Stanford Fast Break Club Supporting Stanford Women's Basketball collage of player pics

Road Trips and Travel Tips

Note: all times on this page are local to the host venue.
See the Schedule page for the schedule of all games and events.
For security reasons we don't publicize the team's hotel choice. If you are an FBC member and would like to book into a team hotel, email Eileen Roche specifying which trip you are taking.
Be sure to check the Travel Blog for the latest promotions and trip reports!

Getting to the Airport

Getting to the airport: it's a toss-up whether you want to take a door-to-door van, or drive yourself and park in a long-term parking lot. The long-term lots are hard to find and then you wait for the parking shuttle; and your car is exposed to the elements while you are away. On the other hand, there's that wait in the pre-dawn darkness while you wonder if the van driver will find your address; and on return, the wait in the van while he circles the airport looking for more passengers and the extra ride while he drops off other riders in strange neighborhoods before getting to your place.

Cost-wise for a 4-day trip for two people it's about a wash.

Of the vans, SuperShuttle is very professional. You can reserve online, and they provide an automated call to your cell-phone when the van is heading to your house. We've ridden South and East Bay a number of times without problems as well. If you're feeling flush, 101 Limousine will take you in solitary grandeur (not a shared ride) in a Lincoln town-car for about twice what a door-to-door van charges. (Look for their coupons in local shopping papers.)

Airport Parking

For SFO you can park in the airport-run long-term lot for $14/day, now payable with credit card or with FasTrak. During morning hours you can check-in for several domestic airlines at the parking garage (scroll down the above-linked page for details).

Skypark costs $13/day for outdoor, or $15/day for covered parking. ParkSFO has a new building where you can have covered parking for $14/day (and you can print a one-day-free coupon from their website).

There are several other SFO options: local Anza Parking or multi-city Fasttrack Parking and Park and Fly (Select San Francisco in their dropdown menus), with comparable rates and occasional specials.

For SJC, the airport-run long-term lot costs $15/day and the ride in the shuttle as it bumbles its way around the huge lot can be a bore. This site lists a number of alternate off-airport parking options: other lots and local hotels, some offering better rates than the airport.

Travel Information Sites

LinkComment
http://supersearch.travelzoo.com/
http://kayak.com 		Two great starting points: you enter your air travel information once; each returns links to a number of sites that offer the best fares.
Priceline.com Bay Area Consumer's Checkbook found that Priceline produced hotel rates "lower than those available on other booking sites." Using the fairly complex "Name your own price" bidding process described in this article you can get a 4- or 5-star hotel stay well under $100/night.
http://www.southwest.com/ Southwest schedules and ticket sales, which are not available from Expedia, Travelocity, or other aggregator sites.
http://www.seatguru.com/ When booking a flight, before you get to the seat-selection part, open this site in another window. Click on the airline, then on the type of plane. You get a seat map as that airline configures that plane, showing which seats to prefer and which to avoid.
http://us.lastminute.com/ For the bold and/or feckless traveller, buy bargain seats at the last minute.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ Do hotel price comparisons based on four other sites including Expedia and Travelocity.

Booster Buses!

As always, we will arrange a bus ride from Maples to Haas Pavilion for the Cal game on Saturday, March 6.

Also this year the Basketball Office tested the idea of booster bus trips to the local away games, UC Davis on November 22 and Fresno on December 30.

Unfortunately not enough people subscribed for either bus, so they didn't go.

Fan Plans!

Here's what the Travel committee has found out about schedules and fares, plus suggestions of local attractions to enjoy between games. For certain trips the travel coordinator arranges social activities and get-togethers.

Old Dominion and Rutgers (Nov. 13-15)

This trip has an interesting itinerary:

The interesting part is the break between games. It is about a 7-hour drive, Norfolk to Piscataway, and the shortest route leads through the scenic DelMarva Peninsula. Here is a map of the route. From a Maryland exile living in Washington state comes this list:

Thanks, Martha! Looking at the route map, one could easily spend all day Saturday driving, birding and looking from Norfolk to Wilmington, spend a night of luxury at the Hotel DuPont, and have an easy Sunday morning drive on to Rutgers.

Flights

The booking sites have a hard time with this open-jaw itinerary, offering some truly bizarre multi-hop flights. Treating it as two, one-way bookings, you should be able get the red-eye SFO to ORF for about $150/person. For some reason an evening flight EWR (Newark) to SFO costs more.

Tickets

Peak attendance for a Lady Monarchs game last year was 4,200 so there should be no problem buying tickets at the door. Rutgers, on the other hand, packs the house, so it would be wise to buy tickets in advance. However, as of 1 October, their online site does not offer the option of single-game tickets. You should call their ticket office during EST business hours: 1-866-445-GORU.

Everybody at The RAC wears red, so pack your black or gray Stanford gear!

UC Davis (Nov. 22)

If you are driving plan on a 2-hour, 110-mile trip each way. With the game time now 2pm, it should be feasible to return the same day. But if you want to spend the night in Davis before returning, Bob Kinder notes that the University Inn is just across the street from the campus showing rates of $60-$70 for the Sunday night.

Connecticut (Dec. 23)

Tickets

The game will be played in the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on the Storrs Campus 11/05 update: this game will be played in Hartford at the XL Center. Here is the Google map.

The facility will undoubtedly sell out well before game day, so buy in advance as soon as they go on sale. The team web page does not say when that will be; you just have to periodically click their "Buy Single Game Tickets" link until it comes up. Or call their ticket office at 1-877-AT-UCONN (1-877-288-2666) or 860-486-2724.

Getting There

The game date of 12/23 is a Wednesday, and Christmas is Friday. This suggests you should book any air travel well in advance.

Storrs is a small town 20+ miles east of The game is in the city of Hartford (BDL). Flights to Hartford from SFO are at least $100 cheaper than flights originating in SJC. There are no nonstops from SFO or SJC to Hartford.

One could consider going to the large airports that have connecting flights to BDL; they are New York (NYC) (but not JFK) and Newark (EWR). There are nonstops from SFO to both; and the prices are similar (around $400 roundtrip). NYC, BOS, and EWR are all nominally 2-3 hours driving time from Storrs. If you have some reason to want to detour into New York or Boston, use these.

FBCer Robie Bushnell, a Rhode Island native, writes with this info:

For folks who don't mind driving an hour, Providence (PVD) is an airport option. Southwest has many flights to PVD, as do some of the other mainline carriers. It's an easy airport to get into, and a relatively easy drive to UCONN. [However,] I would recommend anyone going to the game fly into BDL. New York and Boston are further away and can be miserable drives in bad weather.

So: fly into Hartford (BDL) by way of PVD, NYC or EWR. From there, it may be as economical to take a taxi to Storrs and back as to rent a car.

A problem complicating the itinerary is the early start, 5:30pm. That makes it fairly impractical to fly on the day of the game. You'd want to take a late flight on 12/22, for example a Delta flight out of SFO at 12:25am arriving at 10:50am.

Either way, you will need to spend the night of 12/23 in Storrs or Hartford (Expedia shows several economy hotels near Storrs at $75/night and below) and return the next day, 12/24. (Merry Christmas!)

Fresno State (Dec. 30)

This is a lengthy drive; the return trip over Hwy 152 after dark could be especially taxing (although note that the dangerous 152/156 bottleneck no longer exists). Expedia notes a number of economy motels in Fresno at $40-$60/night.

UCLA and USC (Jan 8-10)

It's a tossup whether to fly or drive for the L.A. trip. Given good weather, the door-to-door travel time is almost the same. On the plus side, if you drive, you needn't rent a car to get around LA. On the minus side, that drive home up I5 on Sunday night gets pretty long, even if you break it with a late supper at Harris Ranch.

Traditionally the fan hotel has been the Courtyard Marina Del Rey.

Tickets

Neither host team draws big crowds, so expect to buy tickets at the door.

Oregon and OSU (Jan 21-23)

Game Tickets

Seats should be available at the door for both games, but it is still wise to order ahead:

Fan Plan!

Don Anderson has once again stepped up large and organized two great FBC events. You are too late to get in on the group ticket buy (see above for ordering your own) but you can still join two social events:

Dessert with the coaches
Friday 1/22, 9pm at the Hilton Eugene, prowl a dessert buffet and listen as one or more of the coaching staff talk about the team.
Breakfast with the Eugene Alumni
Saturday morning 1/23, 8:45 am, join the Stanford Alumni club of Eugene at a coffee house near campus for espresso and rolls before the 11am game.

Notify Don at our 12/30 or 1/2 games if you want to attend either of these events!

Getting There

Many fans fly to Portland, rent a car, drive down to Eugene, and return to Portland to fly home. It is possible (although more expensive) to fly SJC-EUG, changing planes in Portland. For example, Alaska Air quotes round trips SJC-PDX at $240 per person; making it SJC-EUG adds about $100.

It is also possible to drive from Palo Alto, but you should allow for a five day trip, given a Saturday afternoon game in Eugene:

Your cost for gas, lodging, and food will not be much greater than the cost of flying Southwest or Alaska to Portland and renting a car. The only risk is of a serious storm blocking the I-5 passes between Ashland and Redding.

The traditional hotel in Eugene has been the Valley River Inn (VRI) and it is still a nice place to stay. This year we are looking at an additional option, the Hilton Eugene.

Here are the pros and cons of the two hotels, as noted by FBC travellers and hotel connoisseurs Harriet and Wally.

VRI: it's on the river with direct access to jogging/walking trails, and across the street from a decent shopping center. Parking is free and plentiful. On the other hand you have get in your car and go through a complicated intersection to get anywhere else, including the downtown and the UO campus.

Hilton: it is in walking distance to the downtown coffee shops and bookstores, but cut off from the river and parks. Parking is in a pay lot or requires hotel validation. (It's not clear if parking in the adjacent garage is included, or extra-cost; be sure to ask if you book in advance.) For real shopping you have to drive to one of the malls and you still have to drive to get to the campus. Wally notes that trains run all night on one side of the building so be sure to ask for a room "away from the tracks." Another very important consideration for some people: Harriet found the in-room wi-fi "pathetic" with frequent dropped connections.

Summary: the VRI for niceness and for jogging. Hilton for new and walking to downtown. In order to walk to the game (and possibly save money) try the Best Western New Oregon or the Day's Inn Eugene.

Things to do, places to eat

And more about Eugene at Via Magazine.

UW and WSU (Feb. 12-14)

Getting There & Back

This year the UW (Seattle) game comes first, on Friday 2/12. The start time is 7pm. The full itinerary would be an air tour of the northwest:

Your options for the homeward flight are improved since the game time was changed to noon (from 2pm). There is a United non-stop GEG-SFO that afternoon and Alaska flights to Seattle and to Portland that should connect to any Bay Area airport.

Tickets

Neither host has huge attendance, so figure on buying at the door.

Things to do

Seattle is famous for its coffee, and that does not mean just Starbucks. There are indeed many Starbuckets, but there are also many local coffee shops and cafes where you can escape the rain. Check this coffee fan's list of Coffee Shops I Can't Stay Away From.

To properly lounge at a coffee house you need a book, and the Elliot Bay Book Company at 101 South Main rivals Powell's Books in Portland, a great browsing bookstore (with a just-OK coffee shop in the basement).

If you have the time, it might also be worth visiting the famous Pike Place Market which is consistently rated as one of the best places to shop for food in the US. Close by is the new Olympic Sculpture Park, an outdoor wing of the Seattle Art Museum.

If you have even more time (and if the weather is ok), the Olympic National Park and surrounding peninsula is spectacular (although it may be very wet or snowy, so double-check the weather forecast).

Finally, this is also the home of the Washington Huskies, and for some tips on driving and parking at the game as well as for more ideas as to where to stay and eat, check out their Purple Web Page.

Spokane is not the home of the Washington State Cougars, but it is where the team and visiting fans usually stay. Downtown Spokane has supposedly become more interesting in the recent years with much renovation and the completion of the RiverPark Square mall (caution, slow-loading flash-based site). The historic Fox Theater is the newest renovation and now houses the Spokane Symphony.

The Riverfront Park (which features "one of the best outdoor skating rinks in the nation"), the Riverside State Park and the Spokane River Centennial Trail are all either in or very close to Spokane and offer plenty of possibilities for hiking or biking—weather permitting.

It is about a 2 hour drive from Spokane to Pullman where the Cougars lurk, and the last flight back to the Bay Area leaves around 6pm; so don't dawdle too much after the game if you want to fly back that evening. Check the official WSU Campus Map.

ASU and Arizona (Feb. 25-27)

Getting There & Back

This year we play ASU in Tempe on the Thursday at 7pm MST, then in Tucson on Saturday at 3pm. (The original schedule was the reverse, and much more convenient. But the games were swapped for the FSN/CSTV schedule.)

The typical itinerary is to fly in and out of Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix (PHX). Let's allow two hours to get from the arrival gate at Sky Harbor to the far-distant rental car center, to drive across town to the Wells Fargo Arena (click on the venue link in the Schedule page for a google map), to walk 3 or 4 blocks from their distant parking lot, to grab a hot dog and find your seat in time for the 7pm start. That means your Thursday flight needs to touch down no later than 5pm (preferably earlier).

US Air and United have flights from SJC arriving at 3:21pm. US Air has a flight from OAK arriving 3:27, and US Air and United again have suitable flights from SFO. All are priced around $220 (round-trip) as of 9/1/09.

If you've a lot of energy or a couple of double capuccinos, you might plan on driving to Tucson that night after the game, so that you can make just one hotel booking, in Tucson. Then you have a free day and a half in the Tucson area before the 3pm Saturday game at Arizona.

Even on a Saturday it takes a good three hours to return from Tucson to Sky Harbor, shed the rental car, and get through security; hence the earliest return flight you dare book for Saturday would be 9pm. US Air has a 9:10 departure to SFO, 9:09 to OAK, and 9:05 to SJC.

But you know, all these schedules are an awful rush. If your circumstances permit, consider booking an "open-jaw" trip, flying in to Phoenix and out of Tucson. Or fly in and out of Tucson both, arriving comfortably mid-day on the Thursday for the drive north.

Tickets

For the Arizona game it is always safe to buy at the door, although if you want to order ahead, hit the UA website linked from the Schedule page.

For the ASU game in Tempe, it is important to order ahead, as the Wells Fargo Arena is always packed for this game. Single game tix are to go on sale 2 Oct. Go to the Sun Devils site or call (480) 965-2381.

Things to do around Tucson

Here is a nice article from the New York Times titled "36 Hours in Tucson." It covers several interesting things other than the old standards like:

Things to do around Phoenix

PAC-10 Tournament (Mar. 11-14)

As it was last year, the Tournament will be at the Galen Center on the USC campus.

Tournament Tickets

If you have Cardinal season tickets, you got an order form for tournament tickets in your renewal packet. If you didn't, or want more, tickets are on sale now from the Stanford ticket office.

Getting there

As noted above, it's a toss-up as to whether you drive or fly to L.A. Round-trip air fare SFO-LAX or SJC-LAX is between $150 and $200. On Sunday 3/14 there is a 10:20pm flight LAX-SJC, and a 10:37 flight LAX-SFO. Book those soon if you want to be sure of returning on the Sunday night.

Jet Blue flies from SFO to Long Beach (LGB) for $103. You can also fly into Orange County airport (SNA). However, there are no post-10pm return flights from these hubs.

Where to Stay

If you don't also have tickets to the men's tourney across town at the Staples Center, you may want to stay in the vicinity of USC. One hotel in easy walking distance is the Radisson Hotel Los Angeles Midtown at USC, just across Figueroa st. from the campus and about one block south of the Galen Center. Last year we thought the Radisson was meh, just ok. Some fans have stayed two blocks north on Figueroa street at the Vagabond Inn and were quite pleased. We walked all around this area daytimes and it seemed quite comfortable.

If you have a car, you have all the hotels of the L.A. basin to choose among. Several FBC fans like the walkability of Santa Monica, with lots of shops and restaurants. The Doubletree offers two-room suites around $200/night. Or just use a site like Kayak to find something that suits your price range and interests.

When driving from your hotel to the games you will want to stow that rental somewhere. Here is the USC map of parking locations around Galen. There is $5/day parking within a block.

Things to Do

The following are some things that FBC members have enjoyed on previous trips to LA.

NCAA Sub-Regional (Mar. 20-23)

NCAA Regional (Mar. 27-30)

Final Four! (Apr. 4 & 6)

The Final Four is once again in San Antonio, at the Alamo Dome. (Who remembers the last time? It was 2002; Stanford was ranked #2 but lost to #3 Colorado in the 3rd round. The Final Four were Oklahoma, Duke, Connecticut and Tennessee. Tennessee lost a point guard to injury in practice and folded to UConn; Oklahoma led by senior Stacey Dales beat Duke; UConn led by soph. Diana Taurasi won.)

Here is the NCAA's page on it, with links to activity and accommodation sites. As for flights, as soon as Southwest starts accepting reservations for April (early September?) you should be able to get one of their web-only "wanna get away" deals for less than $150/person round-trip.