Originally Posted by
skitch23
My dilemma is that flying in a CRJ200 tin can on DL/UA sounds equally as horrible to me as flying nonstop AZA-GFK on Allegiant. But if I fly on DL/US/WN from PHX-MSP that leaves me with a 4 1/2 drive to Grand Forks plus the cost of a car (which I prob wouldn't need once I'm on campus).
The RJ ride from MSP to GFK is only 35-40 minutes in the air; tough it out. The shiny new two-gate airport at GFK is easy to transit, five miles from the UND campus, or about a $15 cab ride.
Guess again about not needing a car around Grand Forks / UND though. The campus is nice but sprawling, and well removed from both Grand Forks proper and the big shopping / dining arterial, 32nd Street. You'll feel stranded without a car, so you might want to think about just roadtripping up there, or buying a beater on scene. About the best restaurant in the area, the Blue Moose, is actually across the Red River in East Grand Forks, MN. Downtown bars to check out include the Toasted Frog and Parrot's Cay. 32nd Street has all the fast food chains, Olive Garden, Buffalo Wild Wings, Texas Roadhouse, etc.
Originally Posted by skitch23
They offer on campus housing for $40/night so it may be easiest to just do that rather than getting a hotel. But doing a dummy booking it seems like I would get my best bang for the buck on cashing in points for a Marriott branded hotel. IIRC it was around 15k points a night. But maybe I should be thinking about earning points on a paid stay instead? Hilton, Holiday Inn, Super 8 & Ramada are a few of the other chains in the area.
There is not a proper Hilton but a Hilton Garden Inn, and it's the only hotel within walking distance of campus. (It's even connected to some campus buildings via an elevated giant gerbil-Habitrail arrangement, so you don't have to go outside in the subzero winter.) It's fine but like many hotels in college towns they raise their rates outrageously whenever people (e.g. parents) come into town; things can fluctuate from $75 to close to $200. The Holiday Inn north of campus is old and not very nice. The Fairfield Inn near 32nd Street is new and very nice, but you'd need a car to get back and forth. They're putting up a Hampton Inn in the same area; I think it's almost ready. There's also the high-rise Canada Inn about 3/4-mile south of UND, barely walkable. If you contemplate walking any distance around Grand Forks in the summer be prepared for blazing heat and insane flash thunderstorms.
If you take the dorm option you'll be with some other students, many undergraduates -- the UND aerospace program operates year-round -- but it's a small, young student population and things can be lonely, for them and adults alike; you might feel out of place. One college dining hall operates through the summer, though the hours are pretty lame -- dinner service ends at 630pm. After that it's the legendary Red Pepper for late-night eats, or Domino's. College food is uninspired.
Source: my son is a UND student, and he begs you to think twice about the dorm option, especially if you're over 21. His first (carless) summer on campus was pretty rough. Myself, I'd probably drive up there and live at the Fairfield Inn or Hampton Inn.