Accommodation Done: World Cup 2018 Russia

Accommodation Done: World Cup 2018 Russia

Since the last post we have nailed down our accommodation for Russia 2018, well at least I hope we have…?

As with the last World Cup in Brazil, I have been looking at AirBnB as the primary resource for accommodation in Russia, mainly because it’s more economical than hotels and apartments, and there is a better choice & selection available. The trouble with trying to book something this far out from next year’s competition, is that many owners have not considered their pricing for 2018, and the closer we get the more expensive it can become, plus there is more incentive for owners to "Bump" reservations and put their prices up. I guess this has always been a potential problem for us when booking non-hotel type accommodation, but we have just been lucky so far...

The more I thought about trying to shoe-horn in a week or 2 in Finland, or even base ourselves there for the early stages of the World Cup, the more of a logistical problem it became. With 4 games in St. Petersburg and 3 of them being evening games, meant that travelling back to Finland after the games would mean some late nights, or even having to find somewhere to stay for the evening. In the end I decided that it would be easier to get a long term rental on an apartment for almost 3 weeks in St. Petersburg and base ourselves there.

With this in mind, I started to look at splitting our time between St. Petersburg & Moscow and drew up a shortlist of suitable AirBnB accommodation for a potential group of up to 8 people in each location, and reached out to a small handful of places to see if we can get the accommodation locked down. As a backup, I also took a look at hotel type apartments that are less likely to "bump" our reservation once booked, and it allowed us the flexibility to book a different size hotel rooms to accommodate additional people that may want to join us in Russia. I shared the shortlist of about 6 potential AirBnB places with Yates and we came up with our favourites and I started the booking process.

Within a period of about 2 weeks at the end of May, I managed to book an 8 people apartment in the heart of St. Petersburg for 22 days, (7^th June to 29^th June), and a similar sized apartment in central Moscow for 20 days, (29^th June to 19^th July). Both apartments were within our proposed budget and give us flexibility in terms of accommodating various combination of potential guests during our time in Russia. Additionally, both apartments are within easy walking distance to the centre of each city, and well located for public transport for getting to the various stadiums, and I have my fingers-crossed that when the Fan-Zones are announced that we will be pretty close to those as well.  RESULT…!!

So now that the accommodation is sorted, time to starting thinking about the next hurdle to overcome, ticketing. There is still no new information coming out of FIFA about tickets, but with the Confederations Cup now underway, but I am expecting that we will get more news in the next month or so. However, we can now be a bit more specific about the 8 matches we will be targeting for tickets:

St.Petersburg & Moscow
Match	Location	Time	Teams	CAT2 $
M4	St. Petersburg	18.00	B3vB4	$       165
M17	St. Petersburg	21.00	RUSvA3	$       165
M25	St. Petersburg	15.00	E1vE3	$       165
M39	St. Petersburg	21.00	D4vD1	$       165
M51	Moscow Luzhniki	17.00	1Bv2A	$       185
M56	Moscow Spartak	21.00	1Hv2G	$       185
M62	Moscow Luzhniki	21.00	W59vW60	$       480
M64	Moscow Luzhniki	18.00	W61vW62	$       710
			Cost per person (US$)	$    2,220

If my memory is correct regarding previous World Cups, we could only buy a max of 7 sets of tickets per person, which may be a problems as we want to 8 matches. This could be further compounded by the additional identity authentication process with FAN-ID, making it significantly more risky trying to buy tickets in the name of someone not attending the matches. I have a few cunning strategies up my sleeve, but until more information is announced, there is no point in worrying about it…

In other news, as is our tradition, Fiona and I have booked our pre-World Cup Trip, where we go somewhere as part of our travel to the World Cup host country. In previous years we have indulged our love of travel and spent a couple of weeks in Tunisia, Namibia, and Chile, all of which have a decidedly ‘desert’ ambiance to them. So in order to continue the theme, for 2018 we are going to head to Alice Springs in mid-May, and spend 2 weeks driving an RV to Sydney through the ‘Red Centre’, stopping off to see Uluru and some other sights on the way. This is an adventure that Fiona and I have always wanted and now is as good a time as any..!  On the way back from the World Cup this time, our plan is to first head to Barcelona for a week to celebrate Fiona’s 50^th Birthday, and then stop off somewhere in either Asia or South America, depending on which way round the world our flights take, on our way back to Christchurch.

As you can imagine, excitement is beginning to build.

All Quiet on the Russian Front: World Cup 2018 Russia

All Quiet on the Russian Front: World Cup 2018 Russia

Well, it's all quiet on the Russian Front right now. There is minimal new information coming out of Russia about the plans for the World Cup in 2018, so there is not a lot for me to report on. I am waiting until this year’s Confederations Cup tournament to be completed before I expect to see any further information about tickets, ticket sales phases, and city fan-zone details.

Looking at the details of the Confederations Cup is usually a good pointer for the way things are going to run for the actual World Cup in 2018.  The Ticket Sales Phases for the Confederations Cup are as follows:

• VISA Pre-Sale
• Random Selection Draw
• First Come First Served
• Last Minute Sales

The above breakdown is very similar to previous World Cups so I would expect that the VISA Pre-Sale to kick off in November this year, with the Random Selection phase running from December through January 2018. The First Come/First Served phase I expect to happen in March & April, with the Last Minute phase from April thru July.

An extra step required for this World Cup will be the requirement to get a Russian issued “Fan-ID”, which they are trialling for the Confederations Cup.

The “Fan-ID” is a personalised visitor card, required by Russian legislation, that we will need in addition to our tickets. This identity card is issued for each visitor and is obligatory for all ticket owners. For foreigners, the “Fan-ID”  also gives a right to visa-free entrance to Russia as well. The “Fan-ID” may also give us free transport options on match days. To get a “Fan-ID” you first need to buy valid tickets for the world cup from the FIFA website and receive a confirmation, after which you can apply for a “Fan-ID” and either pick it up, or get it delivered in the mail.

On the planning front, the latest idea is to spend 2-3 weeks in St. Petersburg, and then 2-3 weeks in Moscow, which will allow us to see up to 8 matches including the Final, (subject to getting tickets of course). I like the idea of Staying in Finland and then travelling to the games in St. Petersburg, but in the end it would be inconvenient to get back to Finland from the evening games, meaning that would probably have ended up staying in the city on those days anyway. Fiona & I may spend a week or so in Finland before we meet up with Yates in St. Petersburg, so we won’t be missing out.

In terms of our teams qualifying for the World Cup in Russia, England continue to flatter themselves with another win to keep them the top of their group in the European qualifiers. It is always the same, England do very well in the qualification stage, but never seem to get it together in the actual competition, will this time be any different...? The USA on the other hand, have had a lousy qualification so far, but they did manage a draw against Panama to get them into 4^th place, but they will need to step-it-up if they want to be in the top 3 to get that automatic qualification place. New Zealand are on the top of group A in their qualification battle in the Oceania

group, which gives them a playoff against whoever wins Group B, and then a playoff against the 5^th best team in the South American group, which is currently Argentina…!!! If it’s not Argentina, then it could be either Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador, or Peru, either way, I don’t hold out too much hope…. 

Come on you All Whites…

Thing are Starting to Come Together: World Cup 2018 Russia

Thing are Starting to Come Together: World Cup 2018 Russia

The organisation committee for Russian WC2018 have released some information about ticketing, and on the whole it looks positive. The ticket prices are very similar to those of the matches in Brazil last time out. There will be Individual / Team Specific / Venue Specific ticket series, which is the same as for the past 3 or 4 World Cups. The only less-than positive news is that the sales dates for the tickets will not be announced until after the 2017 Confederations Cup, which doesn’t finish until early July in 2017. This is not necessarily a big problem, but it just condenses the period over which we will need to be on high alert for buying tickets online.

Ticket Prices ($USD)  CAT 1     CAT 2     CAT 3

Opening Match               550         390        220

Group Matches               210         165        105

Round of 16                   245         185        115

Quarters Finals               365         255        175

Semi's  Finals                 750         480        285

3rd/4th Place                 365         255        175

Final                            1100         710        455

I am still favouring the 2 or 3 location approach, but after the recent coup attempt, Turkey has dropped off my radar. I have taken a look at some places in Finland, close to the Russian boarder, where there are some very nice looking summer houses in that area.  I have also looked at Moscow given that it has 2 stadiums and 12 games in total, and as both of the Moscow stadiums are on the outer western side of the city, (Luzhniki Stadium to the SW & Spartak Stadium to the NW), this opens up a huge swathe of the Russian countryside within a few hours drive… 

So what am I thinking…?

We fly into Helsinki around 8-10th June, rent a car, and drive a couple of 100 km’s to stay somewhere close to Lappeenranta and the Russian boarder. Having a car allows us to travel around this unique & scenic part of Finland when there are no games to attend. To get to St. Petersburg we can either drive the 230 kms (3hrs+ each way), or we can catch a high speed train to St. Petersburg from Vainikkala for match-days, choosing to stay the night in the city for the

late games. If we stayed in Finland until 29th June, this would allow us to see 4 Group games, (2 afternoon, 2 evening) in St Petersburg. On or around the 29th June, we either fly or take the high speed train to Moscow, and stay through to around the 16th July, (18 nights), staying at an apartment or hotel, allowing us

to attend a maximum of 4 further games, (including the final). This approach gives us a chance to attend 8 games including the final. Alternatively, we reverse the locations, stay in Moscow first, and then head to Finland for the later stages, that increases the number of possible games to 12.

The same sort of approach could be taken by flying into Talin in Estonia, staying somewhere in the east of Estonia, and  travelling to St. Petersburg for the group stage games, before transferring to Moscow for the latter half of the tournament. The transport infrastructure is not quite so well established in Estonia, so travelling might be a bit more arduous.

Still mulling around a few idea’s so nothing is set in stone, and I am open to persuasion on any other suggestions I get. More news to come.

First Thoughts: Planning for World Cup 2018 Russia

First Thoughts: Planning for World Cup 2018 Russia

It’s time to get my thinking cap on and start the planning process for Russia 2018.

If I am honest with you, given the current political climate I was hoping that FIFA may have changed their mind about holding such a prestigious event in Russia, and that the Sepp Blatter/FIFA revelations of last year would have called into question the way the location was chosen. As I see it, they have gone too far down the preparations road to be able to change it now, so it looks like Russia is it. 

An added complication to the planning process is the fact that my partner Fiona still is hesitant about spending any time in Russia, primarily she thinks all Russian are evil and that the country is a fundamentally dangerous place to be. I don’t necessarily agree with her, but I am trying to respect her wishes. 

Personally I don't have that much of an issue with Russia as it adds yet another country to the long list of places that I would never had chosen to travel to. I doubt that the media's portrayal of Putin is particularly representative of the whole Russian population, and I am sure that the majority of the Russian people are just as friendly as those of any other country we have traveled to. I am absolutely certain that there are places of stunning beauty and abject poverty in Russia, much the same as anywhere we have been in our world cup adventures, (South Africa & Brazil are great examples)

In recent weeks, Fiona has become more flexible about stepping foot on Russian soil, but even I am not in favour of spending the full 6 weeks of the competition in a Russian city  We haven’t stayed in a single city location at a world cup since 2002 in Korea, so I have started considering a split location approach as we have done for the past 3 world cups.

Beyond Moscow, there are other cities with games that may be more attractive to visit, such as St. Petersburg, (7 games) & Sochi, (6 Games). St Petersburg is one of the greatest cities in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage site and conveniently located only 200kms from the Finnish boarder. Sochi is a resort city on the Black Sea, the location of the 2014 Winter Olympics, and a 1 hour flight/6 hour ferry trip away from Northern Turkey or even Greece. To cast a wider net, Estonia & Latvia are all border countries that I might consider, (not too dodgy) and even Belarus, (dodgier), at a push, but Poland and Ukraine, (both well dodgy) don’t score very highly on my list. 

So when everything is considered, my current favoured plan would be to have a combination of staying inside and outside Russia, and/or travelling to the games we get tickets for. This could mean spending a couple of weeks either in St. Petersburg, (or close by in Finland), a couple of weeks in Sochi, (or close by in Turkey/Greece), with the option to fly in and out of Moscow, (or any other city) for specific games. If we take this approach, it will increase the internal travel costs, and we will be playing "match ticket roulette" again, but we have had good success at that particular problem in the past.

Plenty to think about.....

Welcome to Spiglords World Cup Blog for Russia 2018

Welcome to Spiglords World Cup Blog for Russia 2018....

This is the seventh episode in the quadrennial pilgrimage where myself, (Spiglord) and my good friend Yates, plus our respective partners, siblings or friends travel halfway around the globe in search of World Cup Football. This craziness started in 1994 with a trip to the USA, and has been followed up with trips to France in 98, Korea in 2002, Germany in 2006, South Africa in 2010, and the last episode in Brazil 2014.

Whilst we have known that the next World Cup was going to be in Russia for the last 6 years, the great thing about this mad odyssey is that ultimately we do not choose the destination, and over the past 22 years we have ended up travelling to towns, cities and even countries, we would never ever have gone to of own accord. We have stayed in what I now think was a brothel in South Korea, a pigeon loft in France, a bush lodge in South Africa and a penthouse apartment in Brazil. We have eaten and drunk our way through the various cuisines of the places we have visited, and enjoyed the hospitality & friendship of acquaintances & strangers along the way. We have seen world heritage sites, impressive art, unbelievable landscapes, fantastic beaches, historic buildings, and stunning sunsets, plus over 40 games of world cup football.

Why do we do this…?

Personally, I have an enduring love of travel and adventure that has been part of my life from the very first time I stepped on to an airplane. As a teenager, my father took the whole family off to live in Italy in 1976, and I loved every single minute of my time there, always feeling at home there, never missing my old friends or ever being encumbered by a sense of missing England. From there I went back to the UK, but travel was always an itch I was always wanting to scratch, and when the chance came to leave London and head over to the USA, I grabbed the opportunity with both hands and never looked back. Since then I have continued to make my way around the globe and have ended up locating myself in New Zealand, which I am glad to call my home.

Inter-weaved into this wanderlust has been a love of the ’Beautiful Game’, which was well established in me long before the travelling started, but was somehow more deeply and keenly improved by the travel, the places I have lived and the people I have met along the way. Key amongst the people I have met on my journey is ‘Yates S Williams III’, with whom I have shared this World Cup odyssey since 1994. Yates is an unusual ‘brother-in-arms’ for these trips, in

that he is an American who is not only very comfortable travelling the world, but also possesses a keen an interest in football, a most uncommon combination. I somehow think that Yates and I would be strong friends regardless of the football, as we share a common interest in food, beer, bars etc…! Looking back on over my life, I have always wanted to see what was over the horizon, or to immerse myself in to another culture or country at every opportunity, and if I could get to see a football match along the way, all the better.

So what next…?

Stay tuned as I figure out our plans for Russia 2018 and the proposed travel plans associated with this episode of Spiglords World Cup Blog.