<p>Older son wants to come home for fall break. We would LOVE to see him!!! – but we wonder whether the allotted time is so short as to scarcely make the travel time worth it. Even if he flies, he won’t get a direct flight, so it could end up taking almost as long* each way as a Greyhound trip (13-14 hours with 2-hour layover in Atlanta–ugh!) or an Amtrak trip (13 hours).</p>
<p>All depends on the length of fall break. DS says it includes the Monday after the weekend – so five days in all. Is this true? Have tried finding the info at the UA site to no avail.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!!</p>
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<li> OK, “almost as long” is hyperbole…but nowadays, with all that extra jazz you have to go through at security, who knows? And all the available flights seem to have at least one stop (Charlotte), which adds to the aggravation. DS wants to travel by Greyhound (he says Greyhound = “authentic Americana”; lol, where do they get this stuff?)…but I’m thinking Amtrak will be safer and more comfortable.</li>
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<p>i would be very surprised if he couldn’t get home quicker than that! idk where you live, but if he can get there on a bus or a train in 13ish hours, then he should be able to get there by plane in a LOT less! </p>
<p>kids usually leave on wednesday after their last class. depending on their schedule, they may leave on tuesday. some kids opt to miss class on monday. totally depends on the kid and the schedule.</p>
<p>it is up to you! i know my daughter NEEDS the break! in fact, she is counting down to it!</p>
<p>one more thing … you have waited kind of long to be able to get a reasonable priced flight. tell me where you guys live?</p>
<p>LadyDi: Can he just fly in to Charlotte? According to Google Maps, it’s only 80 miles from Charlotte to Winston Salem (just barely over an hours drive in my book and that would give you more flexibility in terms of when he can fly in and out.</p>
<p>Also, maybe check flights in/out of Huntsville? And see if any of his friends live in the Huntsville area?</p>
<p>I’m seeing many options to GSO for less than $315 roundtrip and most take around 4 hours, including connection time. At that price, he has the option of flying out on Wednesday or Thursday and returning on Sunday. Classes will resume on Monday, October 31st. airfare into Charlotte would cost around $215, which is not much difference when considering that one could easily spend $50 each way in gas, time, and maintenance just to get to Charlotte from Winston-Salem.</p>
<p>Yes many will be invited by friends to their hometowns.</p>
<p>But my D loves to be on campus when its empty. She always gets caught up with everything. Last year she had a few invites but stayed in Tuscaloosa.</p>
<p>Do they have to leave at Thanksgiving or is that optional, as well? It seems like it would be easier to travel at the fall break than at Thanksgiving…and then come home for Christmas.</p>
<p>Students are welcome to stay on campus over Thanksgiving weekend. The only times during the school year when most dorms are closed are semester break (December) and spring break (March) and even then students can arrange to stay elsewhere on campus for no additional charge.</p>
<p>Since Thanksgiving weekend is a day longer than fall break and campus is very silent (assuming that the Iron Bowl is being played in Auburn,) many students would rather go home over Thanksgiving. Ticket prices are reasonable if one purchases them far in advance. For example, I purchased my Thanksgiving weekend airfare in June and got a really good deal by doing so.</p>
<p>Chardo: More OOS students stay on campus because the cost can be prohibitive to travel for such a short break. There is always plenty of company around, however it is also a great time to catch up on all the things that the student needs to do: like food shopping, laundry and sleeping. :)</p>
<p>My D is staying for fall break and has already had invites to go with a couple of people. She actually WANTS to stay on campus, time to do laundry, get caught up and maybe even study a little. She doesn’t have plans for Halloween yet, but I am sure something will come up and she will be fine.</p>
<p>We decided to take the whole family down to T town for Thanksgiving (3 other kids, and even the dog!) She has been excited about that all month. The anticipation is half the fun. She keeps talking about how excited she is to show one sibling or the other certain parts of campus, or things to do, and they are excited too. </p>
<p>Skype has been a wonderful thing. There are times (like last night at midnight) when my D doesn’t want to get off the phone. You can tell she is missing us a little, or wants to share something really exciting but overall with the plans already laid for Thanksgiving and Christmas she is fine with it all.</p>
<p>Thanks, y’all. We are now thinking in terms of having him fly to Charlotte, just a few hours from B-ham by air. It’s almost as easy for us to get to Charlotte as to GBO, given our rural location. DS is psyched.</p>
<p>I am majorly squeamish about air travel, personally, but DH keeps reminding me that it’s a lot safer than auto travel. :)</p>
<p>Alas, we don’t have Skype (no webcam on the home PC). DS and I text a lot, though. And he calls on weekend nights and talks to his li’l bro into the wee hours!!</p>
and that would give you more flexibility in terms of when he can fly in and out.</p>