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RIO 2016: The ticket, travel, accommodation thread

  • 03-11-2015 2:34pm
    #1
    Chivito550
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,697 ✭✭✭


    The numbers of Irish travelling to Rio 2016 will obviously be a tiny fraction of those who went to London 2012, but I thought I’d start a thread about it, for those who are planning to attend, or even just thinking about it right now. It will also be a good way for people to connect and meet up over in Rio for a few beers or caipirinhias!!

    Tickets:

    Tickets through the official Rio 2016 website are only available to those living in Brazil. The best way for foreigners to buy tickets is through an authorized ticket reseller. Do not try buy tickets from anybody who is not on this list, as more than likely it will be a scam:

    http://www.rio2016.com/sites/default/files/users/rio2016_files/atrs_en.pdf

    Of course, Ireland does not seem to have got its sh1t together and seems to be one of the only European countries without a ticket reseller. Fortunately, thanks to EU law, we can buy tickets from any reseller to the other 26 EU countries. The easiest one I have found is the German reseller, Dertour, and they even have an English language page. You can find tickets at the following link:

    http://www.dertour.de/olympia/tickets-buchen.html

    The prices were set in Brazilian Reals, and at the time of the pricing being launched at the start of this year, an agreed exchange rate was put in place. Since then the Brazilian Real has devaluated by 25% or so, yet the prices charged by authorized resellers remain the same, as they have their hands tied by the pre-existing agreement. So we should be paying a lot less for tickets than we are, but there’s nothing that can be done about it, unless you know somebody with a Brazilian address.

    I don’t anticipate all events selling out compared to London, so it should be easy enough to pick up tickets when there, but for athletics, and in particular the evening sessions, it would be more advisable to book ahead. The following is a link to the timetable for the athletics events during the Games:

    http://www.iaaf.org/news/press-release/athletics-timetable-rio-2016-olympics

    A word of warning regarding the athletics timetable. They have put at least 1, sometimes 2 finals on during the morning sessions, so that people in all time zones will get to see some finals. This slightly thins out the quality of the evening sessions. Also if Thomas Barr makes the final of the 400m Hurdles, it will be on during the morning.

    Flights:

    As you can imagine the prices of flights to Rio during the Games are particularly high, so the early you book the better. British Airways go direct from London, and Iberian go from Madrid. There’s other airlines too. If you plan on making a holiday out of it I would advise to do what I am doing, and fly home about a week after the Games which will keep the cost down a bit. But if you are only going to Brazil for the Olympics and don’t plan on seeing anywhere else after, then do not fly out on the Monday after the closing ceremony as the prices are already lunacy. The day of the closing ceremony, or the Tuesday would be much cheaper.

    Of course another option would be to fly into other cities such as Sao Paolo and Brasilia. I haven’t checked prices but I’d guess they’d be cheaper, though would involve a very very long journey onwards to Rio by bus (or another flight).

    Sadly it is unlikely that there will be any deals for flights during this time:

    Accommodation:

    There’s some hotels and hostels charging ridiculous prices. I’d call their bluff to be honest, as no way people will pay that money and the prices will surely drop significantly closer to the Games. The old classic Market Skimming approach.

    To keep the cost down don’t stay in Copacabana or Ipanema. If you can get a place near the metro, this will bring you here quickly, without the unnecessary expense of staying there.

    Everywhere will be hiked up in price for the Games, but the extremely weak Real will somewhat compensate for that, unless it strengthens hugely in the next 9 months. Booking.com is your best bet from my experience of trawling through different sites, including hostelworld. Air B&B is another obvious option.

    Public Transport:

    The Olympic venues are located in 4 different zones, and each one will be connected to each other by what looks like efficient and reliable public transport (you would hope anyway). So as long as you book a place to stay which is close to either of the 3 metro lines, the train lines, or the BRT lines then you’ll be fine for getting around I’m sure. Public transport is free for all ticket holders too.

    Sports:

    I’d assume for anybody reading here athletics inside the stadium will be the obvious attraction, but a couple of other ones that one might want to look at, which are held at iconic venues.

    Marathon – The start and finish is being held in the Sambadrome, where Carnival takes place every year.

    Beach Volleyball – This is being held on Copacabana Beach, and some games go on until 1am, the latest of all the sports during Rio 2016.

    That’s it for now. I doubt there will be huge numbers heading over like we had in London, but hopefully there will a fair few nonetheless. The Irish seem to find a way of reaching big events in sizeable numbers.


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