Places for my son to stay before AIM

[brandonvd]

My son got accepted into AIM today and we are totally stoked. I'm super proud of him to be accepted, but now we need to figure out the logistics of it all. We are in California and would like him to be able to fly in a day or two early to get acclimated to the weather and to be able to rest up after the time zone change and the long flight.

Because of the costs and stuff, we are thinking about him flying alone to Boston and then taking Amtrak to New London. Because of the flights, it would be nice for him to spend the night in Boston and then a night or two in New London before going to AIM on Sunday. The problem is that most hotels have either a 19 or 21 year old age restriction. He is 17 and so he is below either of those ages.

I'm sure we can't be alone on this. What do other people do? How can he spend some nights in a hotel or similar since he isn't old enough for most policies?

Our son is smart enough to figure flights and all of that good stuff and he'd have no problem checking into a hotel and getting rides and stuff, but we just don't know how to make it all work.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Brandon

 

[Mackinaw]

My son got accepted into AIM today and we are totally stoked. I'm super proud of him to be accepted, but now we need to figure out the logistics of it all. We are in California and would like him to be able to fly in a day or two early to get acclimated to the weather and to be able to rest up after the time zone change and the long flight.

Because of the costs and stuff, we are thinking about him flying alone to Boston and then taking Amtrak to New London. Because of the flights, it would be nice for him to spend the night in Boston and then a night or two in New London before going to AIM on Sunday. The problem is that most hotels have either a 19 or 21 year old age restriction. He is 17 and so he is below either of those ages.

I'm sure we can't be alone on this. What do other people do? How can he spend some nights in a hotel or similar since he isn't old enough for most policies?

Our son is smart enough to figure flights and all of that good stuff and he'd have no problem checking into a hotel and getting rides and stuff, but we just don't know how to make it all work.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Brandon

Not sure what you and your wife's schedule is, but if it's your first time to the Academy if it's at all possible u might want to make a vacation out of it. My older son went to AIM two summers ago and my current son got waitlisted this year, but I can speak from our previous experience that their were quite a few families that did this during the AIM week. After drop off parents just went site seeing in the area "New York, Maine etc." we camped. The day you pick up your son they have activities for the the parents on campus as well as lunch in the O Club and a Q and A session about what's the next step before all the parents are ussered over to attend the graduation ceremony.

 

[rtp9799]

this is a reach but ...
Maybe you could contact the academy and see if they might have a sponsor family that would help him out. A sponsor family is a local family that is there to support the cadets that are away from home

 

[brandonvd]

Thank you very much for the replies.

The vacation thing would be the ideal thing to do, but it isn't the cheapest thing and I'm not sure if our finances will allow it. We are thinking about just my wife going though. It would be cheaper than all of us. We'll see.

The sponsor family is a great idea. That was discussed at a presentation that we went to. They said the cadets will sometimes do the holidays and stuff with sponsor families. So, maybe they will have something like that for this too.

I definitely appreciate the help.

Thanks,

Brandon

 

[Alaskan]

My son got accepted into AIM today and we are totally stoked. I'm super proud of him to be accepted, but now we need to figure out the logistics of it all. We are in California and would like him to be able to fly in a day or two early to get acclimated to the weather and to be able to rest up after the time zone change and the long flight.

Because of the costs and stuff, we are thinking about him flying alone to Boston and then taking Amtrak to New London. Because of the flights, it would be nice for him to spend the night in Boston and then a night or two in New London before going to AIM on Sunday. The problem is that most hotels have either a 19 or 21 year old age restriction. He is 17 and so he is below either of those ages.

I'm sure we can't be alone on this. What do other people do? How can he spend some nights in a hotel or similar since he isn't old enough for most policies?

Our son is smart enough to figure flights and all of that good stuff and he'd have no problem checking into a hotel and getting rides and stuff, but we just don't know how to make it all work.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Brandon

We live in Alaska and it’s a flight just to get to a major airport to leave the state. DS went to AIM two summers ago and I broke the journey up and had him fly to relatives in Indiana and spend a day or two there. Then it was just a short flight to Hartford for the next leg. The academy has staff picking up incoming Aimsters at the local airports, Hartford and Providence. This way he avoided being completely exhausted on arrival. And he wasn’t old enough at the time to rent a room. Another idea is getting him on a train that is easier to rest on. DS has taken Amtrak through the night from new London to DC. They do have sleeping quarters as well but the regular seats are easy for kids to sleep on.

 

[cns3700]

I flew my son to Hartford, CT and put him up at the Sheraton Hartford Hotel that is connected to the airport. They allowed me to pay in advance for his charges. He was 17. The next morning he walked down to luggage pickup where he met the CG Aim reps who were meeting others kids to transport them to the academy. He had emailed them in advance to tell them his plans and ask where he should meet them. Hotel wasn't the cheapest but it easy on the logistics! Agree with others that if you get a chance, try to attend the parent event on the last day. The power point to parents was excellent and had a lot of great advice. Congrats on AIM! This was an excellent experience for my son, and it sealed the deal for him that CGA was his first choice. He was accepted to the CGAS program, and he's just counting the days to be back on the academy grounds. It helps the kids decide if this is the right place for them.

 

[Old Navy BGO]

I don't usually look at the Coast Guard board, but this one caught my eye. I have a daughter that graduated from Connecticut College a few years ag0. CoCo is right next door to USCGA, so we got pretty familar with the logistics of travel (from the Midwest) to New London. First, Providence RI is alot closer and more convenient than Boston. It's a Regional Airport, so flight options might be limited and more expensive than Boston, but when you throw in Rental Cars, travel time, and hassle, its a bargain. There are a couple hotels right next to the Airport, within walking distance (across the parking lot), so if DS is traveling alone, DS could fly in the day before, stay in hotel then walk back to airport and get the USCGA AIM pickup the next day. If you are traveling with DS, and have a rental car, there are a number of hotels right in New London, but we stayed at Abbey's Lantern Hill B&B for several visits, including graduation. It's a few miles inland , but a nice quiet setting and priced very reasonably.