Does anyone know a rough estimated price for all-event tickets plus Hotel?

[FSWer]

Say,does anyone have any kind of a rough estimated price together for both all-event tickets plus Hotel for each night of a really big major competition like Worlds,etc.? Thanks.

[smelltheice]

The last worlds in gothenburg was around £900 ($1700-1800) at uk prices but not including airfare for the week. This was for the gold package with all access to all events in the best seats and 3 star hotel but please bear in mind that Sweden is very expensive. The tax rate there is 200% (luxury goods tax). It is around $10 u.s. for a beer!!!!

[FSWer]

What about the price combo for that kind of Major competition if you wre to go just ANYWERE in the USA.? Not to another country.

[Clarice]

I've never gone to one of these competitions, but I checked out a couple of tour companies for you, who are running tours to next year's Worlds in Los Angeles. It looks like an all-event ticket plus a week's stay in the hotel runs in the neighborhood of $2500 - $3000 per person for a two-person hotel room. This would not include the cost of your transportation to Los Angeles, and wouldn't include most of your meals. They do include some other things, depending on which tour package you're looking at - like bus passes for the week, admittance to receptions, breakfast, etc. Maybe people who have actually gone to Worlds before can suggest less expensive ways of doing it. I looked at the Dash Tours ad in Skating Magazine, and Colonial Travel on-line.

[FSWer]

I've never gone to one of these competitions, but I checked out a couple of tour companies for you, who are running tours to next year's Worlds in Los Angeles. It looks like an all-event ticket plus a week's stay in the hotel runs in the neighborhood of $2500 - $3000 per person for a two-person hotel room. This would not include the cost of your transportation to Los Angeles, and wouldn't include most of your meals. They do include some other things, depending on which tour package you're looking at - like bus passes for the week, admittance to receptions, breakfast, etc. Maybe people who have actually gone to Worlds before can suggest less expensive ways of doing it. I looked at the Dash Tours ad in Skating Magazine, and Colonial Travel on-line.


What about if you travel yourself?

[Clarice]

This IS if you travel yourself. This cost includes only the hotel room and the all-event ticket, NOT transportation. You could probably find a much cheaper hotel by yourself - you'd probably have to book it online yourself, or use a travel agent. The all-event ticket is going to be very expensive no matter what. I haven't found the cost of that yet.

Edited to add: Okay, I've looked at the Ticketmaster prices for the Los Angeles Staples Center for Worlds. This is a 10-event ticket. Prices range from $235 for the highest upper level to $1315 for the best seats in the VIP section. If you bought your tickets this way, you could pick where your seats would be and what they would cost. You'd have to find your own hotel.

[blue111moon]

Los Angeles Worlds tickets are expensive, unless you want to sit in the sky-high seats where the skaters look like ants.

Hotels in Los Angeles are expensive. Plane flights from Hartford to LA will run another $500 or so a person, unless you can find a sale and fly midweek.

Then there's meals for the week, plus transportation from the airport to the hotel and back, to and from the arean (unless you have a hotel close enough to walk to) and the costs of programs, souvenirs, etc.

I figured out that going to LA for a week for Worlds would run me around $4000.

Whish is why I'm going to Cleveland for Nationals instead - it's half the cost.

The cheapest of what FSWer would consider "major" competitions is probably Skate America because it's only three days and the all event ticket packages are under $200 (I just checked and the site says the Gold Packages - $255 - are sold out) - and hotel rates are are around $150 a night at the host hotel. But then you have to add in plane fare to Washington State and transportation out to Everett, which more than doubles the cost.

[FSWer]

Los Angeles Worlds tickets are expensive, unless you want to sit in the sky-high seats where the skaters look like ants.

Hotels in Los Angeles are expensive. Plane flights from Hartford to LA will run another $500 or so a person, unless you can find a sale and fly midweek.

Then there's meals for the week, plus transportation from the airport to the hotel and back, to and from the arean (unless you have a hotel close enough to walk to) and the costs of programs, souvenirs, etc.

I figured out that going to LA for a week for Worlds would run me around $4000.

Whish is why I'm going to Cleveland for Nationals instead - it's half the cost.

The cheapest of what FSWer would consider "major" competitions is probably Skate America because it's only three days and the all event ticket packages are under $200 (I just checked and the site says the Gold Packages - $255 - are sold out) - and hotel rates are are around $150 a night at the host hotel. But then you have to add in plane fare to Washington State and transportation out to Everett, which more than doubles the cost.


Is there any way to get something like Nationals,etc. for cheaper then $1000?

[CanAmSk8ter]

Is there any way to get something like Nationals,etc. for cheaper then $1000?

Just to clarify, we're ONLY talking about you, right? One event ticket, one plane ticket, one hotel room?

$1000 for an all-event ticket, a hotel room for four or five nights, AND a plane ticket doesn't seem realistic to me. Roundtrip airfare alone, depending on where you're going and when, could eat up half of that. Take out the flight, pick your events rather than getting the all-event ticket, and choose a hotel carefully, and you might be able to do it.

[Clarice]

Is there any way to get something like Nationals,etc. for cheaper then $1000?

Sure, but if you need to fly to where Nationals is, want to stay in a downtown hotel, and want an all-event ticket, probably not. When I went to Nationals (I've only been once), it was within driving distance. My club chartered a bus, and I rode on that. We only saw the mens' free skate and the ladies' free skate, and didn't buy the most expensive tickets. We did not stay in a hotel - we rode the bus back home that same night. I don't remember what it all cost, but probably not more than $200. That was just for one day, though, and it was only a few hours away from where I live.

[FSWer]

Just to clarify, we're ONLY talking about you, right? One event ticket, one plane ticket, one hotel room?

$1000 for an all-event ticket, a hotel room for four or five nights, AND a plane ticket doesn't seem realistic to me. Roundtrip airfare alone, depending on where you're going and when, could eat up half of that. Take out the flight, pick your events rather than getting the all-event ticket, and choose a hotel carefully, and you might be able to do it.


Actually,someone will be driving me and staying in the Hotel with me.

[icedancer2]

Well, if that's the case you can do it for under $1000 - I went to Nationals (in Los Angeles) in 2002, stayed in a motel with a friend and had the cheapest ticket I could possibly get (I think it was about $200 for an all-event ticket in the upper level and included a practice pass) and I probably spent just under $1000 for the ticket, motel and meals plus some local transportation (cabs and buses) - so yes, it can probably be done. You just have to be careful how you spend your money.

[blue111moon]

Looking at Cleveland Nationals:

The cheapest all-event ticket package is $295.
The cheapest hotel is the Holiday Inn Select at $119 +tax (so probably close to $125-$130 a night. x 7 nights = $875.

That's $1160 right there, without meals and transportation.

Even if someone else is driving you, there's still the cost of gas and tolls - and what's the other person going to do while you're at the rink watching skating? Are they going to want tickets to the events? They're going to have to eat and sleep somewhere. Who pays for them? If they're paying their own way and splitting the cost of the hotel room and the travel cost (which from Hartfort to Cleveland, with gas at almost $3.50 a gallon could be considerable), then you might be able to squeeze in for less than $1000 but I wouldn't count on it.

FSWer, you might be happer sticking with the Regional and Sectional events that come to New England, at least until Nationals or Skate America comes back within driving distance again. New Englands is in Kingston, MA and Easterns is in Boston.

[FSWer]

Looking at Cleveland Nationals:

The cheapest all-event ticket package is $295.
The cheapest hotel is the Holiday Inn Select at $119 +tax (so probably close to $125-$130 a night. x 7 nights = $875.

That's $1160 right there, without meals and transportation.

Even if someone else is driving you, there's still the cost of gas and tolls - and what's the other person going to do while you're at the rink watching skating? Are they going to want tickets to the events? They're going to have to eat and sleep somewhere. Who pays for them? If they're paying their own way and splitting the cost of the hotel room and the travel cost (which from Hartfort to Cleveland, with gas at almost $3.50 a gallon could be considerable), then you might be able to squeeze in for less than $1000 but I wouldn't count on it.

FSWer, you might be happer sticking with the Regional and Sectional events that come to New England, at least until Nationals or Skate America comes back within driving distance again. New Englands is in Kingston, MA and Easterns is in Boston.


Does anyone know of any packages for events such as a Nationals,,etc. for 2009 for somewere my area? Hartford/Mass./etc.?

[Sylvia]

Does anyone know of any packages for events such as a Nationals,,etc. for 2009 for somewere my area? Hartford/Mass./etc.?
No, we've already mentioned the 3 biggest competitions in the U.S. that are confirmed at this time (2008 Skate America in Everett, Washington, 2009 Nationals in Cleveland, and 2009 Worlds in LA). However, there's a *chance* that Providence, Rhode Island may be selected as the city to host 2010 Nationals (selection for the 2010 Olympics), so you might want to wait for the location decision to be officially announced (sometime in May, I believe? there reportedly are 4 finalist cities). If Providence is selected, you could save up your money to attend some or all of that competition.