My two main panels were accepted for presentation at the annual convention for the National Communication Association! YAY! One of the panels is presenting about the relationship between a speech/debate team and a speech tutoring center. I was asked to be on this panel because I have eight years of experience competing in speech, two years as a speech tutor, and one year as an undergraduate speech instructor. My other panel is examining how the Holocaust is communicated in present-day.

Now for the problem: The convention is in San Diego. Driving from Ohio is pretty much out of the question. I’m looking for someone who I can share a hotel room with, but the airfare is a problem on my limited budget. I have some options, but none are very cheap. I live in between Cincinnati and Columbus, so I could fly out of Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, South Bend, or Fort Wayne. Here are the fares:

Columbus: $364.00 on Continental
Dayton: $332.00 on AirTran
Cincinnati: $628.99 on Delta
Indianapolis: $260.00 on AirTran
South Bend: $328.00 on United
Fort Wayne: $498.00 on Delta

Clearly, Cincinnati is out, which is a shame because it is the closest. Fort Wayne is also out of the question, and Columbus is pretty muuch out, too. That leaves Indianapolis, South Bend, and Dayton. Indy and Dayton are on the same airline, so I would go with the cheaper one, which is Indy. Therefore, it’s between Indianapolis and South Bend. They’re both about 2 hours away from my parents’ house. The difference is $70, which is a pretty decent amount, but I don’t really know very much about AirTran. In this day and age, I don’t want to take a risk. Do any of you know anything about AirTran? Help!