14 replies to this topic

[f1fan1998]

Hi all,

Hoping you could give me a bit of insight into the mind of a fan who goes to GP abroad. Now everybody that is a fan of F1 dreams of going to F1 races in far away parts of the World - especially when there is a bit of glamour involved. From a fan's point of view the most popular seem to swing between the Classics like Monaco, Silverstone and Monza and the new classics, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Austin. (By modern classics I am taking into account huge un-tangibles like city, buzz of the city for F1, perceived 'coolness' of the city, glamour, and uniqueness etc.)

What I want to know though, and this is for anyone that regularly goes to foreign GP (eg not hosted in their home country wherever that might be,) is where do you buy your tickets from?

I mean, there are a few different options open to fans, like directly from F1.com (rip off) from the circuits, from ticket websites, from Motorsport tour operators and then no-doubt some shady ways too.

What makes you choose a place to buy from?

I am interested as I know the former owner of a well known F1 ticket agency which went bust last year in the UK and I also know a few corporates that got stung quite badly by that. What makes you trust somewhere online more than other?

Hope you can all offer your thoughts up.

Thanks

[hass80]

Hi all,

Hoping you could give me a bit of insight into the mind of a fan who goes to GP abroad. Now everybody that is a fan of F1 dreams of going to F1 races in far away parts of the World - especially when there is a bit of glamour involved. From a fan's point of view the most popular seem to swing between the Classics like Monaco, Silverstone and Monza and the new classics, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Austin. (By modern classics I am taking into account huge un-tangibles like city, buzz of the city for F1, perceived 'coolness' of the city, glamour, and uniqueness etc.)

What I want to know though, and this is for anyone that regularly goes to foreign GP (eg not hosted in their home country wherever that might be,) is where do you buy your tickets from?

I mean, there are a few different options open to fans, like directly from F1.com (rip off) from the circuits, from ticket websites, from Motorsport tour operators and then no-doubt some shady ways too.

What makes you choose a place to buy from?

I am interested as I know the former owner of a well known F1 ticket agency which went bust last year in the UK and I also know a few corporates that got stung quite badly by that. What makes you trust somewhere online more than other?

Hope you can all offer your thoughts up.

Thanks

Bought mine from www.gpt.at

Never had any issues with them

Edited by hass80, 28 February 2013 - 14:45.

[CONOSUR]

I buy from the venue.

[chdphd]

Direct from the circuit's website or through the company I am booking a tour package with.

[rsaca]

I've always bought directly from the circuit's website.

It's the safer bet in my opinion.

[Raelene]

always direct from circuits website

[Felix]

I have bought tickets for virtually every venue, and there is no hard and fast rule - yes, the circuit is probably the safest bet, but you do not always get the best seats or prices as they allocate to tour operators or registered ticket sellers early on, and obviously these get the best prices/seats and early bird discounts. Plus circuit staff are very clerical in their outlook, whereas tour operators/ticket resellers are more customer focussed.

For example, one year I needed to book tickets in Brazil about two months ahead of the race and wanted tickets opposite the pits. The circuit had a few available low down in the stand with no view into Turn 1 at something like Eu800, whereas GPT in Vienna (whom I can recommend - excellent service and are linked to Bernie's security contractors) had tickets in the top rows at about half the price. Amazing but true - and not the first time I have experienced that.

[DemonAGoGo]

Hi,

I would be able to answer for those 3 GPs in Europe.

Spa
Monza
Nurburgring

All bought and delivered from their official circuit websites. Got the best price and have even discount (-10% for Spa) if you buy really early ~ April ...
The delivery took for Spa and Monza little bit longer due to the fact that they print out the tickets in the month before the race.
For example those Spa tickets (late August 2011) came in July.
As for the German GP (Nurburgring 2013) they came amazingly fast with Deutsche Post for 2 business days !

BR
Demon

[f1madmatt]

I allways buy my tickets from formula 1.com. However, after reading this thread I went onto the Monza website (going this year). For the stand we want Formula1.com are quoting £155 and the Monza official site is £128. Big difference. Thanks for the tips

[BullHead]

Go compare!
No really, just compare track with FOM with a couple of tour operators

[PSB]

I've had good experience with the Official Spa Grand Prix booking site and with gpticketshop.

[Bob Nomates]

ebay or gumtree. There are always people that buy their tickets and then can't go for what ever reason, and you will get a bit of a discount, the later that you leave it.
Also buying last minute means that you won't find yourself in the same situation as they person that you're buying them from. Last year Silverstone was a washout if you'd bought expensive tickets months in advanced and you couldn't use them because of the terrible weather/muddy fields and traffic jams you'd be unhappy, buying last minute avoids problems like this.

[TimRTC]

Out of interest, how many GP sites let you specifically choose the individual grandstand seat? I recently booked tickets for a DTM round and was able, on the official website, to select my seat from a chart. I know Silverstone do not do this for the F1 but do any of the others - as a fan of photography at these events, I wouldn't want to fork out for a major grandstand only to find myself below a catch fence line.

Cheers.

[bushgold]

bookf1.com the customer reviews are very informative and they have a "race points" loyalty scheme for discounts eg. belgian gp tickets were cheaper through them than the official site.

[Raelene]

Out of interest, how many GP sites let you specifically choose the individual grandstand seat? I recently booked tickets for a DTM round and was able, on the official website, to select my seat from a chart. I know Silverstone do not do this for the F1 but do any of the others - as a fan of photography at these events, I wouldn't want to fork out for a major grandstand only to find myself below a catch fence line.

Cheers.

Malaysia Does (and you can click on a "view shot" to get an indicative idea of your seat's view
Singapore does

two that I've been too in recent years and selected my seats.

Melbourne - did when i used to go - assume they still do

Edited by Raelene, 12 July 2013 - 08:23.