The Miami University Student Foundation offers charter services to Chicago and Footprint Tours provides trips to Cleveland.
To avoid the hassle of carpools or parents having to drive into Oxford to pick students up, charter buses can save the day.
Charter buses are offered for Miami University students from Oxford to both the Cleveland and Chicago areas before and after university breaks.
The Miami University Student Foundation (MUSF) runs the Chicago trip, while Footprint Tours operates the Cleveland bus trip.
MUSF's Chicago trips serve as a fundraiser to collect money to fund scholarships. MUSF gives out eight scholarships valued at $2,000 a piece.
Tickets for the Chicago trip are $100 and are only offered as round trip. These tickets can sell out and then a waiting list is formed in case of cancellations. 2009's Thanksgiving break trip is already sold out.
Junior Stephen Young is from the Chicago area and has used the Chicago bus trip more than five times during the past three years and recently used this service for all break.
"I think it's a decent deal when you think about gas, safety and convenience," Young said.
Young's only complaint about the service is the return trip often taking longer than expected.
Junior Alex Oprins has used the Chicago trip since her first year after her father found out about it and she went home using this service.
"I have a car here on campus, but the bus is more convenient, I went with friends," Oprins said.
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Oprins feels the $100 cost is a little high, but there was Wi-Fi on the bus so they could use the Internet during the trip.
The Chicago trip offers buses for fall break, Thanksgiving break, winter break and spring break. The buses make five stops in the Chicago area. There are two buses for each break with the exception of spring break.
The first bus leaves from Oxford at 1 p.m. and the second at 5:30 p.m. The spring break trip only offers the 5:30 p.m. trip due to fewer students participating.
Pat Morrisson, owner of Footprint Tours, said Miami has been working with them without contract for 24 years. The bus service runs to the Cleveland and Akron area and offers several stopping points.
Morrisson said the Cleveland area charter bus runs for fall break, Thanksgiving break, winter break and spring break with the winter break return trip offering both a regular return and a early return for those students coming back for sorority recruitment.
Morrisson added Footprint Tours always offers at least one bus for each trip, usually using more than one bus because of the number of students. Thanksgiving tends to be a more popular holiday to use the bus service for Miami students. Morrisson expects to use two or three buses for this year's break.
In the past there have been trips to the Cleveland area for Easter weekend, these trips only lasted a few years before participation dwindled and Footprint Tours had to cancel them.
Fifty students or more must call in requesting a bus trip for a special weekend charter to occur.
"We help Footprint Tours by advertising for them, we don't have a contract with them, and it is something they do to help us," said Kristine Stewart, who works in the Parents' Office at Miami.
For more information visit http://www.miami.muohio.edu/parents/transportation.cfm.
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