Confused about length of stay in great lakes to reserve hotel/get flight etc in advance w/out knowing husbands status (like if he's a grad and go or not)

[proud Navy wife!]

Hi, so I've been sifting through pages and pages of this forums discussions and I did searches and I cant for the life of my find an answer to my question so I thought I'd start a discussion.

 

How do I determine how many days to be gone for PIR? Like when should I set my return flight for and how many days should I book w/a hotel??

 

Everyone in all their advice concerning PIR says to make sure and book early for best pricing and to make sure you get the hotel of your choice but I do not know if my husband is a grad and go yet or if he will get all weekend... I've heard of other families who've even got up to 5 days w/their recruits after PIR! I want (and am able thankfully) as much time as I can get w/my hubby but I dont know how to go about planning this? I dont want to get a hotel for one night and he has all weekend and I dont want to stay after he's gone as it's only me going to his graduation.

 

When do they find out if they are grad and go, and does anyone have any experience w/changing reservations because of their sailor being one?

 

Thank you for your help, have an amazing day!!!

[proud Navy wife!]

He is going to be an Aviation Structural Mechanic (AM) and going to Pensicola for A school

[proud Navy wife!]

I knew that we couldnt stay the night together, that he'd have to be back at base each night by 8 and that he might have watch if he was not a grad-n-go. I didnt know the reason why families got their sailor for longer than the weekend (PIRed over a holiday), so thank you.

Funds, are by no means limitless, but I am willing to pay what is needed and I am a student w/spring break that particular week so time is also not an issue.

I think I am going to reserve the hotel I want and hold off on plane tickets and when I do get them just buy the cancellation insurance. What I was really checking for here was if anyone had any personal experience w/changing or cancelling reservations w/the hotels around bootcamp.. (to see if the accomidations in the area are sympathetic to the military and its families or not...)

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to help me! I know you are a busy gal and I want you to know that I thoroughly appreciated it! Have a great rest of the weekend!

[Kelley's Aunt (USS GW)]

Hi Proud Navy Wife - I called 2 hotels a few days ago and both said you could cancel or change your reservation up to 24 hours prior with not penalty. So, like you, I'm thinking of making the hotel reservations soon and holding off a few more weeks before I buy airline tickets.

It will be my sister, nephew and me traveling from the Phila, PA airport. WIth work, I have not had a lot of time to check and compare airlines but I did see SouthWest air had a "wanna get away" program that I need to look into. I traveled with them before becasue they had the best rates and you got 1 bag checked free. They were just as good as any other airline...the only thing I don't like is you don't get assigned seats. when I traveled alone it was fine, but going with my family I'd like to sit with them, but if the price is right that is the way I'll go.

[proud Navy wife!]

Thank you so much for the affermation that I may be going about this the right way! lol. And thank you for the tip about SouthWest. I was wondering if any airlines still let passengers check a bag for free.. Thank you again! your'e a sweetie pie! good luck to your niece and have a safe trip!!!!

[StevensProudStepMom_SAILOR]

I went with Delta, the tickets where the same price as Southwest and Delta flies into O'Hara, while Southwest only flies into Midway which another 20 or more miles away.

[giselle's momma]

OKAY. so i am a student also, my boyfriend is graduating march. i'll be flying in from CA, and you CAN find out if they are a grad n go or not!! i posted a topic here several days ago, and one of the commanding officers responded and told me i could call the naval base and ask them. It all depends on the division they are in. mines is ship11 div 123. his division is leaving the next day, but i don't know what time yet. the only way i will find out is when they give the info to my boyfriend and he lets us know, because they are not allowed to give exact information like that out. BUT the lady did say the dates/times they leave may be changed from now until then, though =/. I'm like you, money is by NO means ample right now haha. but i'll pay whatever it takes! i've also been on the hunt for good prices for planes+hotel+car, and i have gotten it down to around $290 for plane, car and hotel!!! but i hope this information helped you!&p.s. what div is yours in?

[proud Navy wife!]

OMG thank you so much for the info! My hubby is Ship 09 Div 126. I think I remember reading that post and I took down the number. I will def call them tomorrow although Im not sure much good that'll do if they can change it anyways lol! Thank you so much for the insight. I am so sorry your boyfriend does not get the entire liberty weekend but I am happy for you in that you get at least the rest of grad day! Hope it is amazing for you! thank you again! (And i totally forgot about the plane/hotel/car combo deals! thx! I will look into it!!!)

[jadsmom]

Giselle's momma, which part of CA are you flying from and what hotel are you booked at? $290 is an amazing price for the flight (is it round trip fare?),hotel and car. My sons PIR is on 3/5/10 and we are leaving from California as well.

[giselle's momma]

i'm sorry it took me so long to respond. I am from the central valley, but will be flying from SFO. But YES! that is the price for EVERYTHING roundtrip!! i couldn't believe it myself, haha. I went to Bing.com/travel and then for the plane ticket, i searched my airports, and i also checked the box that says "search nearby airports" or something like that. i filtered it by lowest price, and it turned out from SFO(san fran) to MKE(milwaukee) was cheaper by about $100. it was a little less than 220 roundtrip. the hotel and car i am splitting with my boyfriend's mom. I got the price of 12.98/day@ hotwire.com and for the hotel i used cheaptickets.com for about $44/night. keep in mind, we are only staying two nights. so the total is about $570, which came out to about $285 per person. Even though i'm arriving at milwaukee, it's much cheaper, and the distance is not that much compared to O'hare or midway. I'm wiling to drive a few more minutes to save a benjamin per person! =] and my hotel isn't a 5 star... ha..ha.. but it'll do, beggers can't be choosers. If you want, you can go to Cheaptickets.com and plan your whole trip there, it was still under $300 for mines, but i felt like bing.com had a bigger selection of flights. anyways, sorry that was so long, i hope it made sense. If you need any help pleaseee feel free to contact me!!

ps. my hotel is Eco Lodge Gurnee. nothing fancy AT ALL.
also, for rental cars, try to keep it only for a certain time frame. If you even go over a couple hours, they will charge you the whole price for that day!

[kanga123]

I'm sooo jealous you all know your kid's/spouse's ship and div as we are axiously awaiting to hear about our daughter's she left Feb 10, 2010 and its a long wkend due to President's holiday on Mon so probably wont get anything till mid wk and still waiting on "kid box" too. Recruiter doesn't have it yet either. This wait is killing me LOL as I am a planner its really really hard. Once I have that info then I get on with hotels, flights, etc Good luck with all of your plans and it will be here before you know it!
kanga Nayvee Baybee's mom

[JJ mom]

Finally I found someone that has someone that left on February 10. My son also left that day from Colorado. What state did hour daughter come from? I am also waiting for the box. My son was lucky because his uncle worked the flight he left on so he had company before he left. It was hard getting that call saying he made it ok then he hung up. I'm like you I have been planning to go to graduation since he first signed up for the Navy back in April of last year. I anticipate them graduating on April 9. But, like you still waiting to hear. Did find flights for that weekend on Frontier for 197 round trip. The flights seem to be getting cheaper. Would love to keep in touch so that I will know someone else waiting for this big day on the same day.

[Tara ~ Allie's Mom]

My daughter is graduating on April 9th she is Ship 06 Div.921 and I have not heard if she will be a grad-n-go or not...
I am not going to get flight/hotel until I hear something I have only spoke to her once by phone :( I am not looking forward to navigating my way around in chicago.