PantherNation Bus Trip to Carbondale!!!

[TravelingPanther]

interested

[SMK4UNI]

Very Interested

[oldcat]

JC..................book me and Mrs. Oldcat!!!!

[Panther'73]

JC - will the bus leave Sat. AM and return Sun. AM?
If so, my hubby and I want to go!! (with my purple shoes, of course!)

[Marc Wigim]

ABSOLUTELY interested. I'm pretty sure my pop is too.

[Matt Trump]

From a previous post

With 47 passengers:
-Leave CF 5am on the 11th(Saturday).
-Can stop in CR/IC/STL to pick up more people.
-Would come back around 7am to 8am on the 12th(Sunday)

[alleycat]

So far this is what we have.

Cost
Approximately $75 for the bus(Not finalized)
Ticket: $9 adults. Youth ticket(high school kids included) $5
Hotel(Hampton Inn) $69.95 plus tax(2 beds per room)

We may need to move up the departure time to around 4am??? Would leave from "The Dome" and the bus would leave no later than 8am on Sunday getting us back around 5pm. Still working on prices from some other bus companies. The price of the bus above is based on 40 people on a 47 seat bus. Thought we would leave a little room for some coolers, but we have a "No Panther Left Behind" policy and will fill the bus if we can. If we get a good response we will get a bigger bus if needed(55 seater I think)

Once we get some bids back we will finalize a deal with a bus company. I will then collect the money for the bus and your ticket. Most bus companies want a deposit and all the money prior to departure. I will then get you the details for the Hotel and you will be able to book your own room and pay separately. Those not needing a ticket will need to just pay for the bus trip. Since we would be on a tight schedule to get to Carbondale we would have limited stops, but could stop in the CR/Iowa City area to pick up more people.

Based on several people I have talked to, we should have the numbers to make this happen.

I will keep you updated.

[alleycat]

Just to keep you updated, we should have final prices for the bus trip to Carbondale next week. I already have 20 rooms blocked at the Hampton Inn in Marion, Il. The bus seats 47, but with 40 people we can make this happen. I will get you more details next week.

[alleycat]

The Panther Nation bus trip is a go. Sorry for the delay, but we were waiting on final quotes from the bus companies. The original price has went up since my first and second post, as the lowest bidder at the time has now said an additional driver would now be needed, which increased their price. We have booked a smaller, but roomier "party bus". The price below is based on 30 fans on the bus. The bus is a full size coach with a couch and bar area in the back of the bus. Here are the detail:

-Price is $105 per person and includes a seat on the bus, a ticket into the game, a tip for the driver, and money for the bus to park if needed.
-Hotel is $69.00 plus tax and rooms are being held at the Hampton Inn in Marion, Illinois. You will need to book your own room and cancel if you pull out of the trip. Please call them directly at 618-998-9900 and tell them you are with the Panther Nation Fan Bus to get the rate. Barb is the managers if you have any questions. They have blocked 20 rooms, all non-smoking and all with 2 beds per room. They will release any non booked rooms 3 weeks prior to November 11th, so get your room early.
-The bus will leave UNI(Dome lot) no later than 5am and will make a stop in Cedar Rapids. We should get to Carbondale about 1 hour prior to kick-off. After the game the bus will take us to the hotel(20 minutes from the stadium) for check in. There is an Applebee's next to the hotel and this will be post game headquarters.

Space is limited so please book early. We have about 16 people already signed up, but will always consider a bigger bus if needed. The Panther Scholarship Club has agreed to assist us with processing payment. So what do you do next?

1. PM JC or myself to hold a seat on the bus. The only way for you to hold a seat is to reach JC or myself. Please don't call the PSC to hold a seat.
2. Call the hotel to book your room.
3. Send a check payable to, "The Panther Scholarship Club". to myself, JC, or directly to the PSC at: Panther Scholarship Club
UNI-Dome NW Lower
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0313
If needed you can also call the PSC at 319-273-2471 and give them your
credit card number and they will process 1 week prior to the trip.
Last day to cancel will be November 1st. If you send a check to the
PSC please make sure to include a note for the reason for the payment.

We will need your money in by November 1st to hold a seat. If for some reason we don't get 30 to attend, we will refunded your payment. Since we need to hold the bus we will not be able to refund money after
November 1st.

If for any reason there is money left over based on more than 30 people attending, we will donate the remainder of the money to the PSC.

Hope to see ya on the bus. Once we get closer I will give you updates and verify the exact departure time, but we are looking at around 5am at this time.

Go Panthers!!!!

[godawgs07]

Hey everyone! Just sending a friendly Gateway hello from SIU! We are very much looking forward to another exciting season of GAC football. Just wanted to let you in on some info...if you haven't already & you have a big group you might want to call Julie Beck in SIU's athletic department. She is the director of group sales. She can be contacted at 618-453-5153. There are plenty of places to tailgate in our "Saluki Row" area. Our Alumni Association and many of the local radio stations have free food & beverages. Despite what the Indiana fans say, we are great fans to be in a game setting with. Our fans are some of the best people and would definitely welcome some purple in their lives! :-) Be sure to check out our new Troutt-Wittmann Academic & Training center (affectionately referred to by our student-athletes as 'the twat') Its amazing and we like to think it takes the focus off the Mac a little bit. Anyway, we're ready for some great conference action this season! :-) best wishes to you in your games! and If you have any questions about the Carbondale/SIU area or about gameday....just ask! I'd be more than happy to help yall out!

[alleycat]

Thanks godawgs. I have already talked to Julie and they are giving us a good deal on tickets. See ya at the game.

[JCPanthers]

Panther Fans!!! Get signed up quickly as I am already starting to hear from some folks.

[alleycat]

14 seats left on the bus.

[JCPanthers]

Our Bus Trip has now gone public!!

http://unipanthers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/092706aaa.html

If anyone is interested, I've created a flyer that I can mail out to you. Basically gives the info that is in the above link. Just send me a PM.

[Jonsoup]

I received two "2" e-mails today on this trip from the athletic department. So we should have NO PROBLEMS selling this out and showing the team we support them all the way to the championships again.