This
time the last ticket draw opened an hour earlier than before, 4:00AM Colorado time and I
was ready to log in as soon as it was open. The adrenaline was again starting to pump, even without coffee yet. The reports had stated that there were indeed some tickets available-how
many or what type we didn’t know-for the USA-Germany matchup. I had already tried a few times to get in, only receiving the same message page about the ticket accounts not being available until today. But at 3:59, when I once again clicked on “My Ticket Account”…I was quickly switched over to...another little adrenaline surge and boy was I wake now...the page that
showed I was in a virtual queue, again left waiting at an ungodly hour for my
chance to snag this last elusive ticket (and giving me time to start this post,
which helped keep me focused and awake).
Every
minute or so the page flashed and went through some sort of a refresh, and every time
you are momentarily deceived into thinking it is finally redirecting you. This went on seemingly forever, I got the coffee going, got my first cup, finished it. I was pretty sure that it was going to be too late by the time I got
access and I was getting pretty frustrated.
Eventually, after well over an hour of staring and yawning, at 5:01 I got in! I knew right where to go and clicked on the “availability” link, scrolled down to game 45 where it said
there was...YES!!!...“medium availability” for all ticket levels to the game!
I clicked, and have become pretty adept at typing in my credit card
number quickly, so a couple more clicks, took me a second to find the "checkout" and...now I need to buy USA jersey!
We are still stunned that the scheduling and ticketing for this trip has worked out so well. If you had just given me the draw, I am not sure I would have picked out much different of an itinerary. We are going to three incredible cities and getting to see our two favorite teams (Mexico and USA), three world powerhouses (Italy, Portugal, Germany-twice), plus Costa Rica, and a knockout round game (that will likely match Columbia against Italy or Uruguay) in possibly the most fabled soccer stadium in the world Estadio Marakana. Unbelievable!
The only negative really is that tickets to Bosnia-Iran in Salvador (we hold two from early tickets rounds before the draw) are the absolutely least desired match on the entire schedule (it
has seriously been reported that more tickets are available for this match than any other with Greece/Ivory Coast in Fortaleza a close second, plus I have seen a lot of these undesired tickets already available on the internet and Twitter from people like me). Therefore, we are not even going
to bother trying to swap them on the FIFA site and will just bring them to
Salvador and give them to locals.
Visa Update: Uh, there isn't really one. Rachid has all our documentation, including a few more email verifications, and he has assured me we are good to go, but I have yet to get any sort or verbal, virtual or hard confirmation. I am hoping today.
New Addiction: Panini 2014 World Cup Online Sticker Album. If you sign up for this through the FIFA site you "get" to "open" three packs of five "stickers" each day and "put" them into your virtual album. There are eleven players (has already created a lot of debate) and a team "sticker" for each of the 32 teams, a special fan "sticker" for each, as well as ones for logos, mascot and even the Brazuca ball. When you get duplicates, you can swap them with others for ones that you "need". I got a "free" extra USA fan "sticker" when I made my first swap (an extra Mexico Hector Herrera for USA Geoff Cameron). Every morning is like Christmas, or at least Easter, as you get to "rip open" your new packs and "place" them in your album. I guess you can also get "free" packs from certain Coca Cola products but I have not seen any participating items yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment