<p>I only ask because one camp is far far away. It's a 23 hour drive. I looked into trains but there's an overnight. Flights are not too expensive but we don't have a bam case for his instrument and I don't know if we can afford one. Maybe that one camp won't work. But there are two teachers from schools he wants to apply at </p>
<p>Saintkid is flying and I am fortunate to have friends in both cities who will pick him up, bunk him and get him here he needs to be. My mom used miles for one ticket and I bought the other. I still haven’t decided on getting the “instruments” there yet. I am debating buying the expensive case (less in his case by quite a bit I’m sure) and attempting to carry on with sturdy but not bomb proof case. Obviously a cello is a whole different matter for flying. What cities is he trying to get to?</p>
<p>Do you mean you don’t have a flight case? Most cellists buy a seat for the instrument on the plane. If you put it in the hold in a flight case you have the added problem of not having a regular case on land…</p>
<p>Do you think I could bid on priceline to get cheaper tickets? Lol. I think I’m calling. And no we don’t own a flight case. For auditions next year only one school isn’t within driving distance. Except for snow storms maybe.</p>
<p>I’m checking bus schedules. I have to keep my husband happy about this too by keeping costs down. </p>
<p>Have you considered asking the program if they could share the names of some students who might live in your neck of the woods? Possibly travel together with another student via train or bus (safety and comfort in numbers)</p>
<p>I could ask about where other students are traveling from.</p>
<p>One of the cellists I attended camp with waaaaaayyyyy back in the day (lol) rented an instrument from the nearby town just for camp. It ended up being the best alternative for her. It was fairly affordable and though she missed her “baby”, she was able to make some sweet music on the one she rented. </p>
<p>GH- my understanding is that the BAM flight case fits over the regular BAM case so it protects the cello with a box in a box set up. So then once you get to your destination you have your regular case to use. Still very costlly,
hoping to get one for my son sometime soon!</p>
<p>Oh, that sounds very useful. Probably quite expensive! But if he’s going to be flying around with his instrument a lot, it will be an investment in the future.</p>
<p>Yes you’re right. My S has a BAM new tech case that we bought many years ago and it is starting to fall apart. When I mentioned to the owner of the shop where we bought it that we were thinking of getting a new case she said that she has had very good luck in sending the cases back to BAM and they refurbish them, even upgrading to new features that weren’t available when we bought his case. So we are going to do this the next time my S is home. We were looking at buying both a new case and a flight case so that is going to save us a lot of money! Both are over $1000 each. His former teacher flew back and forth from Korea when she was in grad school and used a flight case. I still worry if TSA decides to open it up and then packs it up wrong when they’re done.</p>
<p>Isn’t it crazy when the cases are so expensive? I didn’t know that BAM would refurbish cases-- my daughter has been through several violin cases–they seem to fall apart after a few years, and she’s not exactly throwing them around. Next time maybe we will contact them and ask about refurbishing. </p>
<p>You’re so lucky it’s a violin. Those cello cases are so expensive.</p>
<p>Sent u a pm saintfan</p>
<p>I just priced busing. It’s the same as flying…crazy.</p>
<p>I had to do that twice (overnight train, I think about 30hrs), it was fine. Even though I was pretty bored, it felt very safe. I got the AMTRAK student advantage card which made it much cheaper. If not, maybe you could borrow a case from a friend/schoolmate? I’ve done that a few times to fly home.</p>
<p>I will look up the amtrak student advantage card. Did you have to stay overnight in a hotel? It would be an overnight in a hotel in chicago. It doesn’t seem safe unless hotel is across the street </p>
<p>Is this to Colorado? I took an overnight train which arrived in Chicago around 12pm, having left school around 3pm the day before. I transferred to another one that left Chicago around 4pm and arrived in CO around 3pm the day after. I’m sure there are hotels nearby. If this is to Aspen or Colorado College, there will be so many other students going there, I’m sure you could put together a group so it’s safer, the festival should be able to put you in touch with them. You could also coordinate it so the transfer happens during the day. From the East Coast there are three lines that go to Chicago (I always took Lake Shore, but there is also Cardinal and Capitol). You could also combine bus and train to make the schedule work better. It’s worth knowing that those long-distance trains often run late when making travel plans.</p>
<p>Ooh thank you. I will maybe try to coordinate a bus/train plan. And. It’s to burlington vermont. Far far away. It’s also a 6 pm arrival and a 10 am departure the next day. Perhaps he can coordinate with others.</p>
<p>I know that some musicians ship their instruments rather than fly with them, and have good experiences with that. Is that a possibility? Some string shops specialize in insuring and shipping instruments, using special boxes and packing materials. Just another idea.</p>