Beijing Olympics..
#76
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Tri-State Area
Posts: 4,728
Hotels
Slightly OT and apologize if already discussed (didn't read back more than 2 pages).
Just got back from trip with Beijing visit and according to two local friends (both are travel agents with their own company), Kerry Center and comparable rated hotels are charging btw RMB8888 to 9999 per night. Mind you that is for same room that I just paid rmb1200 per night. Plus they want guest to take room(s) from day 1 to last day of events.
Just got back from trip with Beijing visit and according to two local friends (both are travel agents with their own company), Kerry Center and comparable rated hotels are charging btw RMB8888 to 9999 per night. Mind you that is for same room that I just paid rmb1200 per night. Plus they want guest to take room(s) from day 1 to last day of events.
#78
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,378
I see no reason why this pattern will not be repeated in Beijing. Indeed, it seems even more probable, given that none of the locals could possibly afford these prices.
I strongly urge anyone who wants to go to the Olympics to reserve their airline seats, get their event tickets, and wait to book lodging. Having a fully refundable "fall back" hotel plan is not a bad idea, but I'll be shocked if anyone needs it here.
#80
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,378
If "internet buzz" counts for anything, I get the impression that the number of folks who will actually be travelling to the Beijing Olympics is modest. I can't find a single discussion board on the topic. Heck, I've had to do all my own homework trying to figure out the ticket situation -- I really miss the usual panel of flyertalk experts.
I think I even missed an "insider" opportunity to buy the tickets earlier as a Visa Signature card member. There's just zero publicity on this stuff.
Does anyone know of any useful Olympic discussion boards?
I think I even missed an "insider" opportunity to buy the tickets earlier as a Visa Signature card member. There's just zero publicity on this stuff.
Does anyone know of any useful Olympic discussion boards?
#81
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Southeast USA
Programs: various
Posts: 6,710
There don't seem to be a lot of good Olympic discussion boards out there--you might try gamesbids.com and search their forums for threads of interest. There is a pretty good ongoing thread on getting tickets, and some insiders on a couple of National Olympic Committees contribute to it. I'm a USA expat resident in Beijing, and my take on the entire situation is a bit atypical: I think that the number of foreigners travelling to Beijing as private spectators (i.e. not Olympic officials, heads-of-state and accompanying lackeys, reporters, etc.) is not going to be as large as expected. Biggest reason? Can't get event tickets! The situation is tough, tough, tough no matter your country! I think Cosport sold nearly all of its allotments for all countries it represents in about 18 hours. So far, doesn't seem as if Beijing ticketing will follow the pattern of past Games. I don't think there will be a lot of last minute tickets and scalping will happen relatively privately, though it will occur. Without guaranteed tickets to enough events to make the travel expense worthwhile, why bother? As a result, I'm taking the opposite position on accommodations--I think Beijing will be awash in extra rooms and this will become apparent around April or May. Then prices should start to come down as reality sets in, except in the luxury properties that are already block-booked for officials, package holders, etc. I do think international flights into Beijing will be a problem, as there isn't enough capacity through most of the year right now. (Aside: try Shenyang or Tianjin as a backdoor to Beijing--they are not far away and are well connected by domestic flight or train--Tianjin by high-speed beginning next spring.) And I suspect that domestic flights and sleeper train tickets will get heavy demand from non-Beijingers coming up for the Games.
#82
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,378
As a result, I'm taking the opposite position on accommodations--I think Beijing will be awash in extra rooms and this will become apparent around April or May. Then prices should start to come down as reality sets in, except in the luxury properties that are already block-booked for officials, package holders, etc. I do think international flights into Beijing will be a problem, as there isn't enough capacity through most of the year right now.
From my perspective -- having attended other Olympics -- this one looks about the same level of "toughness" as others. The nice thing is that ticket prices are relatively cheap. Availability -- at least advance availability -- is always difficult. I figure I can round out my offerings by paying local scalpers (assuming I can make the necessary connections) twice the face value and still have affordable seats.
I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was this summer to book frequent flyer tickets to Beijing. I was expecting much worse.
But to the average person, this is all too difficult. It is why few unaffiliated individuals go. Those who do usually have a good time.
BTW, thanks for the message board recommendation -- I'll look at it.
#83
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: LAX
Programs: OW, *A, Bonvoy, WOH
Posts: 809
I think I may have gone about this backwards -- I have flight tickets (upgraded, yay!) and a hotel in Beijing during the Olympics, but no event tickets
If anyone has any ideas about how I can get tickets to Olympic events during the first 4 days of the Olympics -- especially the Opening Ceremony -- without getting raped too badly (twice the face value is OK, I guess), I would be more than grateful if you shared your ideas. Thanks a million!
If anyone has any ideas about how I can get tickets to Olympic events during the first 4 days of the Olympics -- especially the Opening Ceremony -- without getting raped too badly (twice the face value is OK, I guess), I would be more than grateful if you shared your ideas. Thanks a million!
#84
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,378
I think I may have gone about this backwards -- I have flight tickets (upgraded, yay!) and a hotel in Beijing during the Olympics, but no event tickets
If anyone has any ideas about how I can get tickets to Olympic events during the first 4 days of the Olympics -- especially the Opening Ceremony -- without getting raped too badly (twice the face value is OK, I guess), I would be more than grateful if you shared your ideas. Thanks a million!
If anyone has any ideas about how I can get tickets to Olympic events during the first 4 days of the Olympics -- especially the Opening Ceremony -- without getting raped too badly (twice the face value is OK, I guess), I would be more than grateful if you shared your ideas. Thanks a million!
The tried and true technique was show up at the venue and deal with the scalpers. Often, the prices would be reasonable -- especially for "normal" (not top shelf) events. Sometimes you would pay less than face value. This technique would generally not work for very popular events.
You could also sometimes buy "last minute" tickets from official sources. Not sure that would work in Beijing.
Finally, the best technique was to get a tip that an Olympic team had tickets they were selling. In Atlanta, for example, I happened to be at the hotel where the Russian weightlifting team was staying, and they kept us well supplied with face-value tickets. BTW, I think a lot of the teams would also sell to scalpers, which is how the scalpers got the seats.
Nowadays, thanks to the internet, there seems to be more "perfect information," which can be good AND bad. You're probably less likely to just stumble upon somebody like the Russian weightlifting team, but you're also more likely to get "a tip" that such an organization has tickets for sale. I think watching "insiders" olympic sites (like the gamesbids.com one listed above) may lead us to the necessary ticket sales information. We'll see. My only advice now is not to buy tickets from anyone selling them for more than 100% above face value -- and the only scalpers I've come across so far on the web have truly insane mark-ups.
#85
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Southeast USA
Programs: various
Posts: 6,710
Three things to keep in mind about Beijing Olympics:
1) The authorities have declared that reselling Olympic tickets above face value is illegal in China. (This will of course, be ignored by most or all of the Chinese reselling population.)
2) The authorities are not going to allow scalpers to stand outside the venues and hawk their wares. There has been no official announcement on this, but knowing the Chinese obsession with presenting a Perfect Face on these Games, they'll likely keep clean-sweeping all venue areas of anything viewed as pestilence.
3) There is so much demand from the Chinese themselves, that any last minute tickets from the general box office are likely to get snatched immediately, though they probably will not have access to any extra tickets at the international agents offices (cosports, sportworld, etc.).
I'm sure lots of trading and selling will go on, but it will occur in the hotels, cafes, company offices, etc. and may be more difficult for the average foreign visitor. Wish I had more encouraging news for you Blue, but if you don't want to use the ticket brokers (at this point, I'd be careful), you'll need to get very creative networking while still at home, and in Beijing. I think over the next month or so, people who got only a small allotment of tickets through official sources may decide it's not worth it to go, and will put their tickets up for sale on ebay, craigslist, etc. Maybe cheaper than brokers, but how to separate out the honest folks from the charlatans is a knotty problem. Also, Ceremonies tickets are registered specifically to the original purchaser and cannot be transferred at will, so these are an extra problem to validate and use, if you buy them on secondary market. Remember no actual tickets exist right now, only the "confirmation" that a ticket has been won in lottery or successfully open sale purchased.
1) The authorities have declared that reselling Olympic tickets above face value is illegal in China. (This will of course, be ignored by most or all of the Chinese reselling population.)
2) The authorities are not going to allow scalpers to stand outside the venues and hawk their wares. There has been no official announcement on this, but knowing the Chinese obsession with presenting a Perfect Face on these Games, they'll likely keep clean-sweeping all venue areas of anything viewed as pestilence.
3) There is so much demand from the Chinese themselves, that any last minute tickets from the general box office are likely to get snatched immediately, though they probably will not have access to any extra tickets at the international agents offices (cosports, sportworld, etc.).
I'm sure lots of trading and selling will go on, but it will occur in the hotels, cafes, company offices, etc. and may be more difficult for the average foreign visitor. Wish I had more encouraging news for you Blue, but if you don't want to use the ticket brokers (at this point, I'd be careful), you'll need to get very creative networking while still at home, and in Beijing. I think over the next month or so, people who got only a small allotment of tickets through official sources may decide it's not worth it to go, and will put their tickets up for sale on ebay, craigslist, etc. Maybe cheaper than brokers, but how to separate out the honest folks from the charlatans is a knotty problem. Also, Ceremonies tickets are registered specifically to the original purchaser and cannot be transferred at will, so these are an extra problem to validate and use, if you buy them on secondary market. Remember no actual tickets exist right now, only the "confirmation" that a ticket has been won in lottery or successfully open sale purchased.
#86
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: DCA, ex-IAH
Programs: nada
Posts: 1,368
I think I may have gone about this backwards -- I have flight tickets (upgraded, yay!) and a hotel in Beijing during the Olympics, but no event tickets
If anyone has any ideas about how I can get tickets to Olympic events during the first 4 days of the Olympics -- especially the Opening Ceremony -- without getting raped too badly (twice the face value is OK, I guess), I would be more than grateful if you shared your ideas. Thanks a million!
If anyone has any ideas about how I can get tickets to Olympic events during the first 4 days of the Olympics -- especially the Opening Ceremony -- without getting raped too badly (twice the face value is OK, I guess), I would be more than grateful if you shared your ideas. Thanks a million!
While I can't offer these up for grabs until I figure out more of the trip, here are some of my tickets for early in the games. All are pairs of seats and men's events.
09AUG--Gymnastics Artistic X2
10AUG--Basketball (category C)
13AUG--Baseball
Not sure how much I'd be asking for those, but it would be over face value, to cover all the fees/shipping that cosport charges.
#87
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: DCA, ex-IAH
Programs: nada
Posts: 1,368
Also, Ceremonies tickets are registered specifically to the original purchaser and cannot be transferred at will, so these are an extra problem to validate and use, if you buy them on secondary market. Remember no actual tickets exist right now, only the "confirmation" that a ticket has been won in lottery or successfully open sale purchased.
#88
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Canada
Programs: AC SE 2MM, HH Dd, SPG; IC Pl/A; AA; DL
Posts: 14,320
"If you have enough PC points, some of the HIs and HIX are showing availabilities for 10k/night (non-refundable)."
I booked my hotel using this. They wanted $600/night but only 10K points--since I have hundreds of thousands, seemed to be a good use of points. No problem if more hotels become available at last minute which I suspect, at least I will have a room within a reasonable distance of the Olympic track and field venue.
I booked my hotel using this. They wanted $600/night but only 10K points--since I have hundreds of thousands, seemed to be a good use of points. No problem if more hotels become available at last minute which I suspect, at least I will have a room within a reasonable distance of the Olympic track and field venue.
#89
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: A lovely little town filled with cows
Programs: US2, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Plat, Hilton Gold
Posts: 3,284
"If you have enough PC points, some of the HIs and HIX are showing availabilities for 10k/night (non-refundable)."
I booked my hotel using this. They wanted $600/night but only 10K points--since I have hundreds of thousands, seemed to be a good use of points. No problem if more hotels become available at last minute which I suspect, at least I will have a room within a reasonable distance of the Olympic track and field venue.
I booked my hotel using this. They wanted $600/night but only 10K points--since I have hundreds of thousands, seemed to be a good use of points. No problem if more hotels become available at last minute which I suspect, at least I will have a room within a reasonable distance of the Olympic track and field venue.
I see nothing via PC for any hotel for any day from Aug. 13 to Aug. 16, for any room type.
Booking these via points and having the option to refund sounds absolutely fantastic...
BTW, looking forward to any planned DO - a coworker and I are currently scheduled to be in-country for four weeks, trying to back that down to a more reasonable two or three.
#90
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Bay Area
Programs: HH, PC, SPG, MR, GP, US, UA, AA
Posts: 3,444
Is there some trick to this or did I just miss the window of opportunity?
I see nothing via PC for any hotel for any day from Aug. 13 to Aug. 16, for any room type.
Booking these via points and having the option to refund sounds absolutely fantastic...
BTW, looking forward to any planned DO - a coworker and I are currently scheduled to be in-country for four weeks, trying to back that down to a more reasonable two or three.
I see nothing via PC for any hotel for any day from Aug. 13 to Aug. 16, for any room type.
Booking these via points and having the option to refund sounds absolutely fantastic...
BTW, looking forward to any planned DO - a coworker and I are currently scheduled to be in-country for four weeks, trying to back that down to a more reasonable two or three.