Three months after the last update and almost seven months before the team start for RAAM 2021, it is time for a new presentation of the current state of play.
We have not yet been able to record any successes in the refund of our flights planned from Frankfurt. Booked we had at UNITED AIRLINES. However, the flights should be carried out by their cooperation partner LUFTHANSA. In the meantime, I have handed over the case to my legal protection insurance. This cooperates with the customer portal Flightright.de. After several unsuccessful attempts, the request has now been filed in court.
Even when booking our motel in Oceanside, it doesn’t go smoothly. First, I managed to rebook the motels at the start in Oceanside and in the finish in Annapolis via the booking portal of my trust. From my previous stays at the motel in Oceanside, I personally know the manager there. I have now learned from her that the motel is for sale and is to be converted into a retirement home in a timely manner. Probably still in the first half of 2021. As a result, our booking would be void. Because of this friendly warning, I have now booked an alternative. This is of course much more expensive and also not so suitable in terms of location. That’s why I will keep the old booking upright for a while and wait for further development.
Even when booking the motorhomes, not everything went according to our expectations. Our ideal idea was to rent two C-30 campers from CRUISE AMERICA. This company is inexpensive and the pick-up station is located in the south of Los Angeles, which means a relatively short journey time between there and Oceanside. If you do know the rush hour conditions in Los Angeles, you will know about this advantage. Unfortunately we did not receive any offer there at all. We have now moved to the provider EL MONTE. Here we were able to book two campers of the slightly smaller type C-28. The pick-up station is in close proximity to cruise AMERICA. However, as we did with RAAM 2020, we will have to hand them over after RAAM 2021 in Denver. That’s just the way it is. Just one thing of planning.
As things stand, all team members are still available for RAAM 2021, which I am extremely pleased about. The sponsors have also fully confirmed their commitments for 2020 now for 2021.
The team material has already been purchased for RAAM 2020 as far as possible. There is little need for action here. No problem at all.
The biggest concern we have are the upcoming flight bookings. From a realistic point of view, we must also address the idea that RAAM 2021 must also be cancelled. No one can say reliably at the moment how the situation around the Corona pandemic will develop. That is why I will start booking flights as late as possible.
In addition to the administrative work, it is now time to refresh the team knowledge regarding regulations, procedures, tactics and road traffic regulations.
Whether we will hold another team meeting remains to be discussed. I am very much in favour, but I am also aware that this is a significant cost factor.
But now we just hope that everything turns for the better and that we will be on the beach of Oceanside in a good 230 days.