So I decided to blog about my experience of Tomorrowland from preregistering to the actual event and my final thoughts about the trip. I hope this helps people who live in Vancouver who are planning to go next year as well as fellow Canadians. The reason I decided to blog about this experience was because there was very little information that was given to me. I had to go through Tomorrowland website, Facebook page to Reddit pages from the past. So I hope this entry will give a general understanding of how it works from Vancouver, BC.
So around September of 2017, the Tomorrowland page for 2018 was up for you to sign up with your email for future information for Tomorrowland 2018. I signed up with my email during that time. Next step was to preregister which took place on January 9th at 8 am. This was a Tuesday morning and I had to work so I went to work earlier to preregister. Please take this step seriously. Even though many say that you don't need to register right away. I still did just in case. There was about a 5-10 min lag when you get into the site because so many people were trying to register. Eventually you just put your full name, address, email etc. And your preference of the week you wanted to attend. I had no preference but it was my bf's cousin's birthday the first week so we decided to attend week 1. (but this selection doesn't matter, you can change it when you actually sign up and pay)
On January 20th, 2018 this was the first sale for global journey. The sale started at 8 am. Prior to this date I did my research and simulated package ideas on the Tomorrowland page to see the estimated costs. I had to figure out exactly who was going to go with me. At that time we had 4 people who wanted to go but because of costs and timing they weren't able to go. Please make sure you know exactly who is going before this date. Very important to know the cost, your route and your flight info. Also, make sure you call your credit card company to either raise your credit limit if needed and also let them know you will make an international big purchase. Because this will be a big purchase and they might put a hold on your card thinking your card might be stolen and your credit card being used elsewhere.
Here are some examples of research I did before the big day. I first decided it might be cheaper to fly from Vancouver (YVR) to London (LON). The cost was about $473 cad one way flight. Then take the train package from the Tomorrowland site to Brussels, Boom. That would cost another $2281.02 cad that includes the train to Brussels (there and back on the last day of Tomorrowland), bronze hotel, and the full madness comfort pass. And flight back was another: $473 from London to Vancouver. So the approx total was: $3,227.02 cad (estimated). From reading other people's comments you need about $500 USD ($623.51 cad) for spending money there. So total approx: $3850.53 cad. I ended up not booking this way because timing was critical. You need to make sure you arrive around the same time to catch your train. If there is any delays you will miss your train connection.
So I decided to book directly to Brussels from Vancouver. I booked leaving day on Wed July 18th at 3:45 pm and arrive in Brussels on Thursday 19th at 12:45 pm with one layover for an hour at Reykjavik. It cost approx: $1526.01 cad. This included return flight with 2 hr layover at Reykjavik.
Then I booked the hotel package silver at the RED Radisson. I had 2 other people coming with me so I had to book 1 single room and 1 double room. So including the pass it was $2281.52 cad. With $623.51 cad spending money in mind the total for this trip was approx $4431.04 cad.
The reason this package I booked was pricier then the one above it was because my choices was limited during the time of booking. Everyone was trying to book the cheapest packages and my first choice of staying at a bronze hotel was already sold out the time I went to book. So my other option was to go with a silver hotel.
The reason I went with global journey is because we really wanted to guarantee that we got in to Tomorrowland this year. So we were expecting the high prices. Your more than welcome to wait for the upcoming sales of the regular festival tickets and getting Airbnb which would be the cheaper option but to guarantee you a spot is very unlikely. It would definitely be luck of the draw. When you preregister you get to enter into the top 20 of your nationality. But, none of my 4 friends and I got in. When you get into the top 20 you get access to 4 Tomorrowland festival tickets guaranteed.
The big day of the booking was January 20th at 8 am on Saturday morning. I told my 2 other friends to Skype with me at 7:30 am so we can all enter into the sale. The day before I sent everyone an email with my purposed itinerary so everyone can follow suit with how to book and for what. I provided everyone with each other's contact number, full name on passport, address etc. You want to do this because booking time is very limited. Once the clock strikes 8. We all login to our account. We were able to choose the selections we wanted until we hit the hotels. The choices we wanted were sold out so I had to quickly think what other options I had. I was the only one out of the 2 who got into the purchasing area. I quickly typed in everyone's info and clicked purchase. That is when the "wheel of death" showed up. Processing my payment. I crossed my fingers and at that time it was already 30 mins into the booking. I told everyone else to go back to sleep because none of them could enter into the site because everyone else was on hold. About an hour I get an email that confirmed my purchase. I was excited. One very important tip is to be patient and wait! Do not! Do not! refresh the screen. Just keep it on the loading screen. Eventually the purchase will be loaded.
Some very important tips I have:
-make sure you don't share the same IP address, server etc. (very important because I was the only one out of the 2 who got in)
-make sure you wake up 30 mins prior to booking to get everything sorted out
-make sure you use your desktop computer and not an and iPad, phone etc. (you don't want anything running out of batteries, disconnection through WiFi etc.
-make sure you have all your info ready (everyone who is going's contact info, address), your credit card etc.
-make sure you let your credit card company know the big purchase is happening internationally so they don't block your account due to security measures
-do your research, find different ways to lower your costs, research different airline flights, use Ebates to get cashback for your large purchases (check out Skyscanner, kayak, google flights)
-read other bloggers post, watch YouTube videos of how to prepare for Tomorrowland, read posts, join the Fb Tomorrowland page. (don't be afraid to ask questions)
After getting a confirmation page that showed up after the wheel of death it reads that they will send me an email confirmation 10 days later to confirm the details of my trip. I have a feeling I made a few spelling areas which excitedly entering in my friend's info. So make sure you double check the information recorded because you don't want to have any issues getting into Tomorrowland.
