TRIP PLANNING UPDATE - Staying on Budget

Great American Ballpark, Cincinatti, Ohio

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia; Eric Kilby under CC-BY-SA license

Now that Tim has gotten the basic framework of the trip together (see his latest post here), let's see how it compares to his original budget, which was featured in his Trip Planning 101 -Part 3 post.

AIRFARE
Predicted budget - $975
Actual cost          - $861

Good deal.  And the original deal was to fly into Lousville and rent a car or take a taxi to Cincinnati.  Back when he made the budget, cost to fly into Cincinnati was over $800 per person.  Now, all three of us can go there for that price, plus we save the cost of a car rental or taxi.  Another benefit is that we can fly out of Ontario, which is one of the easiest airports to deal with in the Los Angeles area.  LAX is a nightmare, and Frontier (which was our original airline suggestion) only flies from LAX or Orange County, which is a long drive from home.

New Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia; Kelly Martin under CC-BY-SA license

HOTELS
Predicted budget - $1,130
Actual cost          - $1,328

Going over budget here by $198 but we make that up on airfare and transportation savings (above).  Also, our room reservations are for suites at two locations and a large studio at another.  A lot of room for the money.  All three properties have no penalty cancellation policies with either a two-day notice (Cincinnati) to same day notice.  This gives us a chance to find equivalent rooms at a lower price between now and then.  Plus, all three are booked as accessible rooms.  I'm comfortable with it as it is but will take a discount if Tim can find one.

Tim also managed to get us hotels that are within walking distance to the ballparks in Cincinnati and St. Louis so that again saves us a little money.

Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia; ilovemypit under CC-BY license

TRAIN - $78
It looks like we will rent a car instead, price is still to be determined but we will probably pick up a car when we leave Cincinatti and keep it until we go home from Kansas City.

Good job, Tim!

-Darryl