1021 replies to this topic

[faster]

NOC, on 16 March 2011 - 06:49 PM, said:

Ok I rang CoSport and they said to me that their exchange rate was santioned by the IOC

What a pack of lies!

There exchange rate is off by about 10 cents on the pound. There is better exchange rates at the airport.

[baron-pierreIV]

Faster, on 17 March 2011 - 12:36 AM, said:

There exchange rate is off by about 10 cents on the pound. There is better exchange rates at the airport.

Obviously, CoSport built in a cushion for fluctuation of exchange -- a very favorable cushion for them...knowing they are the ONLY outlet in certain countries. Actually, if people don't buy, then these'll be returned to the UK pool and foreign visitors can just buy them a few days before.

[NOC]

Yeah but they are breaking the rules - I have complained to the AOC just wait and see if they will sanction it

I just cant believe that the rules are so specific and then an organisation like coSPort who are questionable with their ethics (see company owner SLC scandal) can still be allowed to get away with this

Lots and lots of brown paper bags!

[Citius Altius Fortius]

Citius Altius Fortius, on 16 March 2011 - 05:41 PM, said:

ohh - that is a nice brochure I will pick one up when I am in London...

I catched one - it is quite nice and informative, but not 'necessary', since everything is said on the official website too

[OlympicNut]

As a born and bred Sydneysider and big Olympics fan, I never expected to attend another Olympics, but having lived in London for the past seven years, this now seems possible.

My general observations are that except for the very bottom ticket price categories, the tickets in London are much much more expensive than Sydney, up to five-fold, even allowing for differences in cost of living and exchange rates. Plus, some events that were free at Sydney, such as triathlon (ticketed but totally free) and road cycling finish line, now cost ££ in London. Nevertheless London, as a major European transport and accommodation hub and with 8 million people in the city alone (and 50 million in the rest of the country), will probably sell out.

My general observations from Sydney, that will inform my London ticket choices, are (as someone who has no attachment to any particular sport, but likes them all):

Be careful of:
Rowing - even on TV you get parallax error (apart from at finish line) making it difficult to tell who is in front. Unless you get the A-tickets for the finals, you'll be sitting probably 300m from the finishing line and will have the same problem.
Diving - Event was over very quickly, hard to pick up the intricacies of performance from a distance (I had a Category B ticket but still quite pricey), did not seem to me good value as a neutral observer
Synchronised swimming - I chose the technical programme by accident. Unless you're a huge fan of the sport, choose the free programme, much more variety in performance
Swimming heats - If you want to go to heats, choose athletics. All the swimming semis take place during the finals (evening) sessions, leaving the morning heats sessions much less competitive. At least with athletics, there is enough variety of disciplines during heats sessions to keep you interested. Whereas swimming you'll see the same thing - bodies going up and down the pool but no really exciting races. Plus, you may have more chance of getting tickets for athletics heats (larger capacity stadium) compared with the smaller Aquatics centre.
Athletics 100m Mens final session - This is being talked about as perhaps the most sought after ticket of the meet, but tickets are extra £££ for this session. The race only takes place in the finishing straight, and if you're stuck low down on the other side of the Stadium (as I was in Sydney), the view is not that great. Plus it is less than 10 seconds. I found the circular track races - 400m, 1500m, 5000m etc a lot more exciting, and will make for better value tickets IMHO.

I'm a fan of the big sports, but sports that surprised me in Sydney as exciting and good value included:
Handball
Badminton
Slalom canoe
Water Polo

[faster]

I caved and put in a request. I requested 8, probably will get 2 or less. I was told from someone at the COC that Canada has only be allocated as little as 2 to 5 tickets per event for some (events we don't qualify for) and even swimming ther could only be a dozen or so tickets. So not hoping for a lot, not even sure if I will be able to attend.

[Hobart]

Is anyone in UK willing to get me a hard copy of the ticket brochure and post to me in Australia? Happy to pay for postage via paypal or catch up for a beer in 2012 at the games.

i know i can get it online but like to have a real copy to add to the collection

[daveypodmore]

I got my ticket request in, god knows how successful I will be. i was going to get some from Thomas Cook as you are guaranteed tickets, you can only buy them as part of a break though. I decided not to do it when I saw how much they were charging.Its disgusting how they are ripping people off.

[thatsnotmypuppy]

I've also had a chat to my contacts at CoSport about the exchange rate and their position is if you want tickets you pay. Simple. Thus I am endeavoring to get into as many events for free as possible through my contacts and buy the bare minimum from them if anything at all. Disgusting. I suppose we were all soiled by Beijing being so cheap. We won't get a Games like that ever again pricewise. I imagine Rio will be steep.

[faster]

thatsnotmypuppy, on 21 March 2011 - 06:58 AM, said:

I've also had a chat to my contacts at CoSport about the exchange rate and their position is if you want tickets you pay. Simple. Thus I am endeavoring to get into as many events for free as possible through my contacts and buy the bare minimum from them if anything at all. Disgusting. I suppose we were all soiled by Beijing being so cheap. We won't get a Games like that ever again pricewise. I imagine Rio will be steep.

I don't think so. Rio will still have to price tickets for their population and the average income in Brazil is around 12,000 USD. So they will still have to price their tickets in a range that would allow them to get millions of Brazilians in millions of seats. I expect most tickets to be between 25 and 150, whereas for London tickets are in the 100 to 250 range.