4 months and counting!

[remmet]

Well, I got hit by the same fever (ferver?) that seems to be spreading far and wide. I booked my "Rally" hotel room! [I panicked when I thought there were only 2 rooms left; I later realized the number "2" refered to step #2 in the registration process. ]I'm so looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible. I'll try to remember my "dot".Richard

[coachdebra]

Hey Richard, if you forget your dot, stop by at my table in the Teacher's room - I always travel with extras.Also, Southwest is running an incredible deal - but it only runs until midnight July 8th. The deals are not good on Fridays and Sundays, so that may limit - but the prices on those days are pretty awesome too. So, if you're flying, check their website ASAP. I just made plane reservations for SF--> Nashville for Songposium for $213 roundtrip. And SF --> Denver for Durango Song and then Denver --> Boise for ArtsNW Booking Conference and back home again for under $250! Man this fall is gonna rock! Any Nashville folks want to meet while I'm there, give me a hoot and a holler!I'll be driving down to TAXI and probably coming in a few days early and staying a few days late - so if you want to book a private consultation with me outside of the TAXI mayhem, contact me off line.Debra

[remmet]

Thanks for the info, Debra. I compared Southwest prices with Alaska Airlines, and they are about the same, but Alaska has non-stop flights from Portland. I wonder if it pays to book now - 4 months out - or wait to see if a better price appears later on. Don't some of the online trip sites offer price guarantees? I'll check with William Shatner.Best,Richard

[kg]

Jul 7, 2009, 9:47pm, remmet wrote:Thanks for the info, Debra. I compared Southwest prices with Alaska Airlines, and they are about the same, but Alaska has non-stop flights from Portland. I wonder if it pays to book now - 4 months out - or wait to see if a better price appears later on. Don't some of the online trip sites offer price guarantees? I'll check with William Shatner.Best,RichardSome offer guarantees, but they are only for 24 hours from time of purchase, so read the fine print. Don't forget that TAXI does get a group airline rate/discount for a couple airlines. Not sure when this info will come out, but it saved us quite a bit last year - ended up being the same price as if we had booked super-early.

[christoffer]

Hummingbird- Thanks for the heads up! I´ve now booked a room! Feels great! Does anybody have any good suggestions on what to ask in the mentor-meeting? (new member). See you in nov! /christoffer

[kg]

Jul 8, 2009, 8:40am, christoffer wrote:Hummingbird- Thanks for the heads up! I´ve now booked a room! Feels great! Does anybody have any good suggestions on what to ask in the mentor-meeting? (new member). See you in nov! /christofferDepends on what mentor you pick/what your goals are. I think the best advice is to determine your goals in music and what questions you have about how to get there and then pick a mentor that fits that area of expertise. When you get your rally info kit, you'll get a list of the mentors witha brief bio and that will help you narrow it down.

[christoffer]

Thanks a lot Kelly, I´ll keep that in mind! /christoffer

[coachdebra]

As I said, this deal is not good on Friday's and Sunday's, so if you were looking at either of those days, you'd only see the normal prices. But if you're able to fly in on Wed or Thur and fly out on Mon - you should be able to beat anyone else's price with SouthWest - but today only. This sale is over today.I'm a big fan of William Shatner and always use them to book my room. The last two years I was in 4 star hotels for $60/night. Of course, I drive down, so not staying in the hotel isn't a problem for me.

[hummingbird]

I didn't find the prices to be much cheaper on Southwest than they are on other airlines... even with the 'sale' price. I'm still looking.

[remmet]

I talked to a travel agent today and he suggested waiting awhile before booking flights. He said that the period before Thanksgiving is notoriously slow in the airline industry and they typically offer discounts around that time.I'm not sure I'll follow that advice, but it seems like a viable option.Richard