I stopped at my local travel agent to check things out.  The FIRM prices for next May are not available yet.  This is what I was able to obtain.   $2,500 round trip, Detroit to Perth.  26 hours in the air and at least 10 in layovers and plane changes.  Figure two days of travel time with minimal sleep.  At least one day to recover and a day of weapons testing.  Then the WC, then maybe a bit of touring and back on the plane for another two days.

This trip will take a lot of money, time off work, and endurance.  I flew to numerous contests in the pre-911 era before extreme airline security.  Under today's regime it's hard enough to board a plane empty-handed, let alone packing scary model stuff.

The Australians and New Zealanders make this trip all the time and they're long overdue a home game.  But combat flyers and all others need to consider the hardship of the trip before winning a team position. 

A good thought.

House fuel is a life-saver for F2D and F2A.  The idea of having toys shipped direct is good in theory, but I think the winners will want to use stuff they've dialed.  Even with the airframes shipped direct, there's a lot of scary bits that would get Homeland agitated.  I think if I went I'd pre-ship the bits via FedEx UPS and not mess with the airlines.

The point of my post was to consider the cost before winning a team spot.  I'm sure somebody will make the trip.  But it's not for everybody. 

I'm not trying to go negative, just opening a discussion of reality.

You can go to The Ukraine or Slovakia empty handed except for a credit card, and buy some good stuff.  Maybe not so easy in Perth.