Ah yes, the wonderful 'visiting aircrew' accommodation strategy....
At St. Athan, they tried to put us up in a squalid hotel in Barry, the other occupants being youth offenders.....we declined the kind offer!
At Coningsby, they wanted the aircrew to stay at Binbrook and the groundcrew to stay at Waddington.....we declined the kind offer! "Take bloody steps out, we're bloody going!", was the captain's bluff comment. The solution was the Petwood Hotel in Woodhall Spa, which was much nicer than a 45 min journey in a 32-seat coach!
At Finningley, they put us up in an hotel in Doncaster, but we then found out that they hadn't provided any evening meal for the groundcrew and all that had been provided for the aircrew were the usual mini pork pies etc. at a welcoming barrel. After 'some robust debate', the organiser agreed to pay for proper catering within normal guidelines and the lads had some decent scoff before sampling the bright lights of Doncaster.
I later discovered that visiting aircrew / groundcrew T&S was but a minute part of the overall cost; we were quite prepared to give up our weekend to entertain the tax payers, but did at least expect proper accommodation and catering.