06-04-2007, 01:00 PM
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#21 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,100
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Originally Posted by Allen Evans  I will say that I'm with EDEW on this: I've purchased tickets for events as much as 6-7 months in advance, and not saved any money compared to my teammates who purchased two weeks in advance. I've had the reverse happen as well.
It seems to depend a lot on where you're going (a hub, or non-hub airport) and when you are flying (weekends close to holidays, etc).
AE | I would agree with you about price fluctuations on all airlines except for Southwest which sells off their lower fares as they fill up. If the fare does decrease due to a fare sale, SWA will credit you the difference. Which is the great thing about Southwest.
Fares for October on Southwest, are already sold out at the cheapest prices for the Sunday night out of Tucson.
Since one can change with SWA without incurring change fees, my advice is to purchase departure tickets for Friday night and return tickets for Sunday night, the most popular days, then change them if needed once event dates are posted.
For most other airlines, it has less to do with when one is flying than when one buys the tickets. Buying them close to a holiday will cost more whether or not the flight date is near a holiday, whether one buys six months or two weeks in advance.
Buy individual tickets since one or two may be available on a lower fare while three or four may not be. My Miami tickets were three different prices. Booking individually saved me $100.00.
It is also necessary to have knowledge far in advance if one wants to be able to use frequent flier miles.
Last edited by teacup; 06-04-2007 at 01:08 PM.
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06-04-2007, 03:20 PM
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#22 | | Member
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 59
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Allen Evans The Schedule of events depends on a lot of factors, some of which are not always easily predicted:
1. Number of entries. This changes much more than you might think, especially for the events involving Youth/Juniors and Div 2/3 entries. Sometimes the number of entries changes by 10-15 percent from event to event especially when a new venue is used.
2. Number of available strips. This, of course, can be known before hand pretty easily.
3. Number of available referees for each day, and their weapons of expertise. Not always easy to predict. | Seems to me that the Event Schedule must be determined far before the number of entries or referees are determined. Without an Event Schedule, fencers doing multiple weapons can't determine which events to enter without causing a scheduling conflict.
I would think the significant factors are the number of available strips at the venue and the predictive value of previous NACs. Both are available by the time a venue is choosen.
Sure, finding good prices for airfare is an art form. But having less time to do that doesn't help fencers find deals or use frequent flyer miles. | |
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06-04-2007, 03:41 PM
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#23 | | Epee fencing addict
Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Glenwood, ny
Posts: 2,302
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Originally Posted by Faire Seems to me that the Event Schedule must be determined far before the number of entries or referees are determined. | I have to agree whole-heartedly with this. The event schedule is one of the parts that I consider when I am deciding whether to attend a tournament or not. If an event schedule is not published, there is a 99% chance that I will not register for the tournament.
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06-05-2007, 09:23 AM
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#24 | | Fencing Expert
Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Virginia
Posts: 1,669
| *shrug* Or maybe the schedule is made at the last minute to reduce the time frame for fencers to send angry emails to the USFA about why "such and such" an event is "always" on an inconvienent day. 
AE | |
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06-05-2007, 09:40 AM
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#25 | | Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 10,177
| Quote:
Originally Posted by parrythis I have to agree whole-heartedly with this. The event schedule is one of the parts that I consider when I am deciding whether to attend a tournament or not. If an event schedule is not published, there is a 99% chance that I will not register for the tournament. | I doubt the USFA is concerned with NACs having people stay away from them right now. | 
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06-05-2007, 01:56 PM
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#26 | | Senior Member
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 493
| I know the USFA is not 'concerned.' However, there was a big drop -- I think -- between the Div 1 entries for the NAC before Tucson and the one in Tucson. I know there are other factors, but location has to be one of them.....I for one HATED Reno (the hotel, the food, the city), so I hope they pick any other place for the missing NAC. | |
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06-05-2007, 02:55 PM
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#27 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: 40D 34' 7.046" N by 74D 26' 23.503" W
Posts: 765
| Does anyone know what the venue/host hotels will be? (I'm thinking Marriott, since several of the last NACs were at Marriott Hotels, including Miami)
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06-05-2007, 05:43 PM
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#28 | | Fencing Expert
Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: Pennsauken, NJ
Posts: 8,951
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Originally Posted by hello? I know the USFA is not 'concerned.' However, there was a big drop -- I think -- between the Div 1 entries for the NAC before Tucson and the one in Tucson. I know there are other factors, but location has to be one of them.....I for one HATED Reno (the hotel, the food, the city), so I hope they pick any other place for the missing NAC. | The April NAC should be compared to other April NACs, not to a January NAC. Each NAC has a unique blend of events and, naturally, occur during different parts of the competitive season. Historically the April NAC is the weakest of the D1 events and January is likely the largest/strongest.
While location likely has some effect, without doing any research, I'd guess that the other factors that I've listed above are more significant.
-B
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06-05-2007, 05:57 PM
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#29 | | Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 10,177
| Relatively few fencers combine Div I and Y14. A similar number combine Div I and Veteran. Many combine Div I and Junior. | |
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06-05-2007, 05:59 PM
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#30 | | Senior Member
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 493
| Point made, Brad! I do know a couple of people who skipped div 1 because of Tucson being hard to get to but 5-6 people would not make a big difference.... | |
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06-05-2007, 06:00 PM
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#31 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 823
| My goodness! So many complaints! Really, it all evens itself out over the course of a few years. | |
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06-06-2007, 05:02 AM
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#32 | | Curmudgeon-in-Chief
Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Somewhere in your nightmares!
Posts: 23,538
| Quote:
Originally Posted by oiuyt The April NAC should be compared to other April NACs, not to a January NAC. Each NAC has a unique blend of events | Yes. I find that April NACs tend to have a soft, flowery bouquet with hints of citrus, while December NACS generally have a bolder nose, with smoky overtones. Of course it depends on the vintage. 
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06-06-2007, 11:55 AM
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#33 | | Fencing Expert
Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: CA area
Posts: 6,153
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Originally Posted by Inquartata Yes. I find that April NACs tend to have a soft, flowery bouquet with hints of citrus, while December NACS generally have a bolder nose, with smoky overtones. Of course it depends on the vintage. | I believe this post should be in the whine thread. And you nose it, bouquet?
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06-06-2007, 01:17 PM
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#34 | | Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 10,177
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Inquartata Yes. I find that April NACs tend to have a soft, flowery bouquet with hints of citrus, while December NACS generally have a bolder nose, with smoky overtones. Of course it depends on the vintage. | The December 2005 was exceptionally chilled. | |
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06-18-2007, 02:36 PM
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#35 | | Just Joined
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 4
| Any ideas about the venues?
Is there anyway to find out what the venue is for a given city? Where the Dallas NAC is located might make a difference as to which parent takes our daughter to the event. | |
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06-18-2007, 03:11 PM
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#36 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: DFW, Texas
Posts: 3,290
| Quote:
Originally Posted by BrokenPenGuy Is there anyway to find out what the venue is for a given city? Where the Dallas NAC is located might make a difference as to which parent takes our daughter to the event. | Its going to be the Dallas Convention Center. Downtown Dallas.
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06-18-2007, 03:26 PM
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#37 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Dana Hall School, Wellesely, MA
Posts: 3,821
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Originally Posted by BrokenPenGuy Is there anyway to find out what the venue is for a given city? Where the Dallas NAC is located might make a difference as to which parent takes our daughter to the event. | If you don't mind me asking, why??
-m | |
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06-18-2007, 03:36 PM
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#38 | | Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 10,177
| Perhaps BrokenPenGuy has a preference for Billy Bob's. | |
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06-18-2007, 03:41 PM
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#39 | | Senior Member
Join Date: May 2006 Location: Here
Posts: 2,122
| The junior Olympics is at the Charlotte Convention Center in downtown. (it's on their calendar of events)
This also probably means that the host hotel (if anyone was smart) is the Westin.
__________________ Quote: |
Originally Posted by IHateMrPotatohead I can't think of anything to put down there! |  | |
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06-18-2007, 03:45 PM
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#40 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: Chelmsford, MA
Posts: 1,876
| Quote:
Originally Posted by IHateMrPotatohead The junior Olympics is at the Charlotte Convention Center in downtown. (it's on their calendar of events)
This also probably means that the host hotel (if anyone was smart) is the Westin. | You're talking about THS here... so who knows what will happen.
-w
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