How much will it cost?

I was asked today how I could possibly afford to go to all 30 stadiums, since I’m certainly not rolling in the dough. That’s a great question and one that could help all of you if you decide to do this. I went to 7 stadiums last August-September. Two of them were in Los Angeles and San Diego. So I just drove to them. Driving to San Diego and back in the same day was a good 4.5 hours, sure, but it was doable.

I did my five games in five days trip in the Midwest. Here were the costs:

Air
United Los Angeles to Chicago $193
Southwest Chicago to Detroit $100
United Dayton to Los Angeles $146
Total $439

The LA to Chicago and Chicago to Detroit flights were a little pricier than I would’ve liked, but it was a holiday weekend. And I did 5 stadiums with only three flights. I have to like that.

Hotel
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Chicago O'Hare Airport – Rosemont $179
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Cleveland – Independence $105
Total $283

Because I stayed two nights with friends I only stayed three nights in hotels. These were nice hotels and I got great rates, as these include the taxes. I stayed two nights in Chicago because Milwaukee was having a Harley Davidson anniversary celebration. There were few hotel rooms available between Milwaukee and Chicago and what was available was a lot more expensive than the DoubleTree and not nearly as nice.

Car
Dollar $74
Budget $82
Total $156

I rented from Dollar to get me to Milwaukee and back. That’s about $26 more expensive than taking the train, but driving enabled me to leave and come back when I wanted. There wasn’t a train to Chicago after the game and with the lack of hotel rooms in Wisconsin I couldn’t stay overnight. I chose my Chicago hotel because it was near the airport. So I could easily get a shuttle from the hotel to the rental car place and back.

I drove the car with Budget from Detroit to Cleveland to Cincinnati, where I met friends and stayed with them. That’s actually half the two day rate, but I split the cost with my friend Brendan. Having the car enabled me to stay at a DoubleTree outside of Cleveland and get a better rate.

Yes, there were some gas costs, parking, and, of course, food, but this covers most of it. I did have to pay for parking at the stadium in Milwaukee and Detroit, but I was able to get street parking in Cleveland. How lucky was that?

I’m headed to the East Coast in April:

Air
American Los Angeles to Boston $194
Jet Blue Boston to Baltimore $83
United Philadelphia to Los Angeles $3
Total $280

Okay, I cheated a little and used miles for the Philadelphia to Los Angeles leg. I had miles that I was supposed to use for the aborted Sept. 2013 Texas trip that I had to reuse or lose. I was able to use some for the Philly to LA leg and redeposit the rest.

Hotel
Rodeway Inn Logan International Airport $121
Hilton Baltimore $149
Total $270

I was careful when choosing hotels. In Boston I need some place near Logan, so that I can get a shuttle to and from the airport. The hotel also has a shuttle to the subway, so I can easily get to and from Fenway.

In Baltimore I’m going with a hotel in the Inner Harbor, easily within walking distance of Camden Yards. That’s convenient getting to and from the stadium. I’ll meet my brother and my nephews there. So we’ll drive to Washington DC the next day. Yes, I’ll offer to split the gas.

After the Washington game, we’ll drive back to Philadelphia, where I’ll stay with my dad until I return to LA. Yes, I know you might not actually have a dad to stay with during your trip. No, you can’t stay with mine.

Where it gets tricky is my Sunday going to two games in New York in one day. There are two options, drive there and back in the same day. Doing that would mean tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike, bridge and tunnel tolls, and parking. The other alternative is to take the train round trip Philadelphia to New York. Either alternative will cost me $80-$100. What it won’t cost is a night in a New York hotel.

The next trip is the Seattle-Bay area:

Air
United Los Angeles to Seattle $129
United Seattle to San Francisco $119
Southwest Oakland to Los Angeles $69
Total $317

This trip is easy because they are heavily travelled routes. Prices are usually higher on holiday weekends, but I was able to find some great fares.

Hotel
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Seattle Airport $111
Hilton San Francisco Union Square $165
Total $276

The DoubleTree fits in well with my preference to have a hotel that has an airport shuttle and an easy way to get to the stadium. It’s close to the Sound Transit Link light rail. The Hilton in San Francisco is close to the BART and AT&T Park. So I can get from the stadium to the hotel to the game fairly easily since my time may be tight. By going to games in San Francisco and Oakland on back to back days and the Oakland game is a day game I’m able to go to three games in two cities with only three flights and two nights in a hotel.

I won’t need a car in either city, so no parking or gas costs. There will be some mass transit costs, but they’ll be minimal.

When you add the Angel game I’ll have gone to 17 stadiums for a little more than $2,000. That’s probably around $2,100 when you include game parking and mass transit. If you throw in game tickets it’ll be around $2,700. So that’s an average of about $160 per game. Not bad.

The other 13 stadiums will be more expensive, because I can’t drive to any from LA and none are close enough to each other to drive or take a train. They’ll be a challenge I’ll tackle that challenge later.

Will Leitch Lays out 30 Stadiums in 30 Days

I'm certainly not the first person to come up with the idea of going to all 30 stadiums and Will Leitch of Sportsonearth.com lays out how to do it 30 days. Well, he actually does 29 stadiums in 30 days, because his last two stadiums, Atlanta and Philadelphia, don't have games on the 29th day. It sounds great and ambitious and he's not actually doing it. I have a few quibbles with it.

No, I'm not doing all 30 stadiums in 30 days. I'm going to do it in a season plus, with 7 games last year and probably a few next year. I have no interest in doing it in 30 days. The point is to go to all the stadiums, not do it as fast as possible. I don't want to be away for consecutive days and there's all that work stuff that can get in the way of doing that anyway. My objective is to do it as much on weekends and holidays as possible. I also try to minimize the cost, doing as few flights and hotels as possible.

I did 7 stadiums last year. Five of those games were on weekends or holidays. I ended up spending 3 nights in hotels and took a grand total of 3 flights. I did take an extra day to fly on a Wednesday but I was staying with friends. That's part of the fun of travel! Right now, I'm definite on going to 13 stadiums from April through July. I'll spend a maximum of 6 nights in hotels and there will be 10 flights. Only 5 of the games will be on weekdays and that's only because I want to go to Angel and Dodger stadiums on the same day and can only do that on a Thursday.

His hotel and airfare expenses are huge. It's weird that he's spending $200-$300 to fly, cab, and stay in a hotel but decides to get the cheapest seats possible. Why do that? You want good seats at each game. That's what I've done. Yes, it helped when my friends in Cincinnati got those great seats. Thanks, Michael and Janet!

He's criss crossing the country like crazy. Why spend so much time on planes? My Midwest trip was to five cities that were relatively close. I was able to drive from Chicago to Milwaukee and back and then from Detroit to Cleveland to Cincinnati. That was fun and much easier. This year I'll be going to two games on the same day in New York and Los Angeles and games in San Francisco and Oakland on back-to-back days. That sounds like more fun than flying two hours to get to each game.

As people in the comments section point out, he's not planning each city well. I'll take light rail to Safeco in Seattle and the BART from the airport to the hotel to AT&T to the O.com Coliseum and to the other airport in the Bay area. I chose a hotel in Arlington, Texas that not only has a shuttle to and from the airport but also one to and from the Ballpark. Cabs are expensive, can be hard to find, and did I mention expensive?

I'm not sure about his costs. His plane tickets all seem to be sale prices, his hotel rooms fairly low rates, and he's buying all his tickets from the teams (without service fees, apparently). You can't always get sale prices, some nights the hotel rates aren't that low, and good luck getting decent seats with some of these teams that sell out. I've gotten some flights at sale prices but there have been a couple where the flight was pricey that I used airline miles.

He's using my April east coast trip! Almost. He's in each city a different day than I am from four of the games, although his trip is in Washington on April 26 and Philadelphia on April 29. I am, of course, staying with family for many of those nights. Why would you include the one weekend both New York teams are home on your trip and not try to go to two games in one day?

Los Angeles Two Games in One Day

As I mentioned earlier, it's rare that both New York teams are home on the same day. There are only 7 dates in 2014. There are 5 dates where the White Sox and Cubs both play home games in the same day. The Dodgers and Angels do it only once, June 26. It's a night game for the Dodgers at 7:10 PM. The Angels have yet to schedule a game time, but it's the last day of a home stand and they play the next night in Kansas City. That's the type of game that teams schedule in the afternoon, so they can catch an early flight and get in to the next city at a reasonable hour. If the Angels choose to play a day game, I'm circling this date on my calendar and going to both. Who's with me?

April Trip Update

Game 1: Thursday, April 24, 2014
Fenway Park, Yankees at Red Sox, 7:10 PM
I bought the non-stop on Delta and a week later they moved the flight back by 75 minutes! That meant I might not make the game. I called Delta and asked them to cancel the ticket. They told me that they usually only do that with flights delayed by 90 minutes, but made an exception. Thank you, Delta. I rebooked on an American flight that gets in 3 hours before the game. That'll mean waking up ridiculously early, but why chance it? I'm thinking of staying at the Four Points in Revere. It's near the airport and that should make it easy to get to my flight the next day.

Game 2: Friday, April 25, 2014
Camden Yards, Royals at Orioles,7:05 PM
I've swapped Baltimore and Washington games because I know the Saturday Washington game is a day game. I've booked a room at the Hilton Baltimore in the Inner Harbor

Game 3: Saturday, April 26, 2014
Nationals Park, Padres at Nationals, 1:05 PM
A day game gives me maximum flexibility. I can stay in Washington after the game, head to New York, or even stop in Philly and visit my family Saturday night.

Game 4 and 5: Sunday, April 27, 2014
Citi Field, Marlins at Mets, 1:10 PM
Yankee Stadium, Angels at Yankees, 8:05 PM
These games haven't changed. I'm trying to figure out how to handle the logistics. I could take the train up and catch the midnight train to Philly after the game. I could drive up in the morning and then to Philly at the end of the night. The train option would limit some flexibility, but it's much easier to travel New York City by subway. The car option would mean tolls and paid parking in lots that figure to be expensive. I wouldn't have to worry about catching trains.

Game 6: Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Citizens Bank Park, Mets at Phillies, 7:05 PM
No changes.

Two Games in One Day

A couple of things have happened that have resulted in me updating my April trip. And guess what, it just got more exciting.

Game 1: Thursday, April 24, 2014
Fenway Park, Yankees at Red Sox, 7:10 PM
I don’t know why I didn’t notice this game before, but it enables me to hit Boston on the same trip I’m going to cities close to it. That saves travel time and money for flights. And it’s the Yankees! I’m eyeing a non-stop on Delta.

I’ll need advice on where to stay. I’ll fly in to Logan in the afternoon and arrive about two hours before game time. I’ll likely leave Boston in the morning. So a hotel that gives me easy access to Fenway and Logan would be great.

Game 2: Friday, April 25, 2014
Nationals Park, Padres at Nationals, 7:05 PM
A flight to Reagan National would enable me to take metro to the game, but it looks like most flights from Boston go to Dulles. I anticipate arriving in late morning. That might be just as well. My cousin in Virginia is having a baby in April. I assume I’ll be right in time for a visit.

Game 3: Saturday, April 26, 2014
Camden Yards, Royals at Orioles, TBD
They haven’t set a time for this game yet, but since Camden Yards is a short train ride away from DC, this’ll work for a day or evening game. If it’s an evening game, I have a free day in either Washington or Baltimore. If it’s a day game, I’ll probably take the train to New York after the game and spend the night there.

Game 4 and 5: Sunday, April 27, 2014
Citi Field, Marlins at Mets, 1:10 PM
Yankee Stadium, Angels at Yankees, 8:05 PM
The jewel of the trip. Mets and Yankees in the same day! How many people can say they’ve done this? Not many, I’m guessing. My big question is whether my Yankee fan friends will join me for the Met game and whether my Met fan friends will go to the Yankees. What say you?

Game 6: Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Citizens Bank Park, Mets at Phillies, 7:05 PM
From a trip planning standpoint, taking a day off goes against my whole philosophy about doing the most stadiums in the most affordable way in the least amount of time. This is my hometown, however. So I’ll spend two days visiting the family.

I should note that my beloved Phillies will be in Los Angeles April 21-24. Even though I went to Dodger Stadium last season, I’ll likely hit one of those dates for a repeat visit.