Just was invited to travel with Mavs on team plane!
 

Imagine my surprise when I got the phone call today inviting myself and a guest of my choosing to fly with the Dallas Mavericks on their private plane, stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta at their expense, see the game for free, and then fly back to Dallas in the wee morning hours.

If any of you have done anything like this before, please give me hints. I am so excited!

Try to acclimate yourself to the smell of sweaty athletes after a game. They might also expect you to perform various services in return. Also, the team owner looks kooky.

I used to travel in private jets and eat in fancy restaurants, and, looking back, I too often failed to pause and just let the sense of fun and luxury sink in.

Don't worry about excess, except for naughtly excess. If you're in a fancy restaurant, order what you want, including ther appetizer and the dessert. Get the bigger steak if you want. Ignore the extra $5.

Bring a camera and fresh batteries, and hand the camera around and have people take your picture in various places, with various people.

Ask if you don't know; no one's going to think you're a hick. They'll just know this is a big deal for you, and new experiences. For instance, I had to ask about private jet coffee. Turned out you needed to twist a ring around the spout in order to free a seal.

Mark Cuban is, it's true, not an really conventional guy, but he's a promopter and he has a sense of fun, and youjust need to relax and go with the flow. Get lots of sleep before you leave because nights may be late. But remember, this is a business trip for the players and coaches, so things will not be ridiculous.

Arrive early; have fun, take pictures.

And report back here, please.

isn't anyone else wondering how you came to get the phone call? a contest or what?

Mark Cuban is awesome... not kooky at all.

wsox, they are probably so used to the luxury that they will have a ball seeing it through your eyes! Kind of like sharing Christmas with a kid?

Go, have unabashed wide open fun and enjoy every minute.

I would think you will want to dress a little nicer than you normally would for a game.

Forgot to add, sat in the Presidents box at my alma mater and everyone did dress up. That is as close as I've come however I did have a date with Steve Avery of the Atlanta Braves back in 1990. Does that count?

Bird, poo on you!
BAK, never would have known what to do with the coffee, thanks.
emd, we do go to alot of Mavs games and events so I guess our name just came up in their lottery of prizes
TxTravelPro, Mark Cuban is an amazing man and DH's personal hero
GoTravel, the Mavs games are usually a Dallas fashion scene anyway, so at least I'm used to that part of it.

FYI, they want our passport data, etc for advance security checks

Sounds like a scam to get
"passport data"...

wow, I wondered that myself but I will definitely doublecheck tomorrow with their security office.

wsoxrebel(does your name mean White Sox Rebel??): Just out of curiosity, how does the "lottery prize" scheme work? I am interested in exactly how your name was "selected".

wow, you get the prize for guessing the screen name origin. In Chicago, we rooted for the White Sox and everybody else was a Cubs fan, hence the Rebel designation.

Here in DFW, we are in the Mavs VIP Fan Club where you get t-shirts, meet and greets, and monthly drawings for travel like this. In other words, we are really big sports fans.

Here is the Mavs VIP Fan Club site if anybody else wants to sign up to enter their next contests:
http://www.nba.com/mavericks/news/ma..._fan_club.html

Please let us know how you phone call to check this out turns out. Really curious if it is legit or a scam. The prize seems awfully over the top for a drawing-for-fans type thing. If it was me, I'd ask for a letter or something in writing before I'd give them any info, and get the name of whoever you talk to and then call the fan club or whatever official entity they are supposedly affiliated with and ask for that person by name.

Thanks for looking out for me. I will definitely approach it with a suspicious nature. And I'll report back.

It is a great fantasy for a sports nut.I flew with the Miami Hurricanes to Tallahassee to play FSU and stayed in the team hotel.You will not believe how much food thes athletes eat.Enjoy.

citiboy50: How did you get to do that, a contest or fan club deal or an inside connection or what? This is getting interesting as it would be a real big deal to surprise my husband w/something like this. He certainly deserves it if I can figure out how to score a trip like this.

update: I emailed Mark Cuban last night from the Mavs website since I'd always heard he answered fan emails. I had a personal confirmation from him this morning, so it is legit.

emd, DH says that you can purchase these trips if you have the funds. He cites a recent super deluxe one - week long, 3 game trip with the team for $10K. He suggests you contact your pro sports teams and just ask.

I think it's totally legit. In New Orleans, the new NBA team (Hornets) has a similar contest for season ticket holders. The winner flies with the team on the Hornets jet, stays in the hotel, gets great seats to the game, etc. I have never won anything similar but I am major-league jealous! Enjoy!!

EMD-I got it as a U of M booster. I suggest you contact the team or athletic Dpt and just talk your way in.In rhe case of the Dolphins(another trip), I just wrote the owner a personal letter.