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Tips for traveling to Pearl Jam shows on a budget?
So last year I decided to make trips (beyond the midwest) to see Pearl Jam in MSG and Fenway, and I can't imagine how much some of the more hardcore fans spend to see them a frequently as they do.
I got some Hot Stove tickets for Boston and looking for advice on the best ways to save some cash when seeing PJ or any band playing out of town. Crash at an AirBNB? Best airline search sites or carriers? Have you slept at an airport after a show? Would love to hear how you guys do it, especially those who travel solo.
I got some Hot Stove tickets for Boston and looking for advice on the best ways to save some cash when seeing PJ or any band playing out of town. Crash at an AirBNB? Best airline search sites or carriers? Have you slept at an airport after a show? Would love to hear how you guys do it, especially those who travel solo.
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Honestly, I think a lot of the hardcore fans don't have kids, or if they do, the kids have grown up and are out of the house...or they do the PJ thing as the family vacation.
Travel... look at the budget airlines. Southwest only books via their site and not via sites like kayak.com or others. If possible, consider driving. Even better if you can carpool with other fans. To go along with the "driving shows", it's great when you can sleep in your own bed that night, even if there's a two-hour drive after the show. I'm not sure I'd recommend this, but for Cincinnati 2014, a fan in Toronto left work on Tuesday, drove to the show on Wednesday and then drove back immediately after, getting back in time for Thursday work.
Still, consider passing up shows that you have to fly to.
Merch... Go for the poster and maybe 1-2 other items. Don't go for the "this, that and the $300 of other stuff" routine.
Food/drink... avoid buying the $10 beer in the stadium.
Don't buy tickets at marked-up prices.
I think I did Cincinnati for $150 or so. Ticket, merch, food and travel costs all combined.
Fenway was still doable because I had free lodging courtesy extended family. I had won the tickets, but last-minute airfare killed me, I'm sure. (Ok, so it probably averages out, but whatever.) Luckily, the family member offered to buy my food/beer, so that was more luck on my side, but I bought about 10 posters, two shirts, one flag and one of the sweatbands.
Sign up for the free rewards program at least, on whatever airline you are booking. Additionally you can look for credit card with travel perks.
Use Google Flight Search, and try to be flexible with your dates if possible.
AirBnB can be cheaper than hotels. But also just widen your search a bit. Particularly if you're staying in a large city, you can save some money by booking a room that's not right next to the venue. If you are worried about the neighborhood the best thing to do is Google News search the name of the neighborhood you're looking in. Read Trip Adviser reviews, Yelp reviews (not just for the hotel you're looking at but restaurants, etc in the area) Use your judgement.
Also consider looking at hostels. A lot of hostels have private rooms available which can be cheaper than hotels.
If you're not comfortable staying someplace other than a hotel, Look into loyalty programs. Hotels.com used to have this thing where you'd get a free night after 10 nights. Booking.com has this "genius" discount thing but I'm not sure when that activates.
When you are trying to plan out your tour, consider the market. Doing Boston/NYC/Philly is going to cost more than Nashville or Atlanta.
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- Do some homework on airfare (I use Kayak) and buy tickets sooner rather than later. Waiting until the last minute will ensure you don't get a decent price. If you're willing take a flight that is not direct, with a layover, the prices can be much lower. For the Florida shows, we took indirect flights (MSP to JFK with a three hour layover then to Ft. Lauderdale. Opposite return flight) for $179 round trip.
- Don't stay at a hotel right next to the venue. Find a hotel a few miles away on a public transportation line and take the bus to and from.
- Don't buy beer or food at the venue.
- Get a tour buddy to split costs with.
- Don't bother with merch.
1a. For major carriers, especially to foreign countries, check flights via http://matrix.itasoftware.com. You can look at a calendar to see what day will be the cheapest to fly. You can save enough to pay for an extra day at the hotel and more by flying a day or 2 earlier, for example.
2. Hotels, you can do the same thing. I have a Hilton Rewards Amex and get about 5 free nights per year. I used SW and Hilton points for TOTD in San Francisco so the trip cost me nothing except for food and tickets/merchandise.
3. Priceline, if you know how to use it right, will get you amazing deals. Go to betterbidding.com. There are 2 tricks you can use there. One is the "calendar of wins" where people post what hotel and what price they won their hotels for. This gives you a good reference for how to bid and what hotel you are likely to get. The second, and more important one is it teaches you how to game the system a bit to make sure you get the hotel at the very lowest bid it will accept. It works best in big cities where they have multiple star levels and zones. It's complicated to explain, but easy to do once you learn how. Will save you $$ big time.
4. Go for tickets in smaller cities. Better chance of winning also means likelihood of closer tenclub seats. Also, usually cheaper hotel, food, etc. when the tours are released, I go for tickets based on the win % posted by ten club.
5. Find a buddy to stand in merch line while you stand in GA line or vice versa. Then there is no anxiety about getting the poster or shirt you want. Lots of people think it's a waste of a morning, but you are literally surrounded by people who share the same passion as you. You can meet and hangout with some pretty cool people. And the locals in line can give you ideas on what else is worth doing in the town you are in.
6. Finally, keep in mind that sometimes a more expensive hotel is a better option if it's closer to the venue or to things you want to do. Renting a car or uber, mass transit can start to add up. Another tip is to find a hotel that offers free breakfast and bonus if they offer a happy hour or evening reception. We stayed 3 days in Boston and had breakfast and dinner free every night. A hotel in Savannah offered a free wine, beer and appetizer happy hour for 2 hours every night. That can save you a ton of money if you are on a budget. Or it will allow you to splurge a little more one night.
Hope this helps.
Scruffy procreated. And not just once.
Sorry. I just really wanted to be an idiot this morning. I'm killing time and procrastinating before I go fall down a mountain on my bike (1st ride of the year for 'me and me and me and me and my friends'- RHCP Vancouver).
If you don't see any posts for a while from me... you know what has happened.
(Weird... I just went to submit this post and a red warning popped up saying I've attempted to post 5X in the last 20 seconds... and now need to wait 120 seconds before I can post this really profound one)
- sleep in the airport
- Don't drink
2012: Atlanta
2013: London ONT / Wrigley Field / Pittsburgh / Buffalo / San Diego / Los Angeles I / Los Angeles II
2014: Cincinnati / St. Louis / Tulsa / Lincoln / Detroit / Denver
2015: New York City
2016: Ft. Lauderdale / Miami / Jacksonville / Greenville / Hampton / Columbia / Lexington / Philly II / New York City II / Toronto II / Bonnaroo / Telluride / Fenway I / Wrigley I / Wrigley - II / TOTD - Philadelphia, San Francisco
2017: Ohana Fest (EV)
2018: Amsterdam I / Amsterdam II / Seattle I / Seattle II / Boston I / Boston II
2021: Asbury Park / Ohana Encore 1 / Ohana Encore 2
2022: Phoenix / LA I / LA II / Quebec City / Ottawa / New York City / Camden / Nashville / St. Louis / Denver
2023: St. Paul II
Odd.... i tried to reply and I got the same message. What the heck?
Gorgeous day here in Jersey...got to be twenty five times as nice where you are!
Have done Jazzfest in NOLA the same way 3x. Stayed at an knights inn, in Kennner,and split the hotel bill. We have easily gotten a room with Two beds for a few days for very cheap like knight inn or best value inns. You just have to look online,and at what you want to spend. Food and beer is simple, eat cheap,(usually 1 big meal with bill split but I also budget. I also save up all the change I have, per day, and that adds up. People are amazed when I tell them that most of the money comes from a huge bucket of change. When we get ready to travel to a show, I cash it in and put it in an envelope with the rest of money I save from paychecks. When we flew for jazzfest, we did the entire trip (plane, took the 6am red eye flight), hotel, car rental). That ended up being $500 a peice. That does excludewe we spent on food, merch, casino. But getting there, with all the basic things needed to be taken care of we did it for $500 a peice. Did PJ in Dallas, Tulsa, and OKC, the same way.
EV Solo: 7/11/11 11/12/12 11/13/12
When we did. After Portland 2000 we drove to Boise through the night. We got to the hotel at something stupid early like 7 or 8. They let us check in early so we all crashed out. It was like getting 2 nights for the price of 1.
Now that I'm older, I don't have it in me to do stuff like this. I tend to use hotels more liberally now. If I travel outside my regular zone then it's usually where I have friends and a place to crash. IF you have to get a hotel trying to find a cheaper one (or airbnb) and limit nights.
Back in the day whenever we went to Vancouver/Seattle shows we'd stay up as long as we could at Tim Horton's, and then crash in the ferry lineup waiting for the first sailing the next morning.
I guess the short answer is if you want to be really cheap and it's in driving distance. Substitute hotels for overnight driving binges
Next tour I may have to add loaner vehicle costs in. I have blown out my milage in my buggy.
Those that can be trusted can change their mind.
Flights just aren't cheap when your timeframe isn't flexible, drive anything less than 6 hours.
Skip the bars and restaurants, take a good friend with you and split booze and food by a nice little campfire for the pre and post show festivities.
I've been getting more in tune with credit card points/rewards stuff (blogs like The Points Guy) and can get a Boston hotel for $150/night using points vs paying $350+ in cash. Flights are definitely going to be rough but ways to cut back on taxis/restaurants/bars are all good.
I'm pretty sure one and two mean three is gonna happen.
2012: Atlanta
2013: London ONT / Wrigley Field / Pittsburgh / Buffalo / San Diego / Los Angeles I / Los Angeles II
2014: Cincinnati / St. Louis / Tulsa / Lincoln / Detroit / Denver
2015: New York City
2016: Ft. Lauderdale / Miami / Jacksonville / Greenville / Hampton / Columbia / Lexington / Philly II / New York City II / Toronto II / Bonnaroo / Telluride / Fenway I / Wrigley I / Wrigley - II / TOTD - Philadelphia, San Francisco
2017: Ohana Fest (EV)
2018: Amsterdam I / Amsterdam II / Seattle I / Seattle II / Boston I / Boston II
2021: Asbury Park / Ohana Encore 1 / Ohana Encore 2
2022: Phoenix / LA I / LA II / Quebec City / Ottawa / New York City / Camden / Nashville / St. Louis / Denver
2023: St. Paul II