Budget: Attending the ProgPower for the first time

[LuisMejiaF]

Hello everyone,

I'm planning to attend ProgPower XVI for the very first time, for 2 main reasons:

1. Until this point in my life I have the economic posibility to attend it. I'm 24 and I've been working for about 4 years. I already have some savings, and...
2. 80% of the roster worth it for me.

My major concern is if I will be able to afford all the costs that attend the fest involves.

First of all, I'm from El Salvador, in Central América. I'm going to take a flight to Atlanta, that's about $900.00.

Despite the costs for traveling from my country until USA, what I want to ask you to all of you is: How much (aprox.) do I need to attend the fest?

I'm talking about Ticket for general admission to main fest, hotels, Food, at least a T-Shirt , and some other basic stuff that you considere I need to pay/buy.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Justin G]

Welcome! Are you looking at attending the main 2-day fest, or will you also be attending the Wednesday and Thursday shows? That will make a big difference.

 

[AngraRULES]

Rule #1
Attend Wednesday. Trust me, it'll be worth it.

Now, what kind of luxuries do you want when you're in Atlanta? Does a 10 min walk to the venue bother you? Do you need to buy drinks at the show every day? Lunch and dinner?

 

[LuisMejiaF]

I really want to be there Thursday for Dragonland I'm a big fan of those guys, but attending Thursday (or Wednesday) will depends on the costs for the main 2-day fest.

I'm ok with walking. I don't drink beers or smoke, probably 1 will be ok for all the day, but I drink a lot of water. I think I will need lunch and dinner for both days.

 

[miel]

Hello, thank you for your interest - we hope to see you in 2015!

Here's an old thread that may help:

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/progpower-usa/679794-progpower-usa-ways-save-money.html


Here's a list of nearby hotels for you to shop/compare

And here are 4 Hotels under $100 near venue

Related reading: Planning your trip to Atlanta- lodging, transportation, parking, food, attractions, etc.

Riding MARTA (rail system) from the airport to venue is very inexpensive - around $3 one way, I believe.

This year's Friday/Saturday main festival ticket was $135.00 + Ticketmaster fees

An official ProgPower USA t-shirt is $25.00


~Jen

 

[CoreEpic]

I flew in from Cleveland Ohio and stayed in a nice hotel with a few friends and had a bed to myself, I bought a LOT of merch. The total cost including tickets came out to around $800, around 200 of which was my merch haul. I budget around $1000 for the festival yearly and usually come in under.

 

[Mardoch]

I flew in from Cleveland Ohio and stayed in a nice hotel with a few friends and had a bed to myself, I bought a LOT of merch. The total cost including tickets came out to around $800, around 200 of which was my merch haul. I budget around $1000 for the festival yearly and usually come in under.

A grand is a good target point. Even flying out way late for 600 I don't think I've gone over that point.

 

[CoreEpic]

A grand is a good target point. Even flying out way late for 600 I don't think I've gone over that point.

I think that unless you spend stupid amounts of money you won't exceed that if you're traveling in the continental US. Given that the original poster is from El Salvador I'd like to point out that the flight by itself for me is around 250, so you should figure a maximum of $750 ONCE YOURE IN ATL, 550 if you plan on buying zero merch. Getting there is a whole other animal.

 

[LuisMejiaF]

I think that unless you spend stupid amounts of money you won't exceed that if you're traveling in the continental US. Given that the original poster is from El Salvador I'd like to point out that the flight by itself for me is around 250, so you should figure a maximum of $750 ONCE YOURE IN ATL, 550 if you plan on buying zero merch. Getting there is a whole other animal.

Yes going to ATL will be the expensive part of the travel, but it will part of the travel of my life.

So at this point, I'm planning to spend around $1,800. That's a lot for me, but I know that it's going to worth it.

How much is the ticket cost?

 

[Mardoch]

Tickets are $150. I meant 1k for stuff in Atlanta not counting the out of country travel portion. 1.8k is probably a safe target number.

 

[LuisMejiaF]

Hello, thank you for your interest - we hope to see you in 2015!

Here's an old thread that may help:

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/progpower-usa/679794-progpower-usa-ways-save-money.html


Here's a list of nearby hotels for you to shop/compare

And here are 4 Hotels under $100 near venue

Related reading: Planning your trip to Atlanta- lodging, transportation, parking, food, attractions, etc.

Riding MARTA (rail system) from the airport to venue is very inexpensive - around $3 one way, I believe.

This year's Friday/Saturday main festival ticket was $135.00 + Ticketmaster fees

An official ProgPower USA t-shirt is $25.00


~Jen

Thanks very much for all this information Jen

 

[SF Metal Man]

If you are traveling by yourself, you can try to find a roommate on here. I split a suite with 2 others and it came out to be $60 per person per night including breakfast for a really nice room. It's possible to even do it cheaper. You can get meals at Subway or a slice of pizza for $5. A more typical meal will be $10 to $16. Coming all the way from Central America I'd highly recommend spending an extra day (or time before the Thursday show) and go to the Georgia Aquarium. Simply amazing and you've seen nothing like it. The tickets for the aquarium are $32. There is a drinking fountain in the venue and free water at the bars. As was mentioned before, a ticket on MARTA from the airport is only $3.

Now most people will buy some t-shirts ($25-30 each) and many can spend hundreds on CDs in the vender room, you certainly don't need to.

 

[Yippee38]

Marta to and from the venue area is $2.50 each way. You also need to buy a Marta card for $1, so that makes it $6.

You can buy a 8" pizza at DaVinci's for $4.85. Don't remember what the drinks cost.

Cups of water in the venue are free.

Don't forget quality earplugs as you will be experiencing high volume music for extended periods of time.

I bought two tickets for Thursday's show at the door for $123 with all fees. They were cheaper earlier. I think they may have been $30 or $40 if you bought them early enough (plus fees).

Get your passport early.

 

[NorseBlood]

Last weekend's ProgPower was my first. The only places I ate at were Sausalito's and Vespucci's and I picked up a few slices of Davinci pizza in the venue. Why only Vespucci and Sausalito's? They're both uber tasty, they're both reasonably priced, and they're both very close to the venue. With either of those two restaurants they are close enough to take a break between sets, walk there, eat lunch, and get back before the next set starts. You won't miss a thing, and your wallet and taste buds will thank you.

 

[metalprof]

Welcome to the group!

Just to pile on with what others have said, I can't help figure out travel costs, but remember that the actual ticket cost and the travel costs are about the only thing that you won't have a lot of control over.

You can bring your lodging costs up or down by how willing you are to find roomates to share costs. (That should not be hard on this board, when the time comes.)

You can bring your food costs up or down by where you choose to eat. Some people like to live the life while they are in town and eat at nicer local restaurants. Others (like myself!) live on Subway and Jimmy Johns for several days Some people will pay a lot for drinks in the venue, others won't.

You can bring your miscellaneous costs up or down by how much money you spend on merch and CDs.

I would suggest that once you pin down your travel and ticket costs, flip your question around to set a budget for yourself. How much are you *able* to spend beyond tickets and travel, then plan the rest accordingly.

 

[Jibrille]

The more you budget the less you can stress but you can get away with a lot less than $1000 + cost of flight. One year I had so little spare cash, I brought microwave popcorn in my luggage. May have even thrown in some 10¢ ramen packets. Granted it seems to be rare to find basic hotel rooms with a microwave these days.
Basically say $350 for the Fri/Sat ticket and 3 night hotel if you find a roommate. The more roommates, the cheaper that hotel cost is. Add ~$50 for Thursday show if you buy in advance. Rest of your money goes toward merch, food, alcohol. Your biggest expenses will likely come down to just how much you drop at the vendor room/band merch tables and how much alcohol you want to drink while at the show.

 

[TENTH DREAMER DECEIVER]

You could also budget for seeing some attractions like World of Coke, the aquarium and the awesome museum close to the venue.

 

[PromisedLand]

Rule #1
Attend Wednesday. Trust me, it'll be worth it.

Milton! It's hard enough to wait without you teasing us.

 

[OrbWeaver]

Milton! It's hard enough to wait without you teasing us.

Yeah Milton...PROVE IT.

 

[LuisMejiaF]

Well yes, I definitely will ask for a roommate. I'm ok with 1 beer a day. I don't smoke, and I'm ok with eating subways of DaVinci's pizza.

I want to go to the museums and the aquarium, I will need a company to go