World Cup Story- Part 4
World Cup Tickets – Part 2
I actually spent exactly $3,419.08 on those 4 tickets to watch Brazil play the Socceroos, and have Zero regrets.
This is about 4.5 months from the World Cup now, I have the whole trip planned and booked and I have a Ticket to see 1 Socceroos match. The excitement is building and I am beginning to be a real pain in the arse at home. I have a countdown timer on my PC and EVERY night is spent doing some sort of research on the trip.
About 8 weeks before the WC, the FFA received an allocation of unused tickets and announce they will be going back to the original list of applicants. About 2 weeks later I receive an e-mail saying my application for a ticket/accommodation package was successful. I had applied for tickets to all 3 matches on a Hostel tour with FFA Travel. What they offered me were tickets on a camping holiday in tents. By now I have paid for my campervan and stand to loose 70% if I cancel now.
I fire back a reply, telling them that I applied for a hostel tour not a camping tour. I also tell them about my predicament with the campervan and that I was not going to take my wife and 2 boys on a camping tour of Germany. I want only tickets to Japan and Croatia matches because I have my tickets to see Brazil.
(I will point out here that after reading the FIFA rules on tickets I did not want to jeopardise my Brazil tickets by taking more tickets to same match. I need not have worried and should have taken the face value tickets and sold my Razorgator tickets on e-bay. Chalk that up to experience.)
My request to FFA Travel was granted, but not because I was going to loose money, or because I did not want to go camping. But because they had no Hostel packages left. We were very lucky here and chalked up another novice experience. I received the e-mail on my Blackberry at work. When I read it I yelled out and started jumping around my office.
We were not only going on a trip of a lifetime, but we had tickets to watch the Socceroos at the World Cup. I cannot put down in words how I felt that day, it was just awesome.
As a side story, I was set-up by my work colleagues for a Radio “Crazy Call” from Sea FM. Paul Gale rang me in a German accent to tell me he was from Interpol and that if I set foot inside Germany with my illegal tickets(The Brazil ones), then I would be arrested. I had just gotten off the plane in Mt Isa, exactly a year after speaking with Frank and I did not need this crap. But after 2 minutes I realised it was a set-up and played along for a while until I said, “Paul, I have work to do”.
I cannot believe how much Mt Isa had to do with me going to the World Cup. Maybe it is not such a bad place after all.
There is one more chapter to write on the Brazil Tickets, but that will come in time
Cheers
Terry
May 11 2008 07:12 am | My World Cup
