Vancouver to host 2018 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships

[chantilly]

Commercial drive is a good idea.
It's central of you want to visit downtown.
Quick train ride and there's I think a hotel or two
Tons of airbnb.
99 is a 35-45 minute ride to the venue.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Plus from Commercial Drive and Broadway, you get on at the first stop and have a good shot at a seat.

 

[Japanfan]

Commercial drive is a good idea.

Not many hotel options that I know of on Commercial (though there may be one small one I don't recall. The closest one of think of is the Holiday Inn near the PNE, where we met up at events there.

But as mentioned, plenty of B&B's in the area.

 

[kwanfan1818]

The Holiday Inn is way out on Renfrew and Hastings. If GPF in December 2018 is at PNE, that would be a great place to stay, about three-four blocks to the arena. Not a good place to stay for an event at UBC.

For Commercial Drive, Air Bnb or VRBO is the way to go. I think @Hedwig and @mella stayed around there for the Vancouver Olympics; they may have stayed at an actual B&B.

There are a number of hotels on Broadway close to 99 stops.

 

[manhn]

Any hotel near a Skytrain station will do. If on the Canada Line, stop at City Hall Station and take the 99. If on the Expo or Millennium or Evergreen Line, go to Broadway/Commercial Station, then take the 99. Maybe find a hotel in Richmond.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

I got my all event tickets from TM yesterday and the amount printed on the receipt is incorrect. I paid 231.40. The receipt says 374.25. The receipt showing on-line has the correct total but the details do not add up correctly. The receipt I printed back when I bought the tickets is correct so something has happened in between now and last June.

I have tried (once on the phone and now an E-mail) to bring this to their attention. If you want to buy tickets and someone offers you to sell their tickets at face value, be wary. It seems TM has sent out very convincing proof someone could use to scam an unsuspecting fan.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed this or if it just me but FYI anyway...

 

[PeterG]

I got my nationals tickets in the mail today. The $210 all-event package has some...umm...surprising fees added:

$4.25 - Order processing fee
$272.00 - Total Convenience Charges
$100.00 - Total Facility Fees
$210.00 - Total Ticket Face Value
$2.25 - Mail Fee

So my $210.00 package cost...$588.50. WTF??? And that $272 total "convenience" charge...what do I get for that??!! And a one hundred dollar facility fee? Do I get a private box seating with these charges??

 

[alj5]

So my $210.00 package cost...$588.50. WTF??? And that $272 total "convenience" charge...what do I get for that??!! And a one hundred dollar facility fee? Do I get a private box seating with these charges??

Wow. They had better bring me drinks. A lot of drinks.

 

[victorskid]

I got my nationals tickets in the mail today. The $210 all-event package has some...umm...surprising fees added:

$4.25 - Order processing fee
$272.00 - Total Convenience Charges
$100.00 - Total Facility Fees
$210.00 - Total Ticket Face Value
$2.25 - Mail Fee

So my $210.00 package cost...$588.50. WTF??? And that $272 total "convenience" charge...what do I get for that??!! And a one hundred dollar facility fee? Do I get a private box seating with these charges??

So have you checked what you were actually charged?

 

[PeterG]

So have you checked what you were actually charged?

Thanks, I went back over my VISA account and the charge was 253.70. Minus the processing fee and mail fee, that's $37.20 over the ticket face value. That amount doesn't match any of the other charges, but at least I didn't pay for a one hundred dollar facility fee or a $272 total convenience charge!

 

[jl22aries]

How mysterious! I haven't received anything yet and am quite curious around what's being shared around these inconsistencies. Thanks for sharing, all. I'll take a look at my visa charges. Yikes.

 

[victoriajh]

Missed the boat on tickets .... if anyone decides that they want to see let me know !!!

 

[Japanfan]

I'm not pleased that the senior competition is compressed into two very long days. I preferred it being spread out over three-four days, as it was in the past.

 

[kwanfan1818]

There will be plenty of time to get together from Monday-Thursday for anyone who isn't watching every Novice and Junior skater to the bitter end -- and, even then, Wednesday is open until 6:15pm, if you eschew every single practice -- but the best options for a get-together are after the Friday and Saturday night competitions, since everything is timed for EST, and before and/or after the gala on Sunday for locals and people who are sticking around until Monday.

• Men's SP is scheduled to end at 7:30pm on Friday, January 12
• Men's FP last flight is scheduled to end at 7:00pm on Saturday, January 13, followed by another hour or so of set-up and the victory ceremonies for all four Senior disciplines.
• The gala doesn't start until 2pm on Sunday, January 14.

Monday-Thursday events end between 10pm-midnight, since there are no TV networks to assuage.

On Friday, January 12, there is a 1hr 10min break between the end of the last flight of the Senior Dance SD and the first flight of the Senior Men's SP for the ice cuts and Opening Ceremony, but that's probably not enough time to go very far, and there will be crowds at the places on campus.

Here's the link to the schedule:
https://skatecanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2018-CTNSC-Schedule-OC10.pdf

 

[griffen]

Commercial Drive is far away from UBC and while it may be good for browsing in stores, the Drive is dirty, lots of odd characters which some would say adds to the charm. If you are coming to Vancouver to see the skating stay at a downtown hotel near Canada Line or one of the hotels on Broadway west of Cambie Street or an airbnb west of Cambie Street or along the Cambie Corridor ( Cambie Street ). At Cambie and 25th you can pick up the #25 bus which goes to UBC. There are buses that go to UBC along 41st Ave and 16th Ave. From downtown take Canada Line to Broadway and pick up the 99 bus. From Commercial drive you are going to be an hour one way except on the weekend. Commercial Dr is only close to other areas in Vancouver if you are driving.

 

[fsfann]

What a $hitty schedule!!! I'm still annoyed that they break up the final flights for the disciplines, but look at Thursday...nothing at all all day long and then Jr. Free.

Why not start something on Thursday evening with the seniors... (Then they could avoid the 8 am start time on Saturday morning.) #insane. Whoever came up with this schedule should be fired.

 

[fsfann]

And also ending with our disastrous men is crappy. Why not Ladies or dance?!

 

[4rkidz]

I hope Gabby is healthy and skating her best so she includes her new “secret weapon” her quad toe. She will need it I think to beat Osmond. Either way even with errors both skaters are quite ahead of the rest of the pack.

 

[kwanfan1818]

From Commercial drive you are going to be an hour one way except on the weekend.

I'd rather sit for an hour than stand for 30-40 minutes. But I stay with my old housemate two blocks away from the 99 bus on Commercial and Broadway, and unless there are Air BnB's in the neighborhood, the area isn't an option, as there aren't any hotels or motels close by to stay at.

 

[victorskid]

I'll be at the Sheraton Wall Centre on Burrard and making my way alone to UBC on Tuesday-Thursday - suggestions for best/easiest route? [I have transportation the rest of the week.]

 

[Japanfan]

Commercial Drive is far away from UBC and while it may be good for browsing in stores, the Drive is dirty, lots of odd characters which some would say adds to the charm.

I've been going to that neighborhood for many years and used to live there. It is not dirty. There is a park that used to be dirty but it has been renovated and sculpted. Young people do hang out there and smoke pot, so there might be some butts in the area where they congregate. But I've noticed that the rest of the park is dirty when I've walked through it.

The Drive has largely become gentrified. There are a few number of homeless people about, but that is because of the Drive's proximity to the downtown Eastside and because the Drive is good place for begging - lot of traffic, and lots of sympathetic types willing to dish out some spare change.

If you are coming to Vancouver to see the skating stay at a downtown hotel near Canada Line or one of the hotels on Broadway west of Cambie Street or an airbnb west of Cambie Street or along the Cambie Corridor ( Cambie Street ). At Cambie and 25th you can pick up the #25 bus which goes to UBC.

You can also get an express UBC bus at Commercial Drive Station, and it would only add on 10-15 minutes to your travel time.

 

[nlloyd]

(((The Drive)))

 

[lyneyuki]

I'll be at the Sheraton Wall Centre on Burrard and making my way alone to UBC on Tuesday-Thursday - suggestions for best/easiest route? [I have transportation the rest of the week.]

Bus#44 goes right in front of the Wall Centre and it's an express bus to UBC so your best bet during the day. That bus doesn't run later in the evening so to come back you can either take the slow trolley bus #4 or take the 99 from UBC and transfert to get to downtown at Granville where you'll have many choices (10, 14 or 16). That option is likely faster.

 

[victorskid]

Many thanks for that information @lyneyuki - I've copied it into my electronic diary

 

[jl22aries]

Has anyone else who's purchased the all event ticket not yet received it in the mail?

 

[Japanfan]

Has anyone else who's purchased the all event ticket not yet received it in the mail?

I haven't. I actually haven't thought about how to collect the tickets. Are they supposed to be mailed out? I see nothing about that on my order form.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I chose the print at home option.

 

[Alilou]

I chose the print at home option.

Me too. I just printed them out tonight.

 

[chantilly]

Planning on printing it out tomorrow.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I haven't. I actually haven't thought about how to collect the tickets. Are they supposed to be mailed out? I see nothing about that on my order form.

Go into your Ticketmaster account. There should be a link on your confirmation email. If you can't find it, go to ticketmaster.ca, log in, and from "My Account" choose "Order History," and then click the "See Details" button. From there, it should show delivery method, and there will be a "Print Tickets" button if the shipping method is "Print at Home."

I found it a little wonky: it takes a while for the ticket file to be retrieved to print out, and it errored out on me several times before it worked.