Book Free Hotels for 'Housing Required' Cheer Events—Here's How!
Hey cheer fam! It's that time again... competition schedules have been released, and hotel reservations are opening up. Are you ready to learn how to save some serious cash for your 'stay-to-play' events? Keep reading for a step-by-step breakdown!
In Laurel's first season on an elite team, I remember being taken by surprise when I learned about 'stay-to-play' competitions, otherwise known as 'housing required' events. This means that all athletes registered to compete are required to stay in one of the hotels designated by the competition and book through a specific travel portal (for most Varsity events, the portal is called 'Team Travel Source' or 'TTS'). The number of hotels varies by competition, as do the number of rooms available per hotel. Prices can range widely, and I've seen anywhere from $100-300 per night within TTS. When you're traveling out of town for a 2-day event, that often means a 3-night stay... it's not uncommon to spend about $400-500 per weekend.
According to Varsity, there are 3 ways to qualify for an exemption and not have to book through the TTS site:
- Use points for a free room. The entire reservation must be booked using points (so you can't use points for one night, and cash for the second night).
- Living in close proximity to the event (75 miles for 2-day events, or 150 miles for 1-day events)
- Military or government folks who can obtain a rate that is less expensive than what is available on the TTS website.
When you have a flexible travel rewards credit card, you can work the system and book free nights in lots of different hotel chains. (My favorite flexible travel rewards card is the Chase Sapphire Preferred, which has a $95 annual fee and a 60,000 point signup bonus for new cardholders as of 9/13/24. While this post isn't going to break down how to maximize earning and spending points, you can read more in our Credit Card Rewards 101 e-book written just for cheer families!)
So here's your step-by-step breakdown to qualify for an exemption using points for a free room:
Step 0
Start this process well in advance! Exemption request MUST be submitted at least 30 days before the event.
Step 1
Access the link to book hotels for the event. Your gym should send you this link along with a group code. Take note of the hotels that are available, or just leave the tab open. For this particular event, I only had 2 hotel options available. Not sure if there are others open to other gyms, but these are the only two that I could book. The less expensive of the hotels would be about $450 per trip, including taxes.
Step 2
Look up the approved hotels on their chain's website. Both of the hotels above are in the Marriott family, so it was easy to compare them:
Step 3
Transfer points from your flexible rewards card to your account with the hotel chain. For the example here, I would transfer 49,000 points to my Marriott account (you can only transfer in multiples of 1,000). The transfers usually happen pretty quickly, and it was nearly instantaneous for me in this case! Then book the hotel and save a PDF of your reservation confirmation/receipt.
Step 4
Go to the TTS Exemptions site and enter your information. You'll be asked to provide a reason for exemption request; select 'using points for an entirely free stay.'
Add the rest of the required information about your event. You will then upload the PDF you saved in step 3 with your reservation confirmation, then submit.
Once your request is reviewed, you will get an email from TTS approving your request (the subject line has been 'Exemption Approved' in the past).
And that's it! You now have a free hotel stay for your stay-to-play competition.
Happy travels! Cheers,
Lexie
PS: Have you successfully obtained an exemption using points? Tell us all about it in the comments!