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hockey trip to Maine


YaneA

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They do still fly commercially as I know people who have been on the same plane with them.

Well wonder what the reasoning is behind it. Must have something to do with contingency planning of sorts - delays, mechanical problems, schedules.

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I would assume it would be cheaper to fly commerically and they certainly won't fill up a plane if they charter one. I know there were some talks about them chartering at one point, but those never went through. Last year they flew commercially because I know people who were on their plane then too.

I'm sure they are part of Northwest World Perks program, giving them free flights after enough trips- which would save the team money. Maybe they get a team discount for having 30 seats on the plane filled up. I would guess a big thing would be cost though. If commercial flights fly them to where they need to be and at times that work, that's probably the best choice.

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To clarify my not filling the plane: If the team did charter, they would have to do the Fly with the Sioux every weekend to make up the money that they would be spending and if they don't fill it up, they lose money. I don't think many fans would pay $800 for every Sioux roadtrip that requires flying. And having it for every trip, would take the thrill out of it. Having it be a rare occasion, makes people more likely to jump at it.

I also don't know if Coach or the guys would like to have Fly with the Sioux on every trip. They would probably like to sleep and relax on the plane after a long weekend.

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To clarify my not filling the plane: If the team did charter, they would have to do the Fly with the Sioux every weekend to make up the money that they would be spending and if they don't fill it up, they lose money. I don't think many fans would pay $800 for every Sioux roadtrip that requires flying. And having it for every trip, would take the thrill out of it. Having it be a rare occasion, makes people more likely to jump at it.

I also don't know if Coach or the guys would like to have Fly with the Sioux on every trip. They would probably like to sleep and relax on the plane after a long weekend.

I worked in the airline business for 8 years so I know the ins and outs of most of what we are dicussing - that said - when you "charter" an aircraft it makes no difference if you have 2 or 200 people onboard. You pay the same for it's use on your trip regardless of passenger count. A ballpark is that it would cost approximately $75,000 (give or take) for a round trip charter trip to Maine from Grand Forks. This figure can fluctuate significantly between charter carriers - some factors are the need to "ferry" an airplane into Grand Forks and then "ferry" it back to it's base of operation, the extremely high cost of jet fuel at present etc. etc. etc.

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Aside from charter air or not, remember, they are going by bus to most of their road destinations, even Michigan Tech. (That has to be cheaper than flying.) The exceptions are CC, DU, UAA, and road non-conference games too far to drive. I'm not sure if they drive to Wisconsin or not.

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Aside from charter air or not, remember, they are going by bus to most of their road destinations, even Michigan Tech. (That has to be cheaper than flying.) The exceptions are CC, DU, UAA, and road non-conference games too far to drive. I'm not sure if they drive to Wisconsin or not.

I say they should take a bus to AA, it would build character. :D

From what I understand they fly commercial to Colorado, and Madison because it is easy and cheap out of GF. But to get to Orono, I'd imagine their would be a number of layovers - I doubt NW or anyone else goes their direct from Minny.

Does Houghton even have an airport? If they do they are probably shut down 1/2 the winter - they average around 200 inches of snow per year.

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They fly to Madison commercially. Houghton has an airport in the neighboring city of Hancock that NWA services only the planes are extremely small and seat about 32 people. When I was up there in January, they had on the news how they have to continuously plow the little runway that they have. Flights into Hancock are very expensive usually.

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Houghton has an airport in the neighboring city of Hancock that NWA services only the planes are extremely small and seat about 32 people. When I was up there in January, they had on the news how they have to continuously plow the little runway that they have. Flights into Hancock are very expensive usually.

I'm sure I heard that the last time the team went to Houghton they went by bus: left Wednesday after practice, spent that night in Superior, WI, and the went the rest of the way Thursday. That would allow them their normal schedule of skating the day before game day.

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  • 4 months later...

Does anybody out there know if this promotion has sold out? If not, is the REA still selling attempting to sell the remaining seats, or have the tix been sent back to the U of Maine ticket office, or what?

My wife and I are headed out there on our World Perks miles, but the game tickets remain an open issue (i.e. we have none). Right now the plan is to deal with the ticket office in Orono, but if there are unsold tix in the Fly the Ralph ticket block, I'd be keen on snapping up a couple.

If anybody has some info, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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I don't know about the availibilty of tickets through the Ralph. But I did speak with the athletic department ticket office for UMaine earlier this week. They begin selling tickets for individual games on Monday at 8:30am.

I spoke with them a couple of weeks ago, too. I got the impression from them that there is a decent chance that it will sell out before Monday the 20th. Regardless, we are headed to Bangor and we'll take our chances.

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Here is the contact info, you may want to call them and ask about tickets:

Fly the Ralph

Thanks.....but I've been in contact with them since July, with nothing but non-commital responses. In REA's defense, I too would give it until the absolute last minute and sell as many seats as possible before releasing the tickets..I guess.

Just fishing to see if anyone had inside information.

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  • 2 weeks later...

FYI, My wife and I were able to get SRO tickets for the games in Maine through U. Maine. We will go to New England for 1+ week since fall colors should be near peak (and we have never been there before). Any suggestions for what to do or where to go? I might have to make a road trip to Montreal... :D

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FYI, My wife and I were able to get SRO tickets for the games in Maine through U. Maine.  We will go to New England for 1+ week since fall colors should be near peak (and we have never been there before).  Any suggestions for what to do or where to go?  I might have to make a road trip to Montreal...  :D

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You'll definitely want to head east to the coast, since it's close, to the Bar Harbor area.

Whale and Seabird Trips, and Acadia National Park look like good stops to me.

Those that take the REA trip and the Bar Harbor trip on Saturday, will get to dine on this. Can't go to Maine without finding a place for lobster. Would guess it won't be difficult :D

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FYI, My wife and I were able to get SRO tickets for the games in Maine through U. Maine.  We will go to New England for 1+ week since fall colors should be near peak (and we have never been there before).  Any suggestions for what to do or where to go?  I might have to make a road trip to Montreal...  :D

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We will be in SRO also! :D The Bar Harbor and Acadia NP areas sound like a must. The Fly the Ralph crew is also headed to Freeport for a day, which sounds interesting too.

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