HOTEL

Select your hotel on the quality or brand your team likes to stay in, instead of its proximity to the venue. At THS, the sports housing service I started in 1998, we never hear comments from teams that “The hotel was not good, but we loved the location.” The common quote we DO hear is that “We loved the hotel, so the drive to the venue was worth it.”

Book your rooms earlier – you will get a better selection of hotels and the room types you want. Note the cancellation policy of each hotel so you are not stuck with any rooms you have to drop closer to arrival because of roster changes or parents backing out of the trip.

When booking online and selecting a hotel to view the rates, you will often be given LOTS of rates to choose from, including Advanced Purchase, Breakfast included, Special Offers, or various Roomtype Upgrades. Before you select one, READ THE DETAILS! The Advanced Purchase rates are generally lower by $10.00-$15.00, which works if you are sure you won’t need to cancel. But very often you will find different rates for the same roomtype or rates for a room WITH Breakfast at the same rate as that same room without Breakfast. So, don’t assume the pricing makes sense from lowest to highest, read the details and you may find a better deal in that list of rates.

Consider hotels farther from the venue, particularly farther out in the suburbs. Typically rates go down as you get farther from the city center. If all of the parents have cars, then swap the convenience of being closer to the venue for the lower rates.

Price Extended-Stay hotels like Residence Inn, Homewood Suites, Staybridge Suites and others. Mid-week their rates are generally pretty high. But some locations could have empty suites over weekends, including their 2-bedroom suites where you could find some great deals that will give you more room, a full kitchen and a nice complimentary breakfast in the rate.

Join each hotel company’s Reward Program. You will not only build up reward points to use for free hotel stays, airline miles or merchandise, but if you build up enough points, hotels will sometimes upgrade your roomtype because of your reward membership status.

Or consider of having each parent sign up for the Hotel rewards points, sign up for Hotel Reward points under one team contact or the coach’s name, so everyone’s “earned points” when the team travels will go toward the coaches room to save the parents money.

Save money on breakfast at the Limited Service hotels that have a nice, substantial Free Breakfast with a large enough breakfast area that the whole team can fit. Some of the brands that have the  best free Breakfasts are Holiday Inn Express, Hampton Inn, Country Inn & Suites, Wingate Inn, Hyatt Place, Embassy Suites, and the extended stay hotel brands like Residence Inn, Homewood Suites and Staybridge Suites. Some of the more economy brands can have a nice free breakfast, but they are less consistent from hotel to hotel, and often the breakfast area has only a few tables to eat at. See our article titled “Too Many Hotel Brands! How to Tell Them Apart!” for more information on free breakfasts.

Stick to AAA 3-diamond or 3-Star rated hotels (or higher) whenever possible. The savings at anything lower will be offset by an unpleasant hotel experience. Also, note when a hotel has recently changed franchises, and if the quality level of the new franchise is higher or lower than the former one. A Ramada Inn that has recently become a Holiday Inn has had substantial renovations to get the new flag – safe bet it will be good. A Sheraton that has recently become a Quality Inn has probably stopped renovating their hotel that would have been necessary to keep the Sheraton flag, so it is probably an aging hotel in less than acceptable condition.

Stay-and-Play. If the tournament you are attending uses a Stay-and-Play policy, take the time to read the rules. Understanding what you can and cannot do when booking hotels will save you time and money.

 

GROUND TRANSPORTATION

Check out the Light Rails. If you are in a major market that has light rail, and are playing at an arena or convention center that likely has light rail service to the venue, spend the time to research what hotels are near a light rail stop. This link will help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_rail_in_the_United_States

Renting 7 or 8-Passenger Vans to transport a team can be expensive – the rates are often inflated due to the limited availability. Consider renting two Sedans instead. Also, within the various sizes of vehicles at a particular location, the prices are directly proportional to how many of that size vehicle they have. Sometimes the luxury cars are cheaper than the economy because of supply. So shop by price, not by rental car company or vehicle size.

Renting for a week may save you money. If you only need the rental for 2 days, then it is unlikely that weekly rental rate will be less. However, if you need the vehicle for 4 or 5 days, you may save money by renting it for a week, and returning it early, since there is no penalty for the early return.

Rental Car insurance coverage – your own auto insurance in most every instance has coverage for when you rent a car or van. Check with your agent, and you likely can decline this very expensive insurance.

Avoid renting at airports. Car rental agencies at most airports have to add on a daily airport tax. So if possible, book a car rental location that is located off the airport property, but has airport shuttle service to their office.

Fill up your gas tank the night before going to the airport early the next morning. If you running late in the morning, you will end up skipping the service station stop in order to make your flight, and end up paying the overpriced gas charges at the rental agency.