Going to North America '26: tickets, accommodations, etc. (non-politics)

Hotels are not the biggest issue... they are a non-issue. They are already bookable on points and reservations for certain brands (hyatt for sure), and the cost is the same as usual. Flights also should not be a major deviation from normal price.

Tickets are the big issue.

 

I think hotels will be an issue, in that there’s a limited supply of well-located ones and budget options don’t really exist. Paying $400/night (or equivalent points) for a Marriott downtown is a normal price in the US, but not everyone’s going to be looking to spend that.

True budget options, such that they exist, would be something like a Motel 6 or meth den motel five miles outside the city next to a highway. And then you’ll have to pay for Ubers or rent a car to get anywhere. For the most part are no hostels or super basic off-brand single/double room options in good locations in US cities. Couple that with generally unreliable public transit (especially in the outskirts/suburbia) and you’ve got quite a challenge to find affordable accommodation. I do think there will be a lot of Airbnb listings popping up for apartments/houses in good locations that will be cheaper than hotels in the same area. That’s something to watch for.

My advice varies by city, but in general it might be a good idea to rent a car if you’re in a city for more than a night or two, as long as you have an accepted drivers license and paperwork. They’re often not that expensive and you’ll have a much easier time getting around with a car in Dallas, Miami, Houston, LA, Kansas City, Atlanta, and San Francisco (Bay Area as a whole, not the city). Parking is generally not that difficult. But you probably don’t need or want a car in New York (definitely), Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, Vancouver, or Seattle. Driving to many of the stadiums for matches will be an option and utilized by many locals who are accustomed to driving to games there.

Safety is a concern in most major US cities. But (like anywhere) generally just exercise some caution at night and when alone. In most cities, downtown daytime and more well-developed neighborhoods are okay (e.g. the places where you’ll be spending most time), but immediately adjacent neighborhoods are often considered dangerous. Lean towards taking Ubers or taxi at night rather than walking.

 

I'm sorry but that's not a problem. What I am saying is hotels are bookable now for the same prices as normal. You are talking about things that don't exist.

Right now you can book refundable hotels that are at completely reasonable rates for the time of year. That is the point.

This board is for people who want to plan. If you know you are going you are dumb to not book rooms you may need.

In Qatar, rates were insane. You couldn't even get a name brand hotel on points. period. You also had rates that were 4x-10x the normal rate. Flights? Qatar airways jacked up the prices and removed all awards. I don't know a single person who actually took Qatar airways, most people routed elsewhere. It remains to be seen what airfare will be but hotels are currently pricing like normal.

Want to complain that travel to the USA is expensive? go ahead, but that has nothing to do with the World Cup.

 

My interpretation in that post of hotels being a “problem” was that it’ll be difficult to find options that meet each person’s requirements, and asking for advice on what options might be available. Not suggesting that the problem is that hotels won’t be available to book. There’s almost no scenario this time where hotels in a city will sell out completely, as can sometimes happen for very small host cities. These are all major metro areas with a lot of hotel rooms in a 20 mile radius.

It’s the same as how we’re all looking for affordable match tickets. We could all book hospitality ticket packages right now and call it done. But that doesn’t work for everyone and might not be the best balance of cost versus difficulty in obtaining them. Hotels are bookable now, but there are also many considerations that go into planning (money versus location versus time). I also think a lot of cheaper options such as new Airbnb listings won’t show up until much later, if demand necessitates.

 

Happy 1 year.

Lodging will be fine. So many options and booking early should help with cost and uncertainty. Millions of hotel rooms and airbnbs.

Tickets.. ha. Different story.

Safety.. man.. you should have zero concern of this. The cities and stadiums will be fun and fine. Now if you want to setup a drug ring in the inner cities.. then yes you may run into problems. Walking around, even near stadiums, is not an issue. Dont let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

Just to clarify....the MetLife Stadium is NOT in NYC, it is in East Rutherford, NJ and the FIFA FAN FEST is going to be at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ.

 

It also depends on your agenda for picking a hotel location. If you're just trying to get to a game, there are plenty of "out by the highway" lower-mid to mid-tier hotels in the suburbs that are much better than Motel 6 or meth motels and will be cheaper than big downtown hotels. I'm thinking anything in the range from Holiday Inn Express to Courtyard by Marriott. These types are perfectly adequate non-luxury lodging for most people, but they usually mean you need a car (unless you strategically study the transit options or take Uber everywhere), and they are away from sites of tourist interest. For certain host cities they can be close to the suburban stadium locations, though. If you want multi-day stays inside a city with more action and opportunities for non-football tourism, then you need to go for the city hotels. Even inside downtown areas there is usually a range. Not everything is the luxury $500+ high-rise.

 

Wait until you here about the hotel choices we had in Manaus 2014. Choices were 0* hooker motel or -1* hooker motel

Edit- also regarding the need for cars. I would 100% get one for Boston (Actually Foxboro which is like 30 miles South and only served by very limited train service)

 

Haha I remember. We slept 3 guys in one double bed in our hooker motel room, with me on the hard tile floor

 

Some people say it is better to fly into Providence, RI and not Boston.
Just a tip for those wanting to stay closer to the stadium.

 

I am currently trying to book a hotel/hostel for my trip to the US for the World Cup next year. Below is my tentative travel plan, covering three cities: New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. I may skip Boston or Philadelphia if I cannot secure match tickets. Could someone please suggest some places to stay, considering cost, transportation options, convenience, etc. Thanks in Advance.

Date City Event
12-Jun New York Arrival
13-Jun New York Match 7 (Grp C)
14-Jun Philadelphia Match 9 (Grp E)
15-Jun Boston Sightseeing
16-Jun Boston Match 18 (Grp I)
17-Jun New York Sightseeing
19-Jun Philadelphia Match 29 (Grp C)
20-Jun Philadelphia Sightseeing
21-Jun New York Departure

 

Id try to book Amtrak tickets now (they are usually very cheap in advance) for travel between PHL and NYC - its very fast and efficient. The train also runs to Boston, where you could take the commuter rail to Foxboro for the matches. A cheaper option from NYC to Boston is the Bolt bus/Flex bus etc for about $20 one way

 

For Philly: for visitors i always recommend being in the city near all the sights and sounds. Looking at a map, use City Hall as your center point and consider places 5-10 blocks in either direction all with their pros/cons. Philly is a very walkable city with TONS of great things to see.

West of City Hall: world class museums.
South: Rittenhouse, South St and South Philly
East: old town, liberty bell
North: northern liberties and up to fishtown. Hipster neighborhoods.

People are going to say some areas are shady but whatever. Its an amazing city and you won't regret being in/near the city center.

 

NYC. The best city in the world to visit. Just impossible to pin anywhere exactly as there's so many. I stay in a different area each time and my rule of thumb is usually anywhere from Central Park down to Battery Park. There are probably 20 amazing neighborhoods all in between each with their own vibe. Can't go wrong.

Outside of Manhattan, you could consider Hoboken to the west and Brooklyn to the east. But man.. its the summer and Manhattan is the best. Anywhere.

 

Boston. Another world class and very walkable city. Again, anywhere in the city is great. For a first timer its hard not direct you to the main areas that a great to see. Initially I'd always focus on the area from East to West: Faneuil Hall to the Back Bay. Anywhere in between or adjacent is all great. As you expand out, you could consider the new Waterfront, north end, and Cambridge.

But focus from Faneuil Hall down through the Back Bay.

 

Some things might be easier to figure out once the kickoff times are known. For instance if the game on the 13th is early, you could head straight to Philly that evening. Alternatively you could do the 14th as a day trip without checking out of wherever you're staying in New York, but that's more difficult if the game is late.

 

Thanks for the reply. Appreciated.

 

Thanks for your inputs. This would help me a lot.

 

Seems I will be travelling to the USA (all things being well still by then) next year for a football match but not our type of football. I will be heading to Las Vegas for the NRL (National Rugby League) season opener at Allegiant stadium on Feb 28 for two NRL games and one English Super League game (all on the one day so its a big day of Rugby League). Nothing planned yet apart from match tickets already purchased (in section 312 if that means anything to anybody). Going with 3 other people I started working with in 1980 and we're all retired now (maybe two aren't if they find a job that interests them). Thinking of a stopover in the Pacific either on the way there or back to break up the flight a bit (it's a long way from Sydney). I know its off topic, but will appreciate any advice for stopovers and activities. Trip length will likely be from 10 to 14 days.

 

And so it begins.

My expedia booking for Vancouver next year has been cancelled.

<<<<from host>>>>
This message is regarding your reservation xxxyyy
This unit has an unexpected maintenance situation and can no longer undertake any reservation. We will contact Expedia to cancel your order and issue a refund.
We've sent you a request of cancelling this reservation. Please click accept, you will get the refund from Expedia after accepting this request.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Regards,
Your host.
<<<<>>>>>
<<<from expedia>>>>
Dear Valued Traveler,

We’re reaching out about your upcoming stay at Chic Urban Stylish Condo in Downtown V, itinerary number xxxyyy. We have been informed that the property will be closed at the time of your reservation due to an unforeseen weather or crisis event and will be unable to honor your booking. We will proceed to cancel your reservation and issue a full refund.
<<<>>>

I prepaid non refundable in February USD$409. Needless to say there is zero chance the property will be closed during the World Cup. rather they have just discovered it is on. I had booked for a Canada game as well.

 

your first mistake was expedia. Seriously, don't use 3rd party vendors. They are lowest on the pecking order and have no customer service.

Always go direct source if possible. Luckily you have plenty of time to rectify.

 

Las Vegas is probably the single greatest laid out city for travel in the World. That's what happens when you build a city in the middle of the desert based on tourism and have no problems with knocking down buildings to make it better.

The airport is 10 minutes from the strip which is the only place you will need to go. 3 days is largely the most Vegas anyone ever needs at a time. Vegas is great and there's nowhere like it in the world but it is not for everyone. The most important thing to do there is plan. Make dinner/show reservations, if you want to spend a day watching soccer at a sports book, you will have an absolute great time with a great atmosphere.

In terms of stopovers... Vegas to Honolulu, Honolulu to Sydney would be my choice. Preferably on the backend to have a great wind down. In the dream scenario for your trip... Australia plays in a location with a direct flight from Sydney (Dallas, Houston, LA, SF would be top tier due to their proximity to Vegas but JFK, Toronto, or Vancouver would be fine.)

 

Going direct gives you no protection either. booking.com used to guarantee your room. Fought tooth and nail on my behalf and forced a South African B&B to honour a booking when they wanted to increse tenfold. They no longer do.

expedia covered a huge difference when my Kaliningrad hotel cancelled in 2018.

Obviously the likes of airbnb facilitate price gouging by allowing you to list "your neighbour's apartment" at an inflated price but none of the brokers seem to enforce bookings any longer.

Most of the rooms in my Jo'burg South African B&B were empty during my stay. Just my brother and myself in 2 different rooms. We were happy to share to accomodate a 3rd person but there was no talking to the owner.

It looks like Vancouver owners are trying to cash in also.

 

Looks like this was an AirBNB-style private rental booked through Expedia. Those are always at risk of getting pulled by the owner, no matter what booking site you use. The message says they're getting a full refund, so I hope that's true.