper hotel, and no microwave. And no cheap food anywhere close to the resort.
I didn't plan to entirely eat cheap, but I definitely managed to offset some of the cost of food.
I truly brought 6 cup noodles, tea bags, hot chocolate packets, and disposable go-cups.
And because the hotel did not state a coffee maker, I truly, yes I did, brought a hot-shot that heats the water and dispenses a cup of water at a time.
I am sure that if any Bahamian customs dudes looked in my suitcase, I totally looked like the Beverly Hillbillies. But I didn't care
We saved the money of grabbing a cup of tea in the mornings, we saved the money of DD's favorite vacation drink (hot chocolate), and one afternoon everyone was getting together at one of the restaurants, we all had cup noodles (DD, My mom, and me) before going - because none of us were truly hungry, but wanted to hangout with everyone. That alone probably saved us $100 that afternoon!

And I've also traveled with a small microwave before - but that was when DD was a toddler and we escaped a hurricane to a hotel with no microwave. We still have it, and it's part of our "hurricane supplies".

 

[mommyof1]

If the financial issues are truly very short-term, can you talk with the gym about having her skip just this one meet? If it were me, I'd rather have my kid skip one meet than spend an entire weekend stressing out about money.

 

[Musicmama]

If you can pack along a crockpot, you can pack ingredients or stop at grocery near hotel. Can set up crockpot, go sightseeing and have a meal ready when you get back.

Oh wow! That is a good idea. I even have a small crockpot that would be easier to bring since the whole family won't be coming. If we decide to still stay all three nights then I think I'm going to be using that idea

If she competes early friday and the college meet isn't until, sunday you could make the drive twice cheaper than extra days at a hotel. We have a meet yearly that is three hours away. We drive both ways the same day if we can.

I suggest a hotel with free breakfast for Thursday night. Drive home Friday after the meet and drive back Sunday for the college meet... if it starts early, with you and another adult, one could drive there and the other could drive back.

I have considered that possibility.... we're definitely planning to drive the Prius and not the minivan so the gas mileage would be good also and gas prices are nice and low right now. I'm going to crunch some numbers on that later today whenever the toddler naps.

And depending where you live, if you are near a college with Gymnastics anyway, a lot of meets are free or pretty reasonable for a ticket....so you could attend an NCAA meet but not incur the hotel costs of staying extra days if you did that on a more local scale.

We have a couple of college programs within 20 minutes to a few hours away from us....if finances were tight, I'd look into doing something like this and saving the hotel/ meal costs.

Well, one of the reasons we're going to this one is that a lot of her teammates will be going. The closest college with gymnastics to us is at least 2 hours away and we've already paid for the tickets to this one, but that's a good point. My dad's alma mater is one of the colleges a couple hours away and that would be a good one to go watch sometime!

Finances are not to the point where I'm going to be actively stressed about money while we're gone as long as I have a plan and know what we're going to do. We can afford the hotel we've booked for three nights and with the ideas here for food planning I don't think we'll have an issue with meals. The college meet admissions have already been paid for. It's also very possible that finances will be fine by mid-January for a variety of reasons. In this situation I'd rather plan for the worst and be prepared either way.

 

[Musicmama]

And thank you everyone for all the suggestions! Even the ideas I'm hoping not to have to use are greatly appreciated and have been filed away as backup plans in case nothing improves or things get any worse.

I'm feeling much more confident about attending this meet I'm also feeling much more confident about making smart financial decisions while attending meets in the future.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Ask if they have fridges, most do, because folks need them for meds.

Pint size shelf milk, no fridge required.
Pre made pudding, no fridge needed.

Freeze what you can when you put it in the cooler, you need less ice, and it will keep longer because it needs to defrost. Fruits that don't require fridge, apples, pears oranges, grapefruit. PB, cream cheese. Easy Mac, oatmeal, tea, coffee singles.

At least 2 coolers. So one stays closed most of the time keeping temp.
You can also look into one of those mini fridge/coolers that will use your car battery or you can plug in.

Thermos with hot water