West coasters: Since there are no nonstops to Bradley from your cities and very few direct flights (no change of plane), you must schedule very carefully, especially if you choose to use, or are required to use, UM status.

American, Continental, Southwest and United all fly to Bradley from the west coast and do not require UM status for travelers age 12 or older. So if you are comfortable not having this extra security (and extra fee), these airlines will give you the most options. Delta and US Airways require UM status for travelers through age 14, that is, for *all* MathPathers flying without a parent.

American, Continental, Delta and United allow UMs to change planes, so long as it is a change to one of their own planes. So these are the airlines available for flights from the west coast for all campers flying alone, including those age 11. (If you can find a Southwest direct flight - intermediate stop(s) but no change of plane - an 11-yr old can also fly on that.)

US Airways requires UM status for all MathPathers and only allows nonstops. So US Airways is out for you west coasters.

Beware: United code shares with US Airways. So for instance, a flight listed as United going LAX → DCA → BDL most likely uses a US Airways plane for the second leg from DC to Bradley. US Airways will not honor this ticket, so don't ever buy it. Read the fine print of all trip itineraries. You are supposed to buy all tickets for minors through the airline itself or through a travel agent, and they are supposed to identify such problems and not sell you the ticket, but that doesn't always happen.

To reach Bradley by 6pm, you must choose the first flight out of the west coast in the morning. This is because time zones work against you on the flight to camp. This often means a flight at 5 or 6am. The time zones work for you on the return flight. You can schedule a flight to leave Bradley at 9 or 10am, and even with a change of planes you arrive home in the afternoon.

We will let you know about all the students coming to MathPath from your metro area. You may wish to arrange to have the campers fly together. Suppose there are 6 of you. Typically that means $600 each way in UM fees. If you pool that money, it can pay for a parent to accompany the students instead. With a parent along, schedules with multiple carriers are possible.

International students: You will need to fly into a US airport that has nonstops to Bradley. There are many and flight websites should pick them out for you. You may have to change airlines between your international flight and your domestic flight. This is sometimes allowed for UMs on international flights, but you will have to check very carefully whether it is. It will be best for scheduling flexibility if you can fly without UM status. If you must fly with UM status, or want to, United and Continental have the largest combination of overseas and domestic flights, allowing you to get to Bradley with one airline.

Because most overseas flights run once a day, and because most of them arrive in the US in the afternoon, we realize it may be impossible for you to create a schedule that gets you to Bradley before 6pm. If so, do not purchase any tickets but instead consult Kip Sumner at sumnerkip@gmail.com. He may allow an exception, perhaps an arrival the previous night. However, no exceptions will be honored unless Kip authorizes them before you buy them.

For flying out, there should not be a similar problem, because most departing international flights leave in the afternoon or evening. But let us know if you do have a problem. Again, no exceptions will be honored unless you get permission from Kip Sumner before you purchase.

Reporting errors: We believe this page is accurate as of the time of writing, but if your experiences are different, please report this to Prof Maurer.