Vancouver During the Olympics

[tng]

I was considering going to Vancouver during the Olympic, scalping tickets to some events or gettign free seats to things people dont want to see and jsut taking in the spectacal. I have a cousin that lives in Burnaby so I dont have to worry about a hotel. My parents did the same thing at the Summer games in China and had a great time (only ticket my Father had before hand was China USA basketball) and saw a lot of events.

Do you think this will work in Vacouver without costing a fortune? I dont know how many events take place in Vancouver as opposed to surrounding areas and I dont know if they have the restaurant capacity to not eat japadog all week (although i have a feelign that will be crowded too) Also being moderately well off westerners probbaly helped my parents a lot in enjoying China where their money went a lot furthur.

[asdfvcx]

Do you think this will work in Vacouver without costing a fortune? I dont know how many events take place in Vancouver as opposed to surrounding areas

All of the indoor events take place in the Vancouver area. (hockey, figure and speed skating and curling).

The outdoor are taking place in and around Cypress mountain (somewhat close to Vancouver) and Whistler (about 75 miles away). Because of traffic restrictions, it's going to be difficult to get to these two places except by public transportation. And most of the public transportation is going to be reserved for ticket holders.

Note that Vancouver normally gets a large amount of cold rain during the last 2 weeks of February. It may not be the most pleasant place to spend long periods of time outside.


As for crowds and prices, yes it'll be crowded and expensive. But there's also plenty of free concerts and events and festivals, etc. So if you are looking for the "Olympic experience", you can still get it without having many or any tickets. Just bring plenty of warm, waterproof clothing.



As well, there are more tickets going on sale November 7th. So, if you are pretty sure you're coming, you can look to see if any of the remaining tickets interest you.

[Sgt_Strider]

I was considering going to Vancouver during the Olympic, scalping tickets to some events or gettign free seats to things people dont want to see and jsut taking in the spectacal. I have a cousin that lives in Burnaby so I dont have to worry about a hotel. My parents did the same thing at the Summer games in China and had a great time (only ticket my Father had before hand was China USA basketball) and saw a lot of events.

Do you think this will work in Vacouver without costing a fortune? I dont know how many events take place in Vancouver as opposed to surrounding areas and I dont know if they have the restaurant capacity to not eat japadog all week (although i have a feelign that will be crowded too) Also being moderately well off westerners probbaly helped my parents a lot in enjoying China where their money went a lot furthur.

Well, you can always eat Chinese if you want to stick to a small budget. I don't know how much you intend to spend, but it might be difficult to survive if you don't set a budget of at least $45/day.

[GtG]

Scalping is such a douche bag way to make money

[Badger]

Well, you can always eat Chinese if you want to stick to a small budget. I don't know how much you intend to spend, but it might be difficult to survive if you don't set a budget of at least $45/day.

T&T Supermarket cooked food after 6pm at a huge discount!

edit: This is for tng below, not you Sgt_Strider. I had two statements under the quote, sorry.

And GtG is right. You shouldn't be making money off scalping. It is unethical and it gives us a bad impression of the type of members we have on this forum.

[Sgt_Strider]

T&T Supermarket cooked food after 6pm at a huge discount!

And GtG is right. You shouldn't be making money off scalping. It is unethical and it gives us a bad impression of the type of members we have on this forum.

Excuse me, but wth are you talking about? How am I scalping? I just gave him what I thought was an appropriate budget for the day.

[mr_toast]

I was considering going to Vancouver during the Olympic, scalping tickets to some events or gettign free seats to things people dont want to see and jsut taking in the spectacal.

Firstly, do a small bit of research. Tickets go for well over your average hockey game. This ain't no $10 show, you know. So, if you plan on scalping, good luck: you'll need a lot of it. Also, I'm sure they'll have security around to prevent scalpers.

Secondly, every ticket is for sale. If you're going to ever get free tickets, it will most likely be fake.

Lastly, unless you actually live in Vancouver, the cost-benefit you will get from this is going to be either fully negative (the costs severely outweigh the benefits) or zeroed out (if you're lucky you'll break even).

[tng]

I suppose things run very differently between Canada and China where my parents did something similar. They were able to get scalped tickets pretty easily and for not much more then face value and often under, and for some less popular events the government was just giving away tickets to get the stands full for the TV cameras. I have family that lives in Vancouver so if I wanted to go really cheap I can cook everyday I was expecting to drop a few grand on the week I'd be there. I'll see if there are any tickets availible for anything I'd want to see in the next release and only go if I can get seats to anything interesting I suppose.

[Badger]

Excuse me, but wth are you talking about? How am I scalping? I just gave him what I thought was an appropriate budget for the day.

Whoops I quoted the wrong person sorry. This was meant for tng.

[hurric]

get ready to spend money in Vancouver. It's not like the east where food/housing/everything is cheaper. esp if you plan to hang around downtown/bc place/etc.

[Eswift]

get ready to spend money in Vancouver. It's not like the east where food/housing/everything is cheaper. esp if you plan to hang around downtown/bc place/etc.

OP, I'm not sure if you're still considering this or not. A lot of really negative people responded to you with pretty much nothing except their negative opinions about vancouver. This year it's been quite warm, they helicoptered in snow for cypress for the games, hahah. About 10 - 15 celcius during the day.

Expect about 10 celcius, I never even broke out my winter jacket. I've lived out East, in the 3 big cities. The winters are 1000000 times better here in Vancouver.

There are a ton of free things to do during the games aside from the events.
http://www.citycaucus.com/2010free
That doesn't even list the concerts etc, just the basic outlines and it seems pretty great.

As for prices, who knows what things will scalp at. I bet a lot will go close to face value, some below, some over. Things like Hockey, Curling etc or anything with a Canada hopeful will obvi go for a lot more. Getting ticks to the Canucks is impossible here via ticketmaster for example, but I regularly get tickets at or below face.

Medal ceremonies all have concerts, some with great acts, and they are cheap.

As for food etc. I have no idea where that person got their info from. Vancouver food is similarly priced to Ottawa or Montreal, with some fast food being about 1 or 2 more dollars a meal and there being no difference in restaurant prices. Alcohol is more than Toronto, Montreal or Ottawa. Taxes. A dollar or 1.50 more per drink basically.

The high cost of living here is our housing. It won't affect you, as you noted. A few grand the week you're here and you're having a blast. Could be done for FAR less, and I gurantee if you're thinking 1500 or 2k and you're not paying for accom you could be out having a blast every night and seeing events.

Oh, sushi is probably the cheapest thing here. It's literally 25 percent of what you pay out East. 5 dollars here you get what you get for 20 in Montreal or Ottawa, literally, and the quality is far superior. There are of course very high end places where you pay 8 - 12 a roll here too, but that's the standard out there, here it's the exception. Fave place is by the University village, 5 dollars = 3 rolls and a bowl of miso.

Hope you come out and enjoy the olympics, I'm blown away by the negativity.

To get to whistler you DEFINATELY do NOT need olympic games tickets. EVERYONE has to take the bus system they have running. There'd be nowhere to park anyways. There's a train too. It's about 1.5 - 2 hours to Whistler from downtown. Again, shaking my head at all the misinformation and sheer guess work on this page. Were any of you from Vancouver, or just looking to shoot down someone else's attempt at having fun and doing what could be a once or twice in a lifetime experience?

I can't wait. Many friends who are abroad right now are so sad they're missing it. If you have a free place to stay, take the opportunity and go. Burnaby is nice and close to and all burnaby is close to the skytrain system.