[Tower Ravens DART] Flights, itinerary, stuff to check

Hi all Thanks for the minutes Miriam. *Flights* TL;DR I've provisionally booked some flights. If you don't care about the details skip to *itinerary* below ▽▽▽. I've been doing some research over how best to do group bookings for flights, and out of interest got quote from the BA and American Airlines groups service expecting it to be far too expensive. The BA one was too expensive but amazingly American Airlines have given me a quote of £404 per person. That's cheaper than basically any other price I've found (the cheapest quote of £337 didn't include bags), and offers flexibility with numbers, names, even travel dates and cancellation. We also don't need to pay the full amount until September. Becky, Emma and I are in agreement that we should bite their hand off for that. I'm happy to share the full Ts&Cs if you care. I've provisionally reserved the booking for 16 people (we can cancel down to 10 free of charge, but potentially costs more to add people later if prices have gone up), and I need to confirm that by 1 January including paying a deposit of $100 per ticket. Emma and I will work out the detail of how the money is going to work over the next few days and let you know. If anyone has any strong objections please let me know ASAP. *Itinerary* Outward Depart Heathrow 09:15, Sat 10 Oct Arrive Chicago 12:10, Sat 10 Oct Return Depart Chicago 19:25, Monday 19 Oct Arrive Heathrow 09:05, Tuesday 20 Oct I reckon we'd spend a couple of days in Chicago, then hire a car on Monday 12 Oct and head towards Minneapolis, stopping a few places en-route. With this itinerary in mind, I propose that we'd drive back to Chicago rather than fly. *Stuff to check* You'll need to make sure you have a passport with a minimum of six months remaining on it after our trip. If you haven't got this, start planning to get one! You'll need to apply for a visa waiver. It costs $14 (about £10). I'll remind you nearer the time! - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/visa-waiv… Insurance - you *must* get travel insurance. I've done a quick check and you should be able to get a decent policy for about £25. There doesn't appear to be any benefit to doing a group policy. Drivers. Would you be willing to drive when we're in the USA, and are you over 25? We'd probably get 7-seat minivan type vehicles. *Please let me know*. That's all for now. Thanks for last night and see you all soon! Martin