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By Tony Cannon
and Javier Moreno
May 9, 2001 |
It used to be that only the hard core and the most dedicated of players would even consider travelling
to a tournament, and unless you lived near Stanton, CA or another tournament hotspot, you were out of
luck. How times have changed! Just recently, tournaments have been popping up all over the country,
from Florida, to New Jersey, to Seattle and everywhere in between. The scene has grown and grown to
the point where now anyone with a little motivation and a little planning can afford to go compete
with the best. Still, travelling is not for the feignt of heart. There are pits and snares along
the way which can ruin even the most carefully planned trip. For those of you who would brave the
journey, Shoryuken.com has compiled over 25 man years of tourney travelling experience into these
helpful guides. The first part in our ongoing Travelling To Tournaments Series will deal with
choosing a tournament, planning how you want to get there, and things you should consider when
packing for the trip.
You have a lot of choices on which tournament you want to attend. The two biggest categories
for this year are the Majors 2001 tournaments (at the time of this writing, there is ECC6, 2001
Midwest Championships, and B5), and smaller regional tournaments. Your best bet on finding
regional tournaments is to check the Tournaments and Events forum periodically. Tournaments
on the west coast, pacific northwest, north east, in Texas, and east pop up fairly regularly. With so
many choices, there are a lot of things you need to consider when deciding which tournament
to go to. The first you might want to consider is the size of the event. Large tournaments
tend to attract the most talent, so if you're interested in seeing how the big-boys play,
your best bet is to go to the biggest tournament you can find. Historically, ECC, the Midwest
Championships, and the B-series have all featured a very high level of play. If you're more
interested in winning, you should start off with a smaller, local tournament that attracts
less talent. Another question you should consider is the tournament's past reputation. If
the tournament organizers are known to be slackers who don't show up on time and refuse to
repair broken equipment, then odds are your experience will be more frustrating than enjoyable.
You should also consider which of your friends are going. Tournaments are much more fun when
you have someone to root for and someone to cheer you on than when you're a single player
against hordes of strangers. Finally, you need to consider the cost of going. Cost is often
the thing that ultimately prevents you from going, as they can quickly add up for non-local
tournies. Costs include includes travelling cost, casual play fees, tournament entry fees,
housing costs, entertainment when not at the tournament, etc. Depending on how long you plan
to be away, the total cost of a tournament can range anywhere from $10 to $1000. Plan ahead.
We'll be focusing specifically on managing your money in a future article.
Once you've decided where you'd like to go, you need to figure out a way to get there. This
is probably the single most important decision you're going to make, so consider your options
carefully. Spending a time on this upfront will potentially save you hours of grief later
and pad your pocket with a a little extra spending cash for when you get there. For a local
tourney, you're going to want to drive, bike, or even walk. That's a no brainer. If you're
going to a tournament that's a bit farther away, though, you should seriously consider one
of these 3 options:
Car: Travel by car is a mixed bag. It's potentially the cheapest and fastest way to get
to a tournament if you only need to drive a few hours or less. However, travelling by car
can be VERY expensive if you're undisciplined. The cost of just one speeding ticket will
often be more expensive than an airplane ticket, and it will cost you extra in increased
insurance premiums for years to come. If you're unfamiliar with the route, you may end
up getting lost which will cost you time and extra gas money, as well as a great deal of
frustration. Be especially careful if you're driving out of state, as experience shows
police officers are more likely to pull over an out-of-state vehicle. Also be careful if
you're a minority; the odds of you being pulled over for speeding or a routine spot check
may increase if you drive through a district that uses racial profiling. Finally, wear-and-tear
on your car could potentially make you wish you'd just forgetten about it and taken a plane instead.
For a little extra piece of mind, you may consider renting a car instead of driving your own.
You can usually get a decent sized rental car for lessthan $40 a day if you're over 25 and
supply your own insurance. Make sure that you get a contract with unlimited miles (especially
if the tournament is far away) and gas her up before you return the car, or they're likely to
charge you an exhorbitant rate to fill the tank when you get back. Furthermore, try to reserve
your vehicle at least 3 weeks in advance, especially if you're renting a van. Otherwise you
risk being shoved into a sub-compact or not being able to rent anything at all if all the
cars are booked.
In spite of all the potential downsides, there are a lot of benefits to driving yourself.
You can offset the costs of gas and car rental by taking a few passengers with you (at the
cost of comfort), and when you finally get to the tournament you won't have to worry about
transportation. Unless you're driving with good friends, it's highly recommened that you
collect at least a portion of the money in advance. A lot of people in the past have been
stuck with the $400 bill when they get home and people who they graciously lent a ride to
are suddenly asking for IOU's and loans or are no where to be found.
Airplane: If the tournament is out of state (or beyond your pain level for driving), flying
is the best way to travel by far. You can fly across the entire United States in between 4
and 6 hours (depending on which direction you're going and the wind speed), which is just enough
time to grab a quick nap and arrive fully rested. Flying may seem expensive at first, but it's
actually comparable to you're other alternatives once you total all the costs. For example,
when you fly, you don't have to worry about the cost of gas, speeding tickets, food, etc.
You just get on the plane and go.
There are a lot of ways you can keep your airline expenses to a minimum. First of all, use
online travel agencies which search a broad number of airlines instead of calling up airlines
directly. My 3 favorites are Lowest Fare,
Expedia, and Priceline.
Lowest Fare and Expedia will
search a bunch of airlines for a particular trip, give you the cheapest ones, and let you buy your
ticket online. Priceline lets you name your price and will try to find a ticket to match it.
The downside is that if they do find a match, you're OBLIGATED to buy. I would recommend researching
in advance with Lowest Fare and Expedia before attempting to use Priceline.
When booking your tickets, remember that flights leaving on Friday and Saturday tickets tend to
fill up very quickly. If you can, try to leave on Thursday night and go back Sunday night or
Monday. In our experience, that gives you the best shot at a good price. The sweet spot for
buying tickets is somewhere between 3 months and 3 weeks in advance. Any earlier and you risk
missing out on some of the special deals offered by airlines. Any later and you risk rising
prices as the planes start to fill up. If you're still having trouble getting a good price,
consider a layover. Flights that take multiple legs to get to the same destiation are often
considerably cheaper than direct flights.
Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES do we recommend getting a so called "Standby Ticket". Standby
tickets are extremely cheap, but you get what you pay for. It is *not* a guarenteed ticket to
fly! It's essentially a pass to get on the plane if there's room once all the regular passengers
are on. This means that if all the flights are booked solid, you may never get on. Luggage has
more priority than you do. You're the garbage of the skies. Flying standby is especially
dangerous if you have a layover. You could potentially get into a situation where you make your
first leg of the trip and then get stuck between your home and destination for DAYS before a
flight opens up. This has actually happened to a group of California players making the trip
from LA to Chicago through Las Vegas.
On the same note, make sure to consider the potential effect of airline delays when you buy
your tickets. Getting into town a few hours before the tournament is HIGHLY discouraged, as
you might end up missing it entirely if your plane is delayed. If you can, book tickets with
friends. Travelling with a group of friends is both a whole lot of fun and much safer than
travelling alone. Finally, always get an E-Ticket if you can. E-Tickets are great, as there's
nothing to be lost or stolen. You present a picture ID at the airport and step on the plane.
Paper tickets have a monetary value. If you lose it there's no way to recover the money without
going through a long process with the airline or agency who issued you the ticket. There's
nothing worse than having to buy a new ticket at the gate because you accidently left your
paper ticket at home. Go the E-ticket route... you'll be much happier.
Bus: Taking a bus should be your absolute last resort. You should only consider it when you've
exhausted all your other options. There are basically only 2 up-sides to riding the bus.
First, you can always get a bus ticket at the last minute. Airlines and rental car agencies
will almost always fill up within one to two weeks of the departure date. If you procastinate
long enough, the bus might be your only option. Second, the bus is probably going to be your
cheapest option if you wait until the last second to get your tickets. However, buses are
generally the absolute slowest way to travel. The bus ride from Atlanta, GA to Sacramento,
CA ranges between 3 and 4 DAYS and costs between $200 and $250 dollars. That's over 16 times
slower than flying by air.
What you bring to the tournament is just as important as how you get there. If plan on going
home that night, you can just skip this section. However, if you're going to be staying
overnight, you need to consider carefully what to bring and what to leave behind. Packing
light will make travelling a lot easier, especially if you're going by plane. Try to fit
everything into one bag that's small enough to fit into an overhead bin. That way you save
yourself the hassle of checking baggage on the way in and claming it on the way out. If you
and a group of friends are staying in the same place, it's especially important that you
pack light. Otherwise, the room will be filled with luggage (which is an issue if you need
the floorspace to lay down at night). Here are our recommendations:
- Clothes: Of course, you're going to need something to wear. This should go without
saying, but past experience shows we really need to mention this: bring enough clothes
for the days in which you will be travelling! There's nothing worse than having to double
up on clothes and looking like a slob for the last day or two. Remember, you're going to
a touranment where you'll be in close quarters with a bunch of other guys for long periods
of time. You will not come out smelling very fresh, and have a good liklihood of having
something spilled or rubbed against you at some time during the weekend. Be sure to bring
clothes that are both approprite for the weather and the activities you have planned. For
example, if you live in California and are travelling to a tournament in New Jersey, be aware
that the weather will be SUBSTANTIALLY different. Go to weather.com
and check it out before you pack. If you're planning on going clubbing in NYC on Friday night,
make sure you bring your fancy threads to impress the ladies (or men). Furthermore, it's always good
to have an extra pair of casual clothes for unexpected situations. After a long day sweating
in the arcade, you'll often find yourself in a need of a change at night. Plan ahead.
- Towel: Consider long and hard whether or not you need to bring your own towel. Unless
you're booking your own hotel room (with less than 3 friends) or you're host has already
agreed to provide towels, then you NEED your own towel. Believe me, you don't want to take
a shower and then have to towel off with your dirty clothes from yesterday (GROSS!), or not
be able to take a shower at all (even worse!). Borrowing someone else's towel without
asking is both extremely rude and dangerous. Several people in the past have reported
strange rashes and general discomfort from promiscuous towel use. If your host is the
one who ends up with the rash, he will be MUCH less likely to allow you or anyone else
back into his home in the future. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
- Hygiene products: Make sure you bring these! Toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant,
razor, shaving cream, deodorant, Q-Tips, soap, shampoo, and DEODORANT! That last one
cannot be stressed enough. Bring it and USE it. I don't care if you smell like rosebuds
most of the time, after 12 to 14 hours in the arcade in the heat of a tournament you are
going to smell like a compost heap on a summer day unless you put on some protection. NO
ONE wants to smell your reak and you don't want to embarass yourself, so make sure to put
it on... liberally.
- Sleeping Bag: If you are staying at a friends house or a hotel and don't have a bed guaranteed,
you need to bring a sleeping bag. Sleeping on the floor is uncomfortable enough, but sleeping
on the floor with nothing but your jacket to keep you warm is a special kind of hell reserved
only for the unprepared. With a sleeping bag, you'll find yourself doing much more sleeping
and much less rolling around, trying to warm one side of your body first, and then the other.
- Iron: You really don't want to look like a slob, do you? Packing an iron does wonders, but
is purely optional. You can often achieve the same results by hanging whatever you want to
wear on the door while you're taking a shower and taking advantage of the steam to massage out
any wrinkles.
- Game System + Games: Again purely optional, but nice to have. A lot of people like to
go back to their hotel rooms and beat each other into oblivion after the tournament. If you
bring these, make sure you don't forget any of the cables (it happens more often than you might
think!). Also, the televisions in many hotels ONLY have RF-inputs, so make sure you get an
RCA to RF convertor just in case. They're only $16 at Radio Shack. If you're travelling with
friends or meeting friends there, make sure you work out who's bringing what. Fail to work this
out in advance and you might end up having both people bringing the MAS sticks and neither
bringing the dreamcast.
That's all for this article. Next time we'll talk in more detail about plans you should make
for when you arrive on the scene, including planning where you're going to stay, how you're
going to get around, and how much cash you're going to need.
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