[deport]

As the only Texas high school band invited by Bush to the inauguration, the 26 members and 10 sponsors needed to raise about $48,000 to fly to the nation's capital.

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Darn....... that Crawford Airline must be really expensive.... 36 tickets at $48,000.... whew....

[Vigilanteman]

I was thinking the same thing. $48,000/36 = $1,333 per member. A more realistic pop might be $75 per night (shared room in DC area) x 3 nights plus a $400 ticket plus $250 or so for local transportation and meals at $875 each tops. This with little or no negotiating for a group discount.

[Kay Ludlow]

It's believable to me. To fly out of State College PA, when USAir was the only choice, was routinely $1200 and up. Even a year ago when I had to fly to Atlanta it was $1300 round trip from State College. I drove to Harrisburg and flew Delta for $650. After Delta started jet service out of State College (serious competition to USAirs turbo-props to Pittsburgh and Philly) prices started to fall. When you're out in the rural areas, far from urban airports, you really pay to fly out...