Cost of going to Championship

[Clinton Bolinger]

My understanding is that 548 was on the list to go to the Championship this year. Then some time during the season was removed from that list. I do not know why they were removed.

-Clinton-

[CENTURION]

Originally Posted by cgmv123

MMSD (school district) paid it for us.

Okay, yeah that sounds familiar. I swear I remember something about it being announced at the regional though. I'll ask around at the next meeting.

[AlbatrossAgain]

Originally Posted by Clinton Bolinger

My understanding is that 548 was on the list to go to the Championship this year. Then some time during the season was removed from that list. I do not know why they were removed.

-Clinton-

That is too bad, maybe there was some issue with students missing school. I guess you have to consider that it means one more spot was opened up for another team, so in the end FIRST still wins.

Judging by some of the other responses here it seems like qualifying for the championship is a small part of the challenge compared to getting funding to go.

[woodk]

It cost us about $24,000 last year ... $5,000 registration, $10,000 coach and $9,000 hotel. This year we are saving a lot on hotel costs by staying further away, so it will be about $21,000.

[Chi Meson]

We have 20 students and 10 mentors going. Mentors are paying their own way, and students are paying $400 each. Our total air fare (mentors tickets included) is about $9500. Our hotel cost is $3500 (we're kind of packing ourselves into each room--not so much to save money, but because there were no more rooms!). Everyone is also responsible for their own food costs.

[Metalcrafters]

207 withdrew from the champs with much hesitation and entered Inland Empire all due to costs. We spent approx 25K+ last year. Worth every penny, this year we had the hard choice of looking to the future.
We are looking to step up next year and play two CA regionals and win a berth back to the champs as we gave up our berth this year.
Travel and lodging is the limiting factor. But the small costs add up such as shipping as we pack too much in our crate and have extra shipping costs replenishing pit supplies, upgrades/repairs, or just maintenance.

Champs = Big$$$ but well worth the effort.

[Jimmy Nichols]

Our costs last year were:

Charter bus = $5125
Hotel = $12724 - 9 Quads, 3 Triples, 5 Doubles, 1 Single at the Millenium for 4 nights.
Registration = $5000

Total = $22,849

This year, if qualified was going to cost:

Charter bus = $4500
Hotel = $9339 10 Quads, 2 Triples, 5 Doubles, 1 Single at Holiday Inn Express near the airport
Registration = $5000

Total = $18839

The students and mentors pay a travel fee to cover the bus and hotel as well as their own food expenses.

[JesseK]

Originally Posted by MrForbes

I think it'll cost us around twenty grand.....

Yep. 50-ish kids, 15-ish adults. Registration, robot spares/upgrades, flights, hotels, toting a trailer with the pit setup ... it all adds up. At least in St. Louis everything's in walking distance. In Atlanta we wound up staying in Marietta and getting rental vans since it was ~$1600 less overall -- yet in '11-'13 by the time we find out we're going to Champs we can't find a reasonable deal on the rental vans.

Meh.

Most of the travel comes out of each individual traveler's pocket. We're lucky in that respect. Grants & sponsors pay for registration, robot upgrades. Trailer hauling/parking (we also bring some other teams' stuff usually) is roughly $1k since we tune up whoever's vehicle so the pull through the mountains isn't as bad, and that's from team funds as well. It may seem like a lot just for a pit, but we're asking the driver to pull two 15-hour overnight driving trips through mountains (and praries ) -- and not having the right tools at the right time would undermine the entire $20k trip.

[ZoeR]

I don't know the exact cost of this years trip. I think it's around 20k, though. What my team does is stay in houses in the area so we can make our own food and pack lunches, plus the price of one night to sleep 18 is about the price of renting 3 hotel rooms near the Dome for one night. We save a lot of money doing this.

[itsjustmrb]

Originally Posted by AlbatrossAgain

What additional costs/challenges are there to going to world's, other than the entry fee? Does anyone have any ballpark figures on how much travel and other expenses are for an average team (as if there were an average FIRST team )?

Approximate cost to take 30 students, 2 coaches and 4 Mentors from South Texas

US FIRST Registration Fee – $5000.00
Travel by Plane- $14000.00
Hotel for 14 rooms for 4 nights – $20000.00
Food for students/Coaches $5769.00
Trailer and Towing (pit structure, tools and spare part) $2500.00

Total cost for sending the Team $47,269

there are many other items that were not included (Parking, baseball tickets :-), etc.

[cgmv123]

I just got the breakdown of our expenses for this year last night:

Bus $3,750
Hotel $6,143
Food $2,800
Sub $1,400
Tips $350
Registration $5,000
Departments $737

Total $20,243

We were fortunate to receive over $12,000 from various sponsors, which was enough to make our cost to the students/parents only $450 each as well as provide financial assistance to those who needed it.

$450/student was less than the Championship cost last year, even though our entry fee was covered by NASA last year and up to us to pay this year. That fact is something we are all very proud of.

[waialua359]

Team 359 has each student paying 600/each, while all mentors pay $0 as usual. In the past, I used to pay for everything for students, including all activities. Our drive team and students who put in the most time, pay much less.

On another note, if you win the RCA in New York City, they pay you $6000 for your initial reg fee the following year.
We never knew that until we registered for Hawaii the following year.

[Gregor]

Originally Posted by waialua359

Team 359 has each student paying 600/each, while all mentors pay $0 as usual. In the past, I used to pay for everything for students, including all activities. Our drive team and students who put in the most time, pay much less.

On another note, if you win the RCA in New York City, they pay you $6000 for your initial reg fee the following year.
We never knew that until we registered for Hawaii the following year.

Your team travels a lot. Do your students pay that much for every trip?

[waialua359]

Originally Posted by Gregor

Your team travels a lot. Do your students pay that much for every trip?

As of this post, we are in California because of VEX worlds. Due to state testing, we have to go home for 1 1/2 days then fly back to St. Louis. The students paid 4-600/each for this as well.
When we did 2 regionals earlier this season in the mainland, we charged 800/each but total cost per person was 2200 for a 15 day trip.

For kids that show 110% effort, I also offer jobs to them to "work" in robotics. Some of them earned close to 1k each before taxes for the season.
For adult mentors, I give them as much as 2k stipends also for the priceless efforts they put forth for our team. It helps them pay for meals and miscellaneous efforts.

[Hallry]

Originally Posted by waialua359

Due to state testing, we have to go home for 1 1/2 days then fly back to St. Louis.

Well that stinks

Originally Posted by waialua359

When we did 2 regionals earlier this season in the mainland, we charged 800/each but total cost per person was 2200 for a 15 day trip.

How much school have your students missed this year?