Well, for one thing the red tape legal nonsense can be covered before you go, even if you dont expect to go you can fill out power of attorney forms and such just in case your team does go. As far as money goes, I suppose it depends on your sponsorship as to whether or not youll be able to afford those last minute plane tickets, or if you want to reserve ahead of time and get a partial refund if you dont qualify. However, this money lost would probably be on the student's part, at least for our team, so It might be hard to convince parents to take such a gamble. Well, if worst comes to worst I'm sure taking a vacation to Houston even if we dont qualify won't be so bad
But we wouldnt get all of the First rates on hotels and such.