Airfare Advice

Posted on April 29th, 2007 in News

Calling all experienced airline travelers!!!

I need some advice on setting up airline travel for 6-10 events this season. I have a unique travel situation for these events. My departure date, return date and originations are variable. Plus, I may need to schedule the travel on short notice.

Here’s an example with all possibilities for my Mitchellville Nationwide event. For this event, I will probably drive to Mitchellville, MD on May 19th in order to play a practice round for the qualifier on May 21st.

  • I make it through the qualifier into the event which starts on May 24th.
    • I make the cut and finish in the top 25, thereby gaining entry into the next Nationwide Tour event in Glenview, IL beginning on May 31st. In this case I need to be in Glenview anytime on Monday, May 28th to get registered and play my practice rounds.
    • I make the cut and finish outside the top 25, so I have to be in Glenview, IL for the qualifier on May 28th. Since this is the day after the final round, I need to leave immediately after my round Sunday.
    • I miss the cut and need to be in Glenview, IL for the qualifier on May 28th. Since I have two days before the qualifier, I need to get out there on Saturday May 26th in order to play a practice round on Sunday.
  • I don’t make it through the qualifier and drive back to Aiken that night or the next morning. In this case, I need to schedule a flight from Augusta, Columbia or Atlanta on May 26th. This gives me time to get in a practice round on Sunday before the qualifier on Monday May 28th.

That’s just the portion of the trip that involves getting to Glenview. It doesn’t consider the 3 different dates that I could be returning (Tuesday after the Monday qualifier, Saturday after the first two rounds or Monday after all 4 rounds). So, I have two possible origins (Mitchellville and Aiken area), 4 possible departure dates and 3 possible return dates. I went around with a US Air rep for about an hour the other day and couldn’t figure out the most economical way to set this up. If anybody has any advice, I would really appreciate your help!