[EricH]

A proposal, for use by Districts when going to Championship:

Let the district area buy airfare for their team allotment, or partial airfare rather, as well as hotel rooms. Let's assume 10 "standard" teams worth. (For this purpose, 1 "standard" team is defined as 16 students and 2-4 teachers/mentors/chaperones, or 20 seats and 5-6 hotel rooms. YMMV, and this should be determined by the district area.) Because the district area can buy earlier, and is buying a larger amount of seats and hotel rooms, the costs would presumably be somewhat cheaper due to both timing and volume. The teams then reimburse the district area and pay for any extra rooms/seats.

Now, there are going to be some problems. For example, not all the district teams will have the same convenience level at any given airport. For another, apportioning the rooms to the teams may be a very "interesting" process. OTOH, if the district areas are creative in how they handle this sort of thing, it can be a huge benefit.

Of course, for the DCMPs, it's a hair easier. Just gotta reserve a bunch of block hotel rooms near the venue for longer-traveling teams, no flights needed, and again, have the teams reimburse the district and pay for any extras.