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FlexJet Now Scalping Olympics Tickets For $122,000
Fractional jet card provider Flexjet 25—which usually restricts itself to merely renting private jets to ostentatious elites who can't afford their own—has created a special package for the 2010 Winter Games. In addition to flying you and the date you're desperately trying to impress to Vancouver on one of their Bombardier aircraft, they'll put you up for 3 nights in the Sutton Place Hotel and guarantee you access to a bunch of high-level events.
You and your partner will have the chance to participate in the Closing Ceremony, attend the Men's Ice Hockey Gold Medal Game, and see three Short-Track Speed Skating gold medal races. You'll also have entrance into the Figure Skating Gala Exhibition, though you'll probably want to avoid it lest it impinge on the air of machismo you're obviously trying to build.
Tags: Olympics / Olympics Travel / 2016 Rio Olympics / Rio de Janeiro / Brazil Travel / Video / Sports / → All Tags
Thinking of a Master Plan: Snazzy Video Nabs 2016 Olympics for Rio
As an American, I was disappointed that Chicago didn't win the 2016 Summer Olympics, but I've got to admit that Rio looks like a pretty spectacular choice. I've never been, but watching their official candidate commercial yesterday moved it to the top of my list of dream trips. Today I happened upon the city's master plan pitch, and it really looks like Brazilian officials have thought this thing through. I'm not surprised the I.O.C. believed that South America in general, and Rio in particular, would be the perfect host for the games.
Tags: Olympics / Olympics Travel / 2016 Rio Olympics / Rio de Janeiro / Brazil Travel / Travel News / → All Tags
And The 2016 Olympic City Is...Rio de Janeiro!
It's time to break out the Mardi Gras beads and barely-there bustiers and learn how to spell "Rio de Janeiro" without hesitating, because Rio is indeed the host city of the 2016 Olympic Games. All this morning and early afternoon, the world was glued to their TVs and Twitter as the Olympic Committee first heard final pleas from the delegations from Chicago (Prez Obama was there), Rio, Tokyo and Madrid and then announced their decision in favor of the first Olympics to be held in South America.
While people rush onto Copacabana and Ipanema beaches to celebrate, we can already imagine the tour operators and airlines brainstorming their deals for travel to Brazil in 2016 and even these next few years as the city strengthen its infrastructure and emerges as a true hot destination.
Tags: Obama-Around-The-World / Presidential Travel / Olympics / Michelle Obama / Olympics Travel / Copenhagen Travel / Oprah / → All Tags
The 'O Team' Heads To Copenhagen To Push 'Chicago 2016'
Tomorrow is the big day! On October 2, the Olympic Committee will announce the host city for the 2016 Olympics, and it's a hot race right down to the last minute for finalist cities Chicago, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and Madrid. These final 24 hours have been particularly important to the decision-making process, as each city flew their star-power spokespeople to Copenhagen, Denmark to make final pleas before the Committee.
While soccer star Pelé did what he could for Rio's case, Chicago's representation was a bit more impressive with both Oprah and Michelle Obama stepping up to the podium to pitch The Windy City. Oprah might rule it these days, you see, but Michelle was born there and remains a Second City gal, even if her residence is now the White House.
Tags: Amtrak / Trains / Train Travel / Vancouver Travel / Seattle Travel / Portland Travel / Olympics Travel / → All Tags
Amtrak Opening Up Northwest With Even More Seattle-Vancouver Service
Amtrak's Northwest Corridor, already busy in anticipation of the 2010 Olympics, just got a little bit busier. As of August 19th, the train company has added a second daily train to the Seattle-Vancouver portion of their Cascades route, a network of rails that bind Portland to Vancouver and back. The new train means that travelers now have direct daily round-trip service starting all the way at the bottom of the route and all the way till the end.
Amtrak Cascades connects Portland to Seattle with four daily round-trips, and then travelers are routed to their final destinations accordingly. They're celebrating their 10th anniversary this year, with the expanded Seattle-Vancouver route being a part of that. For the rest of the celebrations, which include promotions and events, there's even a dedicated 10th anniversary page.
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Alaska Airlines Seals Deal With 'Dancing With The Stars' Sensation Apolo Ohno
AirTran has gotten a lot of press out of their branding pact with their hometown Atlanta Falcons, and now Seattle-based Alaska Airlines is trying a similar deal. Instead of going with the local football team however, they're going with, um, Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno.
Apolo wants you to know that this sponsorship deal, even though it's functionally with an enormous and mostly anonymous LCC, is a watershed moment that represents the culmination and meaning of his life. Or something. He gives mad props to his "hometown airline" in the full deal details:
Tags: Beijing Field Trip / Olympic Park / Olympics Travel / 2008 Olympics Venues / → All Tags
The Party's Over at Olympic Park
With the 60th anniversary of China becoming a communist republic approaching October 1, Claire Duffett took a jaunt around the country for the month of September, starting with Beijing. Nowhere does old and new China collide than in its Capital, and for the next five days, we'll share with you the most up-to-date tidbits on what to see and do, and how many yuan it will set you back.
The Olympic Park, with the unmistakable design of its main stadium, the Bird’s Nest, is perhaps the best example of Beijing’s frenetic but seemingly misguided development. With a sparklingly-new subway connecting it to the rest of the city, the area is a quiet amusement park where nothing really happens.
Walking around the grounds gave us the feeling that we were wandering through a cluttered living room after the last guest has departed from a really awesome party. The leftover confetti is just a tad depressing. There’s a ferris wheel and some snack vendors, but otherwise, activities in the area involve marveling at the strands of steel on the nest or the fake blue bubbles of the watersports complex. Even the tower, used only to display the rings and elevate people to the top for a veiw of Beijing, is now cordoned off.
Tags: Winter Olympics / 2010 Olympics / Olympics / Olympics Travel / Sports Travel / → All Tags
Vancouver Cracks Down on Olympics Ticket Resales
It's certainly not too early to start thinking about travel to next year's Winter Olympics, which take over Vancouver in February 2010. Just make sure you know who you're buying tickets from.
Olympic organizers recently filed suit in a Canadian court seeking to stop the website RoadTrips.com from reselling tickets to the Winter Games. A similar suit earlier this year tried to stop Coast2Coast Tickets from doing the same thing. The groups buy up event tickets and then sell them as part of larger Olympics travel packages, a practice organizers are seeking to crack down on.
While these brokers claim their sales are legit, we'd say the safest bet is to stick to official tix. The next phase of event tickets go on sale June 6 via the Olympics website.
Related Stories:
· Vancouver 2010 [Official Site]
· Olympic organizers sue travel company [The Canadian Press]
· Looking Ahead To The 2010 Vancouver Olympics [Jaunted]
[Photo: jeffwilcox]
Tags: Whistler Field Trip / Whistler Blackcomb / 2010 Olympics / Olympics Travel / → All Tags
Looking Ahead To The 2010 Vancouver Olympics
In exactly 392 days, The 2010 Winter Olympics will return to North America, and Whistler Blackcomb is the site of many ski, snowboard and other winter events, as well as events in the Paralympics. But this isn't the Whistler Olympics. Several events will be held in Vancouver proper. After the jump is a round-up of what's going on where.
