Thanksgiving for Cadets

fencersmother said:
I think the parents weekend has NOTHING to do with the welfare of the cadets. It's so ALL those parents will come to COS and spend oodles of dollars at USAFA, in COS, and in Colorado in general. It must be a significant money maker for all concerned, and a significant money drainer for all those parents.
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I think that USAFA puts on a massive dog and pony show like this http://www.usafa.edu/superintendent/parentsweekend/index.cfm?catname=Parents' Weekend to sell the families and Cadets. It's fantastic PR for thousands of family conversations with folks that they talk to in the future. Conversations such as "where is your son going to college?....". Also, in the event that your DS and DD has that common thought about leaving USAFA, the newly impressed family will say "WHAT are you thinking!".

IMHO, Parents Weekend has nothing to do with extracting tourist dollars. Maybe the AOG loves a focused audience, but that's as far as my mind can take it.

For us, Parents Club is a vehicle to help out new families. As important, we have met some wonderful new parents that we now consider friends.

fencersmother said:
Yes, that was my point, those activities are for the parents
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But why does USAFA care so much about what the parents think? If you agree with what I just typed ^^, Parents weekend is in the best interest of USAFA. The weekend also ties into the opinions of the Cadets. I predict the reason behind Parents Weekend is much deeper than at face value.:wink:
 
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As an aside question: when you went to college, civilian or service academy, back in the day, did they have parents weekend? I know mine did not, nor did my husband's.

Even at my civilian college, back before the advent of sunlight and air, only those kids who lived an hour or two away went home for TG. The rest of us tried to hitch a ride to one of their houses.

I think there are not a few sponsor families who host cadets over that long weekend in November. I know my boys' sponsors always said come over and bring friends.

We always paid for our boys' tickets home for TG, as they were always more then $500 each and we REALLY wanted them home. During their firstie year, the quit paying for their airfare and oh! How things changed! LONG drive from Colorado to the Steeler Nation when there is less than twelve hours of daylight.

For you parents: do you pay your kids' transportation fees?
 
We do. We love having him home for a few days regardless of what others think about who should pay.
 
Our DD (a firstie) surprised us 2 weekends ago by showing up at our doorstep Friday evening. She took advantage of her new found freedoms to fly home for the weekend. She didn't have any summer leave and had a shorter Spring break in March due to track. We do know she is in the military and understand the consequences. If there would be a deviation from the published schedule it should be for a mission essential reason. Also if you have a student at a normal college, if they are 18, you have no access to their grades, financial, health issues unless they grant permission.
 
Very interesting perspectives being aired on this thread and thanks all for sharing. My oldest went to a civilian college and just graduated and her college, a prestigious private university, had a parents orientation, parents weekend, parents grad activities...the whole 9 yards. We went to everything and appreciated the effort that went into bringing us into the 'family'. We are eyes wide open and understand the PR value, the commercial value and the philanthropic value of all these various activities for both private universities as well as USAFA but we still appreciate the effort that goes into making these opportunities available to the parents. We put lots of money into the USAFA mill during the times we visit...buying swag at the VC, contributing to the squadron MWR, making a donation to the AOG, making a donation to Falcon Pride Club...all because of what we experience when we visit, and because of how we see our kid grow and thrive. We are also active in our parents club, mostly to support new parents who are adjusting to life with limited access to their kids, but also to learn about the experiences of other parents and kids who are further along in their USAFA careers. I'm a parent who likes lots of information, not to micromanage my kid, but just because that's how I'm made. Which is why I like this forum, FB, etc.
So getting back to the original premise of this thread, of course it's up to the leadership to decide when the cadets get leave, but for those of us who like information, I am always interested in knowing why there might be a change so I can fold it into my store of information, nothing more.
And yes, I do pay for my kid's transportation home and help her make the arrangements. But it's always after she gives me dates and clears any anomolies with her leadership and sports team. She works hard up there and I'm not paying tuition; I figure I can give her that break.
 
melindayching said:
Very interesting perspectives being aired on this thread and thanks all for sharing. My oldest went to a civilian college and just graduated and her college, a prestigious private university, had a parents orientation, parents weekend, parents grad activities...the whole 9 yards. We went to everything and appreciated the effort that went into bringing us into the 'family'. We are eyes wide open and understand the PR value, the commercial value and the philanthropic value of all these various activities for both private universities as well as USAFA but we still appreciate the effort that goes into making these opportunities available to the parents. We put lots of money into the USAFA mill during the times we visit...buying swag at the VC, contributing to the squadron MWR, making a donation to the AOG, making a donation to Falcon Pride Club...all because of what we experience when we visit, and because of how we see our kid grow and thrive. We are also active in our parents club, mostly to support new parents who are adjusting to life with limited access to their kids, but also to learn about the experiences of other parents and kids who are further along in their USAFA careers. I'm a parent who likes lots of information, not to micromanage my kid, but just because that's how I'm made. Which is why I like this forum, FB, etc.
So getting back to the original premise of this thread, of course it's up to the leadership to decide when the cadets get leave, but for those of us who like information, I am always interested in knowing why there might be a change so I can fold it into my store of information, nothing more.
And yes, I do pay for my kid's transportation home and help her make the arrangements. But it's always after she gives me dates and clears any anomolies with her leadership and sports team. She works hard up there and I'm not paying tuition; I figure I can give her that break.
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Cut, paste, repeat. We agree on this one.:thumb:

As for paying for airfare... I get 1-3 "free" tickets a month by running miles though my airline credit cards. When it comes to the flexibility of SWA and especially for a Cadet schedule, I'm a SWA bigot. Our family hasn't paid for an airline ticket in 15 years. At 100,000 yearly deposited miles, SWA has a free year buddy pass. Wifey and myself are flying round trip to Denver for under 20,000 total for two (2 RT tickets which includes the free "buddy"). For those who get the SWA card, they have a 50,000 mile promo. You are 1/2 way to the buddy pass and have banked about 2-3 free cheap round trip tickets (there is an annual fee but get 6,000 miles annually which works out to be a $100 mile credit; doesn't get any better than that!).
 
MN-Dad-2016 said:
Cut, paste, repeat. We agree on this one.:thumb:

As for paying for airfare... I get 1-3 "free" tickets a month by running miles though my airline credit cards. When it comes to the flexibility of SWA and especially for a Cadet schedule, I'm a SWA bigot. Our family hasn't paid for an airline ticket in 15 years. At 100,000 yearly deposited miles, SWA has a free year buddy pass. Wifey and myself are flying round trip to Denver for under 20,000 total for two (2 RT tickets which includes the free "buddy"). For those who get the SWA card, they have a 50,000 mile promo. You are 1/2 way to the buddy pass and have banked about 2-3 free cheap round trip tickets (there is an annual fee but get 6,000 miles annually which works out to be a $100 mile credit; doesn't get any better than that!).
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Just to add to this bit of good advice. We have had multiple SWA cards with the 50,000 deal. Once we receive the 50,000 points we just cancel the card and get another one. They have 4 different cards (2 personal and 2 business). We too are flying free using a companion pass to PW. The cost of one free companion pass ticket to CA this summer was worth more than the annual fee for 3 SWA cards. The first 3 cards were in DWs name next year we will get more in my name. Love SWA.
 
I have a son who does that on SWA too.

Tempting - tempting. Since our goal is to have no debt and no credit cards, I don't think that will work for us.

Now that they pay for their own transportation, it's a non issue for me.
 
Blackbird said:
Just to add to this bit of good advice. We have had multiple SWA cards with the 50,000 deal. Once we receive the 50,000 points we just cancel the card and get another one. They have 4 different cards (2 personal and 2 business). We too are flying free using a companion pass to PW. The cost of one free companion pass ticket to CA this summer was worth more than the annual fee for 3 SWA cards. The first 3 cards were in DWs name next year we will get more in my name. Love SWA.
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I'll add another tip. For our Cadet as well as ourselves, we only book two, 1 way tickets versus making a round trip. We also book a couple of probable options for our Cadet ahead of time. Then we just cancel the one, one way that we don't need and re-bank the miles. The $6 fee also automatically goes back on the CC as a credit. If you buy the ticket, the $$'s go on a voucher. Hence, using miles has better Cadet flexibility.

Never mind you can check 2 bags of luggage for free, no upcharge for changes, generous frequent flyer miles, exceptional customer service, friendly staff, etc, etc. As I said, we love SWA.
 
In case anyone was still wondering about the Thanksgiving leave, the Cadet Wing heard definitively at lunch today that leave exists as scheduled. Certain sports teams, D&B, and some other programs (Wings of Blue for example) are required to stay here, and any cadet that lives nearby or is staying at USAFA for Thanksgiving is being asked to volunteer to march on and attend the football game that Friday.
 
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