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Get a jump on the 2008 Olympics

By Anne McDonough, Washington Post
Published April 8, 2007

The Summer Olympics in Beijing may be more than a year away, but it's never too early to start planning to be part of the event whose motto is the ever-hopeful "One World One Dream." Flights aren't yet available for purchase, but package companies are taking reservations.

When

Aug. 8-24, 2008

Tickets

For those living in mainland China, tickets should be available now through www.tickets. beijing2008.cn, as well as at Bank of China branch locations. For the rest of us, tickets aren't yet available. Ticket prices to competitive events run from as little as $4 to $130; high-end prices for the opening ceremonies are as much as $650. Tickets are supposed to sell for the same base price for locals and Westerners. According to Kevin Steele, president of CoSport, a provider of Olympic travel packages, the Beijing Organizing Committee "wants to encourage and facilitate local participation, so pricing will be that much more reasonable."

. CoSport (toll-free 1-877-457-4647, www.cosport.com) is accepting "expressions of interest," basically a no-guarantee (but no-deposit) reservation system that will generate a ticket request for up to eight tickets per session (for a maximum of 48 tickets) once the schedules are released.

Packages

. CoSport will sell individual event tickets as well as tickets/accommodations-only and full-service packages including accommodations, tickets, airport transfers and excursions; the cheapest full-service package is expected to run between $5,000 and $6,000 per person based on double occupancy. CoSport does not arrange flights.

. Roadtrips (toll-free 1-800-465-1765, www.roadtrips.com) offers five-, six- and nine-night packages starting at $7,500 per person double occupancy, plus airfare. (Packages with five-star accommodations will set you back $9,000 to $10,000 per person before flights, which the company can arrange.) Lodging, tickets to two "Level 1" events (such as gymnastics or track and field) and two "Level 2" events (boxing, rowing, etc.), an on-site host and a bilingual guide are included in the packages, with optional add-ons such as other sporting events, airport transfers and opening/closing ceremony tickets.

. Anbritt Stengele of Sports Traveler (toll-free 1-888-654-7755, www.sportstraveler.net), which offers similar packages starting at $5,995 per person double occupancy, plus airfare, recommends customizing a Games package. "It's not like the Super Bowl, where there's one event," she said. Stengele suggests choosing your trip dates based on the sports you'd like to see and considering Great Wall tours, river tours and Hong Kong visits for itinerary add-ons.

Bonus points

Venues outside the capital will hold some Olympic events. Qingdao will host sailing; soccer preliminaries will be in Shanghai, Shenyang, Qinhuangdao and Tianjin; and Hong Kong will be home to the equestrian events.

The Paralympic Games, which have been held in the Olympic host city since 1960, will be in Beijing Sept. 6-17, 2008.

Visa requirements

You'll need to arrange for a China visa, as most of the sports events companies won't do it for you. Single-entry tourist (L) visas, which generally are valid up to 90 days from the date of issue, are $50 for American citizens. The visa is valid for 30 days after arrival in China. Passports must be valid for at least six months after entry and contain at least one full blank page. There a number of online sources for help, including www.uschinavisa.com and www.mychinavisa.com.

More information

- Beijing 2008, www.beijing 2008.com. - Beijing Tourism Administration, english.bjta.gov.cn. - China National Tourist Office, toll-free 1-888-760-8218, www.cnto.org. - U.S. Olympic Committee, (719) 632-5551, www.usolympicteam.com.

Information from the Wall Street Journal was used in this report.

[Last modified April 5, 2007, 12:48:48]