gregorylane wrote:Hak...do you have a good feel for the cost difference flying out on Sat. as compared to Friday? Hate the term, but it might be the same difference as Sun./ Mon.

But then, there are additional hotel costs!

bahwm wrote:But then, there are additional hotel costs!

How's that? Same number of days...either the newbie tour flies Sunday (afternoon) and Thursday (morning). Veterans fly Wednesday (afternoon) and Saturday (morning). And a mutual get together Wednesday night... I think that is right, but correct me if I'm wrong. Sure, some who live closer could eliminate the extra night. But those with a long trip are stuck.

Then again we could clone the "thrown down the hill" rpm and leave a day earlier!

Edit: This won't work either...I'll just do as I'm told.

gregorylane wrote:Hak...do you have a good feel for the cost difference flying out on Sat. as compared to Friday? Hate the term, but it might be the same difference as Sun./ Mon.

I think HAK needs to remember there are other airlines that fly from NY to the Bay Area and none of them are inherently cheaper on Monday ;)

My only vote is that the organizers somehow end up with the geriatric tour not occurring over July 23-25. I can help relieve your worries about nobody buying anything RPM ;)

mother wrote:I think HAK needs to remember there are other airlines that fly from NY to the Bay Area and none of them are inherently cheaper on Monday ;)

My only vote is that the organizers somehow end up with the geriatric tour not occurring over July 23-25. I can help relieve your worries about nobody buying anything RPM ;)

Often, including a saturday night in your flight plans decreases the cost of the flight enormously

mother wrote:I think HAK needs to remember there are other airlines that fly from NY to the Bay Area and none of them are inherently cheaper on Monday ;)

My only vote is that the organizers somehow end up with the geriatric tour not occurring over July 23-25. I can help relieve your worries about nobody buying anything RPM ;)

I think you forget how far out on Long Island he is, too There's not a lot of airlines that fly to his airport, and getting to the ones in the city proper are, well, less than convenient.

cheron98 wrote:I think you forget how far out on Long Island he is, too There's not a lot of airlines that fly to his airport, and getting to the ones in the city proper are, well, less than convenient.

Bullshit. Have a nice day :P

cheron98 wrote:I think you forget how far out on Long Island he is, too There's not a lot of airlines that fly to his airport, and getting to the ones in the city proper are, well, less than convenient.

So he's placing convenience on the NY end ahead of flexibility in pricing available from the NYC metropolitan airports. It's a choice.

rpm wrote:So he's placing convenience on the NY end ahead of flexibility in pricing available from the NYC metropolitan airports. It's a choice.

Yep, I know. I'm trying to get him to look at Newark because it's GADS cheaper

cheron98 wrote:Yep, I know. I'm trying to get him to look at Newark because it's GADS cheaper

We sometimes end up at Newark for that very reason. My argument with SWMBO is usually whether it's enough cheaper to make up for the cost/time of getting there. Sometimes yes, sometimes, no - it often depends on the timing of the flight, and the cheapest flights often make it hard to get to NWK cheaply.... If convenience were my only criteria, I'd fly out of White Plains most of the time.

mother wrote:... geriatric tour ...

Ahem! You could wind up in the doghouse if you're not careful.

richardhod wrote:Often, including a saturday night in your flight plans decreases the cost of the flight enormously

Agreed, but the hotel prices where we're staying tend to be significantly higher on weekends.

mother wrote:I think HAK needs to remember there are other airlines that fly from NY to the Bay Area and none of them are inherently cheaper on Monday

Yes, there are other airlines. But specifically for me, I'll be flying SWA almost definitely (even if it costs slightly more) because it's the only airline that I have enough points with to probably cover the cost of one direction of the flights. I was just stating my personal request that the tour be the 24-26 or 25-27, rather than 23-25, and adding the flight thing as an extra thought. My main point was that the 23rd (or any date prior to that) is not good for me.

rpm wrote:We sometimes end up at Newark for that very reason. My argument with SWMBO is usually whether it's enough cheaper to make up for the cost/time of getting there. Sometimes yes, sometimes, no - it often depends on the timing of the flight, and the cheapest flights often make it hard to get to NWK cheaply.... If convenience were my only criteria, I'd fly out of White Plains most of the time.

Yeah I'll be having to take Newark into consideration, but the costs/time/etc of dealing with that airport need to be taken into account. As soon as I get a chance I'll be trying to make a spreadsheet for myself of all the options from the three airport choices (ISP/LGA/EWR) with also comparing multiple dates. I may even fly out of one airport, but return to a different one, depending on costs.
Plus, there's 3 different airports to consider in California (SFO/SJC/OAK). Gonna be one complicated spreadsheet once I get to it. LOL

HitAnyKey42 wrote:Yeah I'll be having to take Newark into consideration, but the costs/time/etc of dealing with that airport need to be taken into account. As soon as I get a chance I'll be trying to make a spreadsheet for myself of all the options from the three airport choices (ISP/LGA/EWR) with also comparing multiple dates. I may even fly out of one airport, but return to a different one, depending on costs.
Plus, there's 3 different airports to consider in California (SFO/SJC/OAK). Gonna be one complicated spreadsheet once I get to it. LOL

And people think I overthink my planning

cheron98 wrote:And people think I overthink my planning

He's all yours, luv!

HitAnyKey42 wrote:Yeah I'll be having to take Newark into consideration, but the costs/time/etc of dealing with that airport need to be taken into account. As soon as I get a chance I'll be trying to make a spreadsheet for myself of all the options from the three airport choices (ISP/LGA/EWR) with also comparing multiple dates. I may even fly out of one airport, but return to a different one, depending on costs.
Plus, there's 3 different airports to consider in California (SFO/SJC/OAK). Gonna be one complicated spreadsheet once I get to it. LOL

Another thing to consider, if renting a car, is that it is often a LOTmore expensive to pick up at one airport and drop at another. Also, have to consider traffic in and around SF, which can be aweful! Oh, yeah, it's Cali. What else is new?

ddeuddeg wrote:Ahem! You could wind up in the doghouse if you're not careful.

Nice!!

All I can do is hope there are still tours when I no longer am planning to have a child or have an infant. Lil miss is 2 now but we are pondering number 2, and I just don't think a multiday wine tour would be that much fun in that state. So I will hope for 2014 and a visit from Grandma!

HitAnyKey42 wrote:Yeah I'll be having to take Newark into consideration, but the costs/time/etc of dealing with that airport need to be taken into account. As soon as I get a chance I'll be trying to make a spreadsheet for myself of all the options from the three airport choices (ISP/LGA/EWR) with also comparing multiple dates. I may even fly out of one airport, but return to a different one, depending on costs.
Plus, there's 3 different airports to consider in California (SFO/SJC/OAK). Gonna be one complicated spreadsheet once I get to it. LOL

Have you considered Sacramento? You could also see if an extra night (Sat) there might end up being cheaper.

Although it might not, if Cheron decides to visit TO.

MarkDaSpark wrote:Have you considered Sacramento? You could also see if an extra night (Sat) there might end up being cheaper.

Although it might not, if Cheron decides to visit TO.

TO is just too far away While I'd love to get back there again, I don't think it's in the cards for this trip.

SWA no longer flies to Sacramento.

MarkDaSpark wrote:Have you considered Sacramento? You could also see if an extra night (Sat) there might end up being cheaper.

Although it might not, if Cheron decides to visit TO.

Southwest no longer flies out of Sacramento to ISP. Already checked that one. And they only have one flight to LGA (6:45am) which would be very not-nice to have to get to the airport for. They have flights to EWR, but I doubt that'll be cost effective when taking into account the cost to get to SMF & home from EWR. But I'll take a glance at it later just for Potty Emergency and giggles.

EDIT: So I just took a quick glance and it's cheaper to fly from SJC to EWR than it is from SMF to EWR. So there's no reason to even consider Sacramento.

HitAnyKey42 wrote:Yeah I'll be having to take Newark into consideration, but the costs/time/etc of dealing with that airport need to be taken into account. As soon as I get a chance I'll be trying to make a spreadsheet for myself of all the options from the three airport choices (ISP/LGA/EWR) with also comparing multiple dates. I may even fly out of one airport, but return to a different one, depending on costs.
Plus, there's 3 different airports to consider in California (SFO/SJC/OAK). Gonna be one complicated spreadsheet once I get to it. LOL

If you're including SJC into the mix, you might as well add SMF (Sacramento) to the mix. According to google maps it's only 11 miles further, but there's less traffic from Sacramento to Santa Rosa, so it will probably end up being less time

edit - I didn't read far enough, so I see Sacramento already came up....where's my coffee?

cheron98 wrote:I think you forget how far out on Long Island he is, too There's not a lot of airlines that fly to his airport, and getting to the ones in the city proper are, well, less than convenient.

HAK = Horse And Kart?

Dang, miss looking online for two days, and things HAPPEN!!

Ok, having looked through the posts and caught up - YES! I am in. Probably +1, but I have to get her to schedule the time off. Will be great to see Richard, Adam, Cheron and HAK, Woop, Rob, and (insert names here!), Greg and Deb(and even meet their son that they gushed about).

Bonnie/Don - I will see you in a week or so, so don't feel left out that I didn't name you specifically! - wait, I just did!!

As for last tour - lordy. I don't want to remember what I spent. From buying a couple of bottles just about everywhere, to a case at Pendroncelli, and even a couple of bottles of N'Joy at Iron Horse, I was competing for most wine shipped home by WD! It turned out to be 7+ cases, I think. And yes, I went over my budget some.

wkdpanda wrote:Bonnie/Don - I will see you in a week or so

Me too

cheron98 wrote:Me too

Oh, that's right! You driving across the tundra to join us!

I respectfully request that we avoid using given names in these forums, and stick with screen names. I know we've all made some incredible friendships here, and the names are used with affection.

sanity wrote:I respectfully request that we avoid using given names in these forums, and stick with screen names. I know we've all made some incredible friendships here, and the names are used with affection.

Even if the affection doesn't extend to spelling the names correctly.

rpm wrote:Your post was the night before according to time stamp.

Since there were only 2 posters who asked to be on the list beginning July 2011 when the discussion first resumed (as opposed to people who expressed interest in 2010 after the tour) and before my post (you and kkv123), I'm revising the list to add the two of you in at the top of the list.

By the way, thanks for doing this. I'm now really hoping that I can go.

ddeuddeg wrote:Especially if you get to follow it up with dinner at ddeuddeg and bahwm's house.

Agreed. And absolutely amazing hosts.

rpm wrote:
Since there were only 2 posters who asked to be on the list beginning July 2011 when the discussion first resumed (as opposed to people who expressed interest in 2010 after the tour) and before my post (you and kkv123), I'm revising the list to add the two of you in at the top of the list.

Wait - [incredulously] I can go?

All this week I've been channeling my inner Pollyanna, telling myself that it really didn't matter that I couldn't go and that I'd surely find many fun things to do instead. Which I surely can.

But...but...I CAN GO!?!??

RPM - thank you so very much.

PLEASE - what may I do to assist the general effort? I stand by, checkbook in hand, ready to tender my non-refundable deposit without delay. And will begin booking flights the instant the dates are finalized.

I see so many fellow Clambakers on the veteran's tour list - you are sure to have a wonderful time as they are the best of company. If I have the instructor's permission to join the veteran's tour upon completion of the newbie tour, please add me to the waitlist. And if not, no worries! I will stand by the side of the road, white handkerchief in hand, cheering the veteran bus off as you all depart for your new adventure!

Looks like I'm late to the party. Can you throw me on the new tourists waiting list please?

please put me on both lists with a +1.
kthxbai : )

kkv123 wrote:Wait - [incredulously] I can go?

All this week I've been channeling my inner Pollyanna, telling myself that it really didn't matter that I couldn't go and that I'd surely find many fun things to do instead. Which I surely can.

But...but...I CAN GO!?!??

RPM - thank you so very much.

PLEASE - what may I do to assist the general effort? I stand by, checkbook in hand, ready to tender my non-refundable deposit without delay. And will begin booking flights the instant the dates are finalized.

I see so many fellow Clambakers on the veteran's tour list - you are sure to have a wonderful time as they are the best of company. If I have the instructor's permission to join the veteran's tour upon completion of the newbie tour, please add me to the waitlist. And if not, no worries! I will stand by the side of the road, white handkerchief in hand, cheering the veteran bus off as you all depart for your new adventure!

there will be dropouts. rpm can take this as a request to be on the waiting list if you so desire. Last time eveeryone who wanted to be on the list managed to get on the tour in teh end, despite a waiting list!

richardhod wrote:there will be dropouts. rpm can take this as a request to be on the waiting list if you so desire. Last time eveeryone who wanted to be on the list managed to get on the tour in teh end, despite a waiting list!

She's at the top of the list for going on the tour. Why would she want to be added to the waiting list? You need sleep.

ddeuddeg wrote:She's at the top of the list for going on the tour. Why would she want to be added to the waiting list? You need sleep.

I think richardhod was referring to the Veterans Tour waiting list.

At this point, I have not started adding New Tourists to the Veterans Tour waiting list.

richardhod wrote:there will be dropouts. rpm can take this as a request to be on the waiting list if you so desire. Last time eveeryone who wanted to be on the list managed to get on the tour in teh end, despite a waiting list!

Quite true. IIRC I and my +1 were #47 & 48 on the list (out of 24, same as now). In a matter of 2 weeks, we moved all the way to about 18 & 19! The only negative was that we paid about $400-$450 (total for the two of us) more for airfare than because of the lateness of the "interested" in confirming they could not go. I am not going back to the old thread to verify position and dates, but those interested/curious can.

The major difference is this Tour's deposit system. Now, having a non-refundable deposit in should keep those who are "interested" out of the top 24. If anyone has to cancel after the deposit deadline....the Tour benefits! Very fitting.

rpm, are you going to allow exceptions for a bereavement or medical withdrawal? I am just trying to plan for which relative to kill off, or bone up on my Contagious diseases.

gregorylane wrote:Quite true. IIRC I and my +1 were #47 & 48 on the list (out of 24, same as now). In a matter of 2 weeks, we moved all the way to about 18 & 19! The only negative was that we paid about $400-$450 (total for the two of us) more for airfare than because of the lateness of the "interested" in confirming they could not go. I am not going back to the old thread to verify position and dates, but those interested/curious can.

The major difference is this Tour's deposit system. Now, having a non-refundable deposit in should keep those who are "interested" out of the top 24. If anyone has to cancel after the deposit deadline....the Tour benefits! Very fitting.

rpm, are you going to allow exceptions for a bereavement or medical withdrawal? I am just trying to plan for which relative to kill off, or bone up on my Contagious diseases.

Last time we had one true hardship last minute cancellation which we decided, after talking about it, not to stick with charges even though the canceling tourist offered to pay. I think what we may do is allow withdrawing tourists that are true hardship cases to be refunded if the spot is filled, not otherwise.

rpm wrote:Last time we had one true hardship last minute cancellation which we decided, after talking about it, not to stick with charges even though the canceling tourist offered to pay. I think what we may do is allow withdrawing tourists that are true hardship cases to be refunded if the spot is filled, not otherwise.

I've never been totally clear on the rationale behind not refunding deposits when the slots wind up being filled. Personally, I've never been in that position on either side, so I haven't had the occasion to think about it much.

ddeuddeg wrote:I've never been totally clear on the rationale behind not refunding deposits when the slots wind up being filled. Personally, I've never been in that position on either side, so I haven't had the occasion to think about it much.

The idea is we don't want to deal with giving out refunds and waiting for new money to come in: if you drop out, and there is a replacement, the replacement sends you a check. The tour is whole, you're whole, other people (woopdedoo) don't have to deal with the accounting.