Partners in Team Travel (PITT)

I ran across this twice today. Anyone had any experience with them?

PONY stated on their site that any team not making hotel arrangements through PITT would incur a $500 fee.

Do they save teams money or what?

Seems like a good idea maybe.

 

that sounds like a good way to keep people away from a tournament unless they save a great deal of money for the teams.

 

Well, somebody is making money off of it you can bet. I don't know if it is the TD, PITT or both. Everybody wants a little piece; a little profit from our girls. I refuse to let a tournament dictate where I stay. I always try to stay away from the places teams stay anyway because there are always parents that let their kids run wild in halls half the night with no respect for the other hotel guests.

 

IMO, the answer is most likely both. I would have no problem with this, but when you make this a requirement (or suffer a $500 penalty),then you stop helping people and start taking advantage of people. JMHO

 

Booking Agents

Like any other type of agent, they take a cut. When we were making arrangements for the ASA States in Raleigh a couple of weeks ago, I called a hotel who had prices online of $69 a room. When I said it was a for a team, they told me that I had to go through the booking agent to get the ASA rate. I asked what that was thinking maybe it was less than $69 and our parents would save some money.

I was told that the ASA special rate was $89. I nicely informed the hotel that there was NO WAY I was paying more for a room and suggested that if they wanted to rent 13 hotel rooms for 3 nights that perhaps they should forget that I said we were a softball team. They did and we made our arrangements and had a very nice stay.

We are all happy to spend our money traveling with our daughters to play this sport we all love. But it's getting ridiculous how many different ways we are having extra money tacked on everywhere. To have paid $20 more per night, per room would have been $780 more our team would have paid for our accomodations for just one tournament. I am sure that money would have been split between ASA and the booking agent. I am not sure how many teams were in Raleigh that weekend, but that's a TON of money.

Enough is enough. There are some TD's now posting on their websites that they may not let you play if you don't stay in one of their host hotels. Of course, according to them, that is because they know these hotels and our satisfaction is guaranteed if we stay in one of these hotels only.

You might force me to pay $36 a day for my family to watch my daughter play softball, but you sure can't tell me where I am going sleep at night while I am playing in your tournament.

Enough is enough.

 

I have no problem with an org. getting a kickback from a hotel if teams stay there. I do expect a discount for the team too.
If anyone is ...well stupid enough to hand out a $500 slap on the hand for not staying at THE hotel, then why would you play in the tourney?

Look, all due respect to Raleigh/Cary, but it ain't Myrtle Beach, Orlando, Panama City.

HHHMMMM, the Fish will leave this thread with this thought.....



.....the greedy folks will go to the well one too many times and then they'll see that its dried up.

I hate to say it, but if the crap continues, fastpitch TB and the kids will be the ones that get hurt.

Shame.

Fishdad

 

....excellent post!

Fishman

 

Surely you jest, because the tournament directors, ASA, NSA the whole bunch will tell you themselves they are doing all this for the girls.
Again, I'll stay at the Dew Drop Inn before I stay at one of their hotels and I welcome them to say something to me about it! The other poster was right...ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

 

This is not a new phenomenon. Rising Stars is this way and if you fail to book through them, they kick you out of the tournament.

But I agree with that the price should at least be a push with what a normal rate would be. The hotel should eat the booking fee for the right to have the extra business.

 

Dear Tournament Director, I appreciate your concern about my satisfaction being guaranteed, but if it is all the same to you I am a big boy and if I'm not satisfied with my accommodations I'll handle it myself.