All-Star Stay And Play - Your Thoughts

[cheernerd5678]

Yes for one of ours I was told 60 mile radius...

I've never been to a competition within 60 miles of my house... That's ridiculous

 

[AngelsMum24]

Dang, we travel further than that for practice.

So do we!

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[tdittmar]

How can anyone verify that you are at a stay and play approved hotel? Does someone actually monitor this for the thousands of rooms being used? We have gone to these types of competitions but have never stayed where we were supposed to. No cheer police hauled us out nor were we told we couldn't compete. I just think its a logistical nightmare and there's no way they can actually enforce it.

 

[Supermom]

It's a Crock! It's a night mare for athletes, parents, gym owners and coaches. The only ones who make out are the EPs and the chosen hotels. I pay more when I book thru the approved booking company than I can call direct and get a room most of the time, but until a lot of really large programs decide to band together and boycott these events it will continue. (And we'll pay for it)

 

[alexamarysouza]

I know I'm just an athlete, and I don't really have a say in anything...but this whole STP thing makes me really sad! There's plenty of people struggling to afford our sport already, and they know their kids love it so much that they'd do anything to make it work...and part of that is traveling, and with the STP hotels, it's all super overpriced, and I know many families aren't going to be able to afford to, say, travel with their gym to Dallas, or Worlds, or Summit...I feel like it's just a business gimmick and people are getting money stolen from them

 

[crazeecheermom]

So far, I've paid more for hotels than ever before. Really, Do you think a hotel in a beach town in dec-march would ever get the rates they are getting if they weren't holding us hostage? I am already aware that they know when there is an event at their convention centers, but it just feels yucky. We also now almost always have to pay for 1 night in advance( like months and months) and at the last comp there was a 2 night minimum.

 

[Just-a-Mom]

I had this explained to me a different way. Apparently one of the reasons they do this is so that they can gather more data on actual numbers of people who are attending the events and staying overnight. The producers then use this data to assure a better choice of booking dates in different cities and convention centers. The way it was explained is that certain cities and their travel/tourism people pick and choose a bit when it comes to what groups/conventions are given priority when they come to their city. The EP's are trying to gather data to back up what they say when they're appealing to these cities to hold their events.

Not picking with you mommadonna, just using your post as a jumping off point because this answer is given every time this comes up.

I don't believe that for a hot second. There are LOTS of ways for cities to track this info. Are they trying to tell you they wouldn't book the Super Bowl in their city? That's not stay n play (or whatever it's called) but I'd be willing to bet cities that have hosted it could give a pretty good idea of the revenue it brings in. Cities have a whole mess of people who track data like this using much more scientific methods than forcing people to stay at certain hotels.

What about restaurants? Gas stations? Local attractions? When cities are looking at what groups to book, they factor in all of these. They don't need any little rinky dink cheer EP to give them data. They track this stuff 365 days a year.

(I've been quite vocal on my opinion of these stay n play comps. Ludicrous and unnecessary. I'm all for people making money - but I agree with what others have said. There's a point where you have to just say "this is too much")

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[AngelsMum24]

How can anyone verify that you are at a stay and play approved hotel? Does someone actually monitor this for the thousands of rooms being used? We have gone to these types of competitions but have never stayed where we were supposed to. No cheer police hauled us out nor were we told we couldn't compete. I just think its a logistical nightmare and there's no way they can actually enforce it.

They didn't in the past. Now they are actually checking hotel confirmation numbers against team rosters and if not enough of the "required" rooms were booked, penalties include being disqualified from the event.


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[AngelsMum24]

It's a Crock! It's a night mare for athletes, parents, gym owners and coaches. The only ones who make out are the EPs and the chosen hotels. I pay more when I book thru the approved booking company than I can call direct and get a room most of the time, but until a lot of really large programs decide to band together and boycott these events it will continue. (And we'll pay for it)

Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy


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[AngelsMum24]

So far, I've paid more for hotels than ever before. Really, Do you think a hotel in a beach town in dec-march would ever get the rates they are getting if they weren't holding us hostage? I am already aware that they know when there is an event at their convention centers, but it just feels yucky. We also now almost always have to pay for 1 night in advance( like months and months) and at the last comp there was a 2 night minimum.

I just went to reserve one of the required rooms for competition. The page where they want me to enter ny CC info on isn't even a secure page! It was too late to call and even if I did it over the phone, they're probably putting my info into the unsecure program. I work too hard for my money for someone else to use it because event producers cant do their homework and use reputable companies.

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[Underestimated]

NCA has a mile radius but Idk how long it is. I think its to show the city exactly how much money its bringing in for that weekend or something idk really?

but I don't like it. people shouldn't be forced to stay somewhere for more $$ im a poor soul I would like to save my money as much as possible.

 

[SarahS]

I wish EPs would just be honest about this : Stay to Play rules exist to generate money. No shame in that - companies exist to make money. Why not have a "commuter" rate and a "stay to play" rate for athlete fees at the competition? Pay something like ten extra dollars per kid to stay wherever you want. I'm guessing EPs don't make much more than $10 per room in their existing stay to play arrangements. Allstar is already expensive, but it would be much easier to accept an extra ten dollars added to the comp fee than a hotel stay that is MUCH more expensive. Gyms that find value in the stay to play system (convenience, maybe? Extra perks?) can keep using it.


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[crazycheermom]

Hate it! I will say that cheer EPs aren't the only ones doing this. We have encountered same for baseball and soccer tourneys. I had trouble even getting a room downtown last year at Supernationals. I couldn't book one or two rooms through site and then some of the actual hotels wouldn't book rooms until after a certain date. Of course, we HAD to do it this year and not happy being told where to stay. It eliminates my ability to use govt rate.

 

[jcheermom]

I just went to reserve one of the required rooms for competition. The page where they want me to enter ny CC info on isn't even a secure page! It was too late to call and even if I did it over the phone, they're probably putting my info into the unsecure program. I work too hard for my money for someone else to use it because event producers cant do their homework and use reputable companies.

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Oh gosh!!! I did NOT even realize this and I'm usually so diligent about checking on using ONLY secure sites with my info. I don't use my cards often, but coincidentally I used a credit card to book rooms for CP and some of her teammates with the Stay to Play program and I just received a fraud alert on this card within 10 days of booking these rooms!! There were over $4,600 charges just made on that card and I was alerted because they were charges that were out of my normal pattern of spending. I immediately cancelled the cards and asked to have them reissued, but as I was on the phone taking care of this, there were 2 more attempts to charge $1,900 and another $600+ as I was ON THE PHONE canceling the cards. I WILL be calling Stay to Play/Cheersport/NCA tomorrow to discuss this. I know that it's my fault for not verifying that it was a secure page prior to entering my CC info, but it's still very concerning that a reputable company with a secure page was not used, especially when this wasn't an optional program for us, it's a REQUIRED one, one that none of us are happy about using, costing us more money at these events that are already very expensive, and this could have possibly cost me more than just a couple hundred dollars, had it not been for the fraud alert. Thank God for fraud alert!!!


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[AngelsMum24]

Hate it! I will say that cheer EPs aren't the only ones doing this. We have encountered same for baseball and soccer tourneys. I had trouble even getting a room downtown last year at Supernationals. I couldn't book one or two rooms through site and then some of the actual hotels wouldn't book rooms until after a certain date. Of course, we HAD to do it this year and not happy being told where to stay. It eliminates my ability to use govt rate.

Ditto on the govt rate and hubby has racked up hotel points with TDYs we can't use.


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