Re: Waitlist..
 

We qualified for nationals for the first time ever as a team - so we very excited to be going. However, the bill is going to be about $60,000 (30 kids plus mentors/chaperones). Group airline tickets run about $1,000 per person from SEattle, so we have booked six separate travel group and were able to average about $500/ticket to save money.

Though St. Louis is central, very few airlines use it as a hub and, therefore, we have to cut through other cities en route. Were the competition in Denver, Dallas, Chicago or Atlanta, we'd likely do much better financially.

How are we affording it? We've been preparing for two years, have completely drained our account, and sent out a "please help" letter to all our sponsors. Families are also chipping in a good chunk of change.

Re: Waitlist..
 

Very true. Atlanta is Delta's biggest hub as well as a major hub for Southwest now that they've acquired AirTran. St. Louis has very little options. We have to make two stops to get there, meaning that even if we leave Sacramento at 6am we don't get to St. Louis until 4:15pm. Oh how I wish JetBlue flew to St. Louis...

Re: Waitlist..
 

Either that or some teams can pitch together and make a flying robot :p