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<p>Wait, now I’m confused. If it’s too soon to book, how are they already sold out?</p>
<p>I believe Himom checked published rates (which are high) but couldn’t book yet. Even if she was willing to pay the rate currently posted she can’t secure a reservation yet. </p>
<p>Did I get it right???</p>
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<p>It is not too soon to book at all Hotels for May 2012 dates. In fact the first one I called, was already booked and put me on a waiting list as i said earlier. When I spoke to the person at the reservations desk of the next hotel I tried, he thought it would be too early to book, but found that he was able to make the reservation. He told me I was smart to take the room now while it was available and the rate was so low. He felt that as soon as they realize it was graduation dates, the rates would go way up, but since I had my reservation already I would get the low rate. </p>
<p>LasMa, we are talking about reservations for the 2012 graduation, it might still be too early for you to book for 2013 which I think is when you said you would need a room.</p>
<p>The other thing I found was that the 2 hotels closest to the university required a two night minimum stay for graduation weekend and each night was at a premium price. We didn’t need 2 nights (and certainly not at those nightly rates) so I moved out a couple of miles to a very nice Hampton Inn that allowed me to book just one night at a much more reasonable price. It worked out very well.</p>
<p>^^^yeah, the hotel in town where U is also had a 2 night minimum. We might need the two nights anyway, to get there on time graduation day, and if there is an event graduation night I don’t want to have to have a long drive home really late at night.</p>
<p>Plane flights at the end of semesters aren’t really that urgent to book soon, because they’re not big travel days.</p>
<p>My main point was that THANKSGIVING flights are tough to get - especially for the Sunday return. Those are the ones that should be booked many, many months in advance.</p>
<p>I’m a parent of 3. My oldest is in grad school, middle one graduated college last year, youngest is starting college in the fall. For each student, I booked the hotels for move in and homecoming weekend as soon as they decided where they were going and booked graduation hotel 365 days before the date. If at all possible I (or my daughter) booked Southwest air flights as far out as possible, knowing that there was a good possibility of changing them. Hilton hotels have always been good about allowing cancellation and/or date changes without penalty. </p>
<p>Another heads up is train tickets. My nephew is from Manhattan but goes to college in Rochester and twice he had trouble getting tickets on Amtrak going home or back to college over Christmas or Thanksgiving break because they didn’t make the train reservation early enough.</p>
<p>OK I just re-read what HImom said, and I’m un-confused on that point.</p>
<p>parentofpeople, right, I’ll need a hotel in May '13. Thanks to this thread, I realize I need to be acting in May '12, and am just making sure I understand. D’s college is in a small farming town which has a couple of motels and a Holiday Inn; if I don’t jump on one of those in time, we’ll be driving back and forth to the population center 45 miles away. </p>
<p>Lafalum, I don’t disagree with you about Thanksgiving flights, and I know that Thanksgiving Sunday is the busiest travel day of the year. The reason we don’t book until after school starts is a combination of the logistics of flying this particular route, and D’s (at this point) unknown school schedule. It’s a cross-country trip through 3 time zones, between two regional airports, with a layover at a hub. The departure-time options are limited; basically, she can fly at 9am or 5 pm. To complicate matters, the airport is 45 miles away and D uses the college shuttle which doesn’t run at all hours, and a taxi costs $125. Bottom line, if she can’t leave campus by 2:00, she can’t fly that day. As for the schedule, school is out for the entire Thanksgiving week, so the prior Friday is the last day of school. If, say, her 1pm class is cancelled, she can fly on Friday, but if there’s an exam in her 1pm class, she can’t leave until Saturday. The profs are very good about telling them early in the semester what will happen on that day, but we just don’t have that info right now. So far, we haven’t had a problem – knock wood!</p>
<p>One thing I have learned, though, about flying on that Sunday – get to the airport EARLY! Under normal circumstances at our regional airport, arriving 45 minutes ahead of flight time is more than enough. But at 5am on Thanksgiving Sunday, the place becomes College Central. I always enjoy looking at all the college sweatshirts, though. Freshman year, I had to laugh when I saw a student waiting with his parents, both of whom were sporting Harvard sweatshirts, not a common sight out here in NorCal. The son looked like he wanted to sink through the floor.</p>
<p>Sorry I was confusing. I originally tried booking about 330 days ahead & got a message it was too far in advance. Just tried to book today and was told the hotels I was considering are sold out now! Oh well, I can still stay with our best friend 30 minutes away from campus and possibly have an air mattress in the kids’ apartment living room (walking distance of campus) the night before graduation so we don’t have to drive. The other option that friends have used is to either stay at the airport hotel which allows two or more to use the carpool lane & bypass nearly all the traffic OR just leave very early from friend’s home the morning of graduation (as we did in 2010 for S’s graduation).</p>
<p>We also tried to book one other place that is close to campus but that owner is not taking ANY reservations so far in advance as she’s not sure she’s going to still be taking ANY guests. Shucks!</p>
<p>OK, I stand corrected. If you’re willing to stay for 3 nights (not just 2) and pay their inflated graduation special rates with are NONREFUNDABLE, you can still book rooms at the two hotels that are a block or so away from campus. This means you will pay around $800+ for 3 nights at either of the two hotels, plus parking if you are staying at one of the hotels but it is included in the other hotel. We would be wiling to book the hotel but would probably hear it forever from BIL & SIL for overpaying! Still it is something to consider.</p>
<p>Staying at the friend’s house & waking VERY early to drive to campus is sounding better and better! <sigh></sigh></p>
<p>Ah, I get what was happening HIMom. The same happened to me when I tried to book one night at the 2 closest hotels for one (Saturday) night. I would get the “no rooms available for your dates” message. But miraculously when I put in 2 nights (adding either the Friday or Sunday), there were rooms available at the inflated prices. Then I figured out it was a 2 night minimum. Your hotels have a 3 night minimum. Yikes!</p>
<p>Yea, I did book 3 nights at the inflated prices but at least we will be walking distance from our hotel room to campus & see what we’ve been investing in for all these years. We will also spend two nights at a nearby Olin Mills hotel to see relative’s graduation that weekend as well! Those rates are pretty reasonable.</p>
<p>If you are going to be staying at a hotel far from campus, make sure you allow several hours to get to campus. At my son’s school on graduation day, there were tons of traffic, parking lots were full early. Sometimes it is worth it to pay a bit more for a hotel within walking distance of graduation site instead of having to drive there.</p>
<p>Yea, we stayed with friends fairly far from campus for S’s graduation in 2010. It was VERY crowded & we had to go really early so that we could get parking & a spot. We figured we’d rather spend more time having last glimpses & visits of campus than in traffic. We also have to pay extra for parking. Oh well, we think it be worthwhile.</p>
<p>It looks like I am already late with a hotel reservation for May 2012 graduation. Everything in this small town is already sold out. I heard about freshman family that already had booked the hotel in town (small family operated B&B) for graduation (not sure if it was true). So, now were looking for hotels that are 20-25 miles away. Well, I wish Id had this valuable information earlier.</p>
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<p>You should see if they will all put you on a waiting list. A lot of times people hold multiple rooms for other relatives etc. and in the end they don’t end up coming. Or, if they really did book Freshman year, the graduation doesn’t always happen when they planned! Lots of kids end up transferring or needing an extra year. </p>
<p>The other thing is to have your S/D keep an ear out. If she has a friend who has extra rooms because they booked a few early and aren’t using them, It might be possible to have the B&B move the room into your name instead of canceling.</p>
<p>so, just got off the phone w D’s school (same as Lafalum’s D)…they will not be releasing freshman schedules until end of July…</p>
<p>the Thanksgiving flights will have to wait; the change fees are WAY too high…at least next year, the class schedules can be gotten earlier…
will bite the bullet for freshman year and call it a “college expense”…</p>
<p>btw, for grad 2012 colleges: many of the hotel chains that know there are grad dates set do not free up the rooms (and therefore put that they are “sold out” on their websites)…if you call the hotels directly, they may? tell you that they haven’t been released yet…we caught a new Marriott chain hotel that didn’t know this and we were able to book online for a May 2012 graduation last week; the other Marriotts in the particular area hadn’t released their rooms yet…</p>
<p>We’re staying at an inn/b&b for orientation and move in. It’s walking distance to everything which is the most important for me. If we’re pleased I’m going to ask what their policy is on booking in advance. I would assume smaller places might offer more personal service. I don’t plan on booking for graduation but I’d know how far out I could call for a reservation. Football weekends have been booked since at least February!</p>
<p>Thanks for the tips everyone – it motivated me to book a hotel for parents weekend. Already booked one for move-in. </p>
<p>I’m w/Rodney – Thanksgiving will have to wait. Not knowing the academic schedule/meet schedule for her sport may mean I over pay for this one…</p>
<p>Asking all those people who are smart about miles, etc. Do any credit cards offer reduced change fees if you book your flight through them?</p>
<p>Another option (if the area has them) is a private vacation rental. I regularly sites such as homeaway.com or vrbo.com to book condos or townhouses when staying with several kids.</p>