<p>My son will be a freshman in the fall of 2011. I’m trying to get a hotel booked for move in weekend. On another thread I read that move in for freshman will be Friday, Aug 19. Do most people arrive on Thursday?</p>
<p>Freshman move-in will be between Friday, March 18th and Sunday, March 20th, but most freshmen will move in on Saturday. It is completely up to you on arriving a day or two early. Depending on where you’re travelling from, it could be possible to arrive the morning of move-in day. I tend to fly overnight from the West Coast, arrive in Birmingham around 10am, and get to Tuscaloosa before noon. Since it is your son’s first semester at UA, I’d probably recommend spending the night before in Tuscaloosa. Remember that local stores will be VERY BUSY on move-in day, so try shopping at stores outside Tuscaloosa for the best selection.</p>
<p>Note that for those participating in Alabama or Outdoor Action, move-in will be the week prior to normal freshman move-in.</p>
<p>When my kids moved in as freshmen, many moved in on Friday. However, I can understand if you’re coming from far away, the earliest you might be able to come is Saturday.</p>
<p>But, if your child is going to do Alabama Action or Outdoor Action, then he’d move in the week before (I think on Sunday)</p>
<p>Sea_Tide: You mean August, right??</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! My son hasn’t decided if he’ll participate in Alabama or Outdoor Action. I went ahead and made a reservtion that allows me to cancel 24 hours prior to arrival. Much easier to cancel than try to find a hotel room at the last minute. </p>
<p>Sea_Tide, Don’t you hate there isn’t an edit button. 
No worries, I knew you were talking about August. Okay, now I am confused. There is an edit button on my second post, but not my original message…I’m still trying to get this site figured out.</p>
<p>I meant August. I have a very busy week, so I was probably thinking about the dates of Spring Break while I was typing that post. :)</p>
<p>@ SEA_tide
“I tend to fly overnight from the West Coast, arrive in Birmingham around 10am, and get to Tuscaloosa before noon.”</p>
<p>My mom wanted me to ask…
Which redeye carrier do you usually fly from Seattle? Is it direct or is there a connection? There aren’t good flight choices from PDX; I can easily fly PDX to SEA if there are more options.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The edit button remains live for about 20 minutes after you’ve posted. Thereafter, you’re stuck with your prose. :)</p>
<p>The only nonstop to Birmingham from the West Coast is from Las Vegas on Southwest and is a daytime flight.</p>
<p>Delta has a nonstop PDX-ATL redeye that I’ve almost booked myself on. Taking that, you can arrive in Birmingham at either 8:30 or 9:30 am depending on which connection you choose. Alaska will also sell tickets on this flight as a codeshare or will fly you PDX-SEA to catch the Delta redeye from SEA. I’ve flown BHM-ATL-SEA-PDX and BHM-ATL-PDX-SEA before and the SEA-PDX shuttle is really easy.</p>
<p>From Seattle, I’ve flown on American and Continental redeyes and connected from there. To get elite status on Alaska, I’ve flown on Delta redeyes from other cities (LAX and PHX), but not Seattle.</p>
<p>As for expected fares, flights to Birmingham from PDX or SEA are running about $200 each way, though they occasionally go for $140-$185 each way. I’ve paid as little as $88 and as much as $260 each way, depending on when I’ve needed to travel. Definitely sign up to earn miles and try to fly that carrier or its partners whenever possible.</p>
<p>^Thank you, SEA_tide, for taking the time to write that information. Much appreciated!</p>
<p>PNW…</p>
<p>Are you Bama Bound? </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>^ Still in my top three! I’m off to re-visit schools in two weeks. </p>
<p>Geeesh…it’s almost coming down to things like airline transportation! Not really, but the details are beginning to matter.</p>
<p>When will you be at Bama? I hope it’s not during Bama’s Spring Break.</p>
<p>PNW, the lack of affordable air transportation (now greatly improved) to Columbia, SC is one of the reasons I didn’t want to attend the University of South Carolina. From PDX, I also noticed a 12:59 am flight to Minneapolis that, with a double connection, can get you to Birmingham by 10:40 am. </p>
<p>Do tell us when you’ll be on campus as I’d like to meet another Washingtonian at UA (there are currently 18 UA students from Washington.)</p>