<p>Trying to arrange flights home for Xmas break, but see finals are, in theory, up until Tuesday December 16th.....any way to determine if S will actually have exams on the Monday or Tuesday at this point. Gotta believe flight costs will only go up from here.....makes a difference of 4 days whether exams really happen on the Mon or Tuesday.</p>
<p>I imagine the schedule tying finals to class times is out there, and I would check but frankly it is too soon. Lots of things can happen until he gets through a week of classes and sees if he is going to add or drop any classes,and sees the profs syllabi, because some profs have final papers instead of final exams. And frankly you will still be fine making reservations right after Labor Day. The costs and availability shouldn’t have changed much at that point.</p>
<p>I feel your pain. Our local airfares to/from NOLA are already slowly creeping up. </p>
<p>Will sit on hands for now I guess </p>
<p>Or book on Southwest if you can, you can change on there for free…</p>
<p>It is too soon to book Xmas. A lot can happen that will change your dates. I would say wait until classes have started (or book Southwest - We love Southwest!). As Fallen said, some profs assign papers and you never know if your D or S will add/drop a class. Also, be aware that girls pledging Sororities go back a few days earlier in January. Here is the link for finals: <a href=“http://registrar.tulane.edu/final_examination_schedules/final_examination_schedule_201430”>http://registrar.tulane.edu/final_examination_schedules/final_examination_schedule_201430</a> </p>
<p>We did just book Thanksgiving (on Southwest of course) because even that can change. There are no classes on Wednesday, but last year my son’s classes were cancelled all week, so he was able to come home the Saturday before. The only problem right now is that Southwest has not released any “Wanna Get Away” fares (the cheap one) for the Sunday of Thanksgiving, so the flight home is a fortune (but fully refundable should the lower fare become available or if we decide to switch to United.) I feel like I have become a travel agent!</p>
<p>I actually did book my sons flight home for Christmas, for the day after finals end.He doesn’t care if he’s finished earlier, we have plenty of friends in NOLA he can hang out with if need be. For $128 to my local airport 10 minutes from my house I could not pass it up or wait. And thank goodness I booked it, it’s already up to $348. He’s staying in NOLA for Thanksgiving. </p>
<p>You make a good point, dolphnlvr. Even for those who don’t have friends (outside of Tulane) or family in NOLA, there are a lot worse places to be when you are done with exams and have nothing but free time to explore.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that students must be out of their dorm 24 hours after their last exam. I don’t know how strictly they enforce that but I assume they make allowances and have to be fairly flexible as so many students come from so far and flights are probably booked months in advance. </p>
<p>That is indeed the rule, but to the best of my knowledge it isn’t really enforced. I suppose at worst a student could always claim they are working on a paper, lol. But I think just pointing out that a cheap fare was obtained ahead of time and that the expense of changing is too much would be enough. I also think it is more of an issue in May when the RA has to actually do inspections and everything has to be out of the room.</p>