Japan RWC2019 - Tickets and Info
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@dk said in Japan RWC2019 - Tours:
I have just put down my deposit for the All Blacks Tours RWC 2019 package. Looking at Tickets and Accommodation only as I will be flying from Sydney. Any other ferners thinking about a few weeks in the land of the rising sun?
Yeah - I've put down that $200 'deposit' too...
I'm hoping for ticket+accommodation packages for each game with hotel for 2 nights... to guarantee handy accom for each game... then spend the time between games travelling wherever the hell I want. -
Just put down $200 myself with AB Tours as kind of an insurance policy but have applied also through the official ticketing site for ticket bundles via their ballot system.
Gone for AB pool games and one of the cities the ABs play at. Hopefully I get one or the other but if not will see what All Blacks tours has on offer.
Spent 9 years in Japan so not keen on anything much other than tickets so not that keen on AB Tours type offering but we'll see how it goes.
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FYI all... I contacted All Blacks Tours - to find out when they'd announce their packages/etc
(so I'd know whether I need to put my name in the official general-sale team-pack ballot)- "Our RWC 2019 packages will be released early Feb, ..."
Hopefully that means before the initial ballot end-date of 12-Feb.
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@dogmeat Are the knockout phases already available for ballot?
As to tours - yeah - as I said before, I'm really hoping for packages which aren't really "Tours" - just ticket and hotel for each match. Then get away from host cities between games.
Can't be arsed sorting out accommodation in each host city while games are on - it was bad enough in Wales where everything was nearly in eigo.
That's why I'm super keen to see what packages they actually have - if they only offer actual Tour Groups, sitting on a bus driving around Japan with a bunch of cashed up retirees complaining about the raw fish and rice, sniggering at slightly mispronounced words from hotel staff, but politely ignoring the weird-as-fuck robot tentacle porn magazines... I'll be saying fuck that... and need to jump in the ballot ASAP. -
Big difference with Wales is that the RWC won't overwhelm accommodation stocks and with the transportation system you can pretty much travel in on the day from far away and then back if you want.
If I can get tickets to All Blacks Pool games, my strategy will be pretty much this.
South Africa at Yokohama - as venue is close to Shin-Yokohama bullet train station, I may stay in a secondary city to the south and jump on the train after the match. Decent business hotel single rooms go for $60-70 in those cities.
VS Qualifier in Oita - Plenty of cheap business hotels near Oita station. Should be okay if I book early enough
Vs Italy in Toyota - Stay in Nagoya (city of 2M or so) and train to and from venue on gameday. Finding a business hotel in Nagoya for $100 or so a night easy enough.
Vs Qualifier in Tokyo - In the West of Tokyo so still undecided where I'll stay for this one. Probably go to a place I usually go to in Ueno which is around $100-120 a night.
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@rugger-quizzes Cheers for the local knowledge... much appreciated.
The trains/venues - are they all pretty good at dealing with a full stadium egress? -
@kruse Not sure to be honest. Should be reasonably okay.
Not sure what will happen in Oita to be honest as stadium is a bit out of the way, but I imagine there will be plenty of buses. -
@rugger-quizzes
Just had a look at the offerings from STH - who I think onsell all the package-sort deals to everybody else (ie: AllBlacksTours will be buying off them, and mostly just re-branding it)
For a NZ team package, (or even a single game - they're available) - it's a fuckload of yen more than the standard price, with just an open bar, some trinket souvenirs, free food, etc. Once they put hotels on top of that under the AllBlacks brand... I'm guessing the price tag is going to be rather nasty.I've entered the ballot - and figure the pain/memories of any travel/etc before games should be counted part of the overall experience.
And in general - don't be a fucking lazy fluffybunny... I'm not that old yet. -
I am super keen to get my third RWC in a row, but am not in a financial position to ballot for tickets right now. Crossing my fingers I'll still be able to get something. Thoughts on how things will pan out later on? Iām not really fussed about which games I go to really.
I was in Japan in 2015 for a couple of weeks and loved it. As was noted, shinkansen makes it really easy to travel quickly and efficiently. Business hotels are often quite affordable and more than adequate.
When i was at Samoa v Scotland in Newcastle, I ended up sitting next to this really passionate Japanese rugby fan. I think a few locals will put on a good show too. He even gave me a little Japan RWC pin, I thought it was a neat gesture.
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@rugger-quizzes said in Japan RWC2019 - Tours:
South Africa at Yokohama - as venue is close to Shin-Yokohama bullet train station, I may stay in a secondary city to the south and jump on the train after the match. Decent business hotel single rooms go for $60-70 in those cities.
I'll stay in Shinjuku - we normally stay there and it's a quick train trip. Tokyo has expanded so much it's practically subsumed Yokohama anyway.
VS Qualifier in Oita - Plenty of cheap business hotels near Oita station. Should be okay if I book early enough
I'll elect to stay somewhere in Usuki - haven't been there before and it's too far from Fukuoka.
Caveat - everything will be determined by Minister for War and Finances.
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Have only ever gotten off the boat from Shikoku at Usuki. Not too hard to train into Oita so maybe not a bad option.
Shinjuku probably only 30 minutes from the venue so handy, but it is always chocker with people so I seldom went there in my Tokyo days. Still a bloody good option, plus one train to venue.
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All Blacks Tours have come out with some initial offerings for those that put a $200 deposit down.
None look remotely interesting to be honest.
The most interesting one was for the Oita fixture.
The hotel for this one is Fukuoka (2 hour train ride away, plus a further 30 minutes to the stadium). Will be interesting to see people's reactions when they realise how much game day travel will be involved.
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For what it's worth I'm going to ask for my $200 back and hope that either I or my mate get something in the ballot.
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Yeah - NZ$11,500 grand for semi finals & final ("independent") - and the tickets are "category C". NZ$16,500 to throw the quarters in too.
I think I'll also be asking for the $200 back, as I'm getting more and more tempted by a rather expensive option of getting there in the first place... a 3 or 4 month motorcycle tour from London.
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All Blacks Tours look to be putting some incredible margins on their tours from the looks of it.
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On a different note, struggling to see the wisdom of playing two of the 4 quarter finals in Oita.
Not sure that Oita and Beppu will have enough beds for all the visitors that weekend will bring. As noted Fukuoka and Kitakyushu are 2 hours away, and the only major city to the south, Miyazaki, is a 3 hour train ride away.
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People who buy quarter, semi and final
Packages are retarded.For a start, there is a decent shout you may end up watching other teams. Apparently, thousands were sold for 2007. Granted, as AB fans the chances are higher, but it only takes one shock pool result and we are up against England in the quarters and suddenly the semi and final are not looking so sure are they ...
Secondly, if you want to go the final, you usually can. I went to final in NZ on a weeks notice - cost me 3k NZD for tickets and flight from HK ... had a ticket for the 2015 if I wanted it too ... that was going to be 2.5k including flight. Friends of mine went to 2007 and didn't pay that much either.
And lastly, the true essence of the cup isnt the big matches. It's the pool games. Give yourself 2 weeks and watch a few games - catch an AB game and then maybe cheer on Samoa vs France, usa against Georgia, tonga vs Ireland etc etc. you'll have a much better time and won't have to pay those ridiculous prices.
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Agreed @MajorRage
Also, particularly for this RWC, if you have never been to Japan before you want to plan your own itinerary. Japan is my favorite holiday destination, and there are so many things to do. Some of the best times are just wandering around suburbs exploring (say Shimokitazawa or Kichijoji in Tokyo, or Shinsaibashi in Osaka). Japan has something for all tastes - high tech, video games, shrines and temples, gardens, awesome food, craft beers, naked public bathing...
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Result of the ballot for bundled tickets is released on Monday
Fingers and toes firmly crossed for this one.
Moderately hopeful in the sense that I don't really know how many locals will be that motivated to buy tickets more than 18 months out from the event. We shall see.
Agreed re travelling independently around Japan. The train system is such that you seldom need to book anything in advance, business hotels are pretty cheap and there are tons of different things you can busy yourself with.
