PFG Trip

[aojr03]

Hey we are going to try and qualify for PGF this year. The website says if we don't use a PGF sponsored hotel we are to pay a $500 fee. Yet I called to get a block and the cheapest hotel was $115 not including tax. I called the same hotel and I get can a room as cheap as $60 bucks. Seems odd to me. We are from Florida and since the Berths were given to GCH (for finishing top 9) and Team North Florida (for, i don't really know), we will have to chase this berth. There are no qualifiers in Florida so we have to go up and down the coast to hopefully qualify.

As you can gather this will be quite the expensive summer. We are trying to make it as affordable as possible, but that hotel "fine" is confusing. I can understand if rooms were negotiated at lower rates return for volume. However, they were in fact higher. And the website states PGF receives a rebate. Not sure what that means, but I need some clarity. I'd email the TD's but I tried doing that a while ago and received no response. Can anyone who can provide me with some information? It would be greatly appreciated.

[NumeroUno]

IT's hard to believe that they are making $55 per night on a hotel room.

Almost every tourney I have been to you have to use the host hotels.

[PDad]

I think the $500 fee is for weekend qualifiers and it's $1,500 for the weeklong nationals. If you really can reserve the rooms for $60 on your own, it's a no-brainer to do that and buy yourself out of going through PGF. Some teams buy their way out and rent houses instead.

PGF had qualifiers in Florida for several years with very little to no local participation, so it's no wonder there aren't any in FL this year. There are supposed to be qualifiers in GA this year - evidently they haven't been posted yet.

[aojr03]

In the last 4 years as ASA Nats we didn't use the host hotels and did not have to pay a fine. And why is the entry fee not enough for a team to pay? Why pay an additional 300 - 500 additional per parent for hotel stay? It's on the West Coast, not around the corner for any teams not in So Cal. Is it really necessary to fine a team $500 for not staying at a host hotel who's rates are grossly increased from the normal rate? I understand it is a business also and there's a cost of doing business. But at a 300 per parent rate hike, and lets say 10 rooms. $3,000 bucks, really? (and i'm low ballin) I thought by guaranteeing a hotel a certain amount of volume there would be a lower, negotiated rate. Not a HIGHER, negotiated rate.

[PDad]

In the last 4 years as ASA Nats we didn't use the host hotels and did not have to pay a fine. And why is the entry fee not enough for a team to pay? Why pay an additional 300 - 500 additional per parent for hotel stay? It's on the West Coast, not around the corner for any teams not in So Cal. Is it really necessary to fine a team $500 for not staying at a host hotel who's rates are grossly increased from the normal rate? I understand it is a business also and there's a cost of doing business. But at a 300 per parent rate hike, and lets say 10 rooms. $3,000 bucks, really? (and i'm low ballin) I thought by guaranteeing a hotel a certain amount of volume there would be a lower, negotiated rate. Not a HIGHER, negotiated rate.

Our experience at ASA/USA Nats in 2009 and 2010 was different than yours. Every hotel in those areas knew 20 months in advance they'd all be close to capacity, so they all jacked up their rates for just that week.

$3,000 is low ballin'? Only idiots would overpay more than the buyout amount. Exaggerations like that don't help your credibility...

BTW, congrats to your team, Wagner's Gold Dunn, on their 2nd place finish at 18G Nats last year. Good luck, Anthony!

[aojr03]

In the last 4 years as ASA Nats we didn't use the host hotels and did not have to pay a fine. And why is the entry fee not enough for a team to pay? Why pay an additional 300 - 500 additional per parent for hotel stay? It's on the West Coast, not around the corner for any teams not in So Cal. Is it really necessary to fine a team $500 for not staying at a host hotel who's rates are grossly increased from the normal rate? I understand it is a business also and there's a cost of doing business. But at a 300 per parent rate hike, and lets say 10 rooms. $3,000 bucks, really? (and i'm low ballin) I thought by guaranteeing a hotel a certain amount of volume there would be a lower, negotiated rate. Not a HIGHER, negotiated rate.

Our experience at ASA/USA Nats in 2009 and 2010 was different than yours. Every hotel in those areas knew 20 months in advance they'd all be close to capacity, so they all jacked up their rates for just that week.

$3,000 is low ballin'? Only idiots would overpay more than the buyout amount. Exaggerations like that don't help your credibility...

BTW, congrats to your team, Wagner's Gold Dunn, on their 2nd place finish at 18G Nats last year. Good luck, Anthony!

Not sure exactly what you are inferring and i'm not trying to gain credibility, just clarity. And we were at Moline, Tennessee and Alabama for ASA Nats. Not one hotel rate was jacked up. Paid less than 70/night for area hotel in
Alabama in 2012 and paid 64.99 this past summer in Clearwater. So if the rate is 64.00 (which i got from hotel in Cali) and same hotel is 115 thru PGF, thats a $51 hike. Multiply by 9 days and 10 rooms you have $4,590.00. So yea, 3,000 is low ballin, P-Dad.

[exD1dad]

aojr03, sorry buddy you can't compare Clearwater FL or Alabama to SoCal in regards to hotel prices. It's apples & oranges, besides the beach, Hollywood, the studios, huge entertainment parks in all shapes, an outstanding live music scene, an incredible number of museums of all types, nightlife, shopping, Beverly Hills both baseball leagues (during PGF) yada yada yada we're talking about the greatest metropolitan city in the world & you're actually attempting to compare hotel prices? that's absurd IMHO

[crashsdaddy]

I think he's asking why are PGF's negotiated prices higher than what the same hotel on the same dates are offering to everyday customers. I don't think he's trying to compare hotel prices between SoCal and Alabama. That was merely a rebuttal to the statement that ASA does the same thing. In my two trips to ASA nationals, I also have not seen hotel prices get jacked up either although I'm sure in some locations it does happen.

Can anyone show he's incorrect in this observation? A hotel where prices through PGF are lower than what the same hotel on the same dates are offering to everyday customers?

[aojr03]

aojr03, sorry buddy you can't compare Clearwater FL or Alabama to SoCal in regards to hotel prices. It's apples & oranges, besides the beach, Hollywood, the studios, huge entertainment parks in all shapes, an outstanding live music scene, an incredible number of museums of all types, nightlife, shopping, Beverly Hills both baseball leagues (during PGF) yada yada yada we're talking about the greatest metropolitan city in the world & you're actually attempting to compare hotel prices? that's absurd IMHO

Am I speaking a foreign language? i CALLED and received a rate of $64 from the EXACT hotel on PGF's roster, which was at a rate of $115.00. It has nothing to do with the amenities SoCal has to offer. The rate is the rate,,, there's a $51 difference. Why? If i lived there It wouldn't worry me either as It seems to be your case. So to run a commercial on SoCal is beyond absurd. IMHO.

[aojr03]

I think he's asking why are PGF's negotiated prices higher than what the same hotel on the same dates are offering to everyday customers. I don't think he's trying to compare hotel prices between SoCal and Alabama. That was merely a rebuttal to the statement that ASA does the same thing. In my two trips to ASA nationals, I also have not seen hotel prices get jacked up either although I'm sure in some locations it does happen.

Can anyone show he's incorrect in this observation? A hotel where prices through PGF are lower than what the same hotel on the same dates are offering to everyday customers?

Finally!!! An objective opinion. Thank you. I really hope I am wrong. I called Traveling Teams, I called the Hotels, i even checked online. Why are visiting teams forced to use the tournament hotels at a higher rate in the first place? 10 bucks, ok, 20 thats pushing it. 50? No way. This is off the pgf website. And then they want family members to use their hotels. So my parents have to use their hotel too? lol

**Through Traveling Teams, the Official PGF Housing Coordinator, each team is required to make ALL Hotel Reservations (this includes all coaches, players and family members) with one of the Premier Girls Fastpitch Hotel sponsors listed on this site. Failure to use tournament hotels will jeopardize your team's participation in future events**

***Teams that wish to make a hotel reservation at a location of their own choosing may do so for a fee, payable to Premier Girls Fastpitch, in the amount of $500.00 per team(Qualifier) or $1,500 per team (Natl Championship)***

****Disclaimer: Premier Girls Fastpitch receives a rebate from each hotel on this list, based on your teams gross revenue.