#BONTHEGEAUX
Coachella
Two important things: Coachella is over and that is very disheartening; secondly, it is already time to start planning for 2019!
After seeing all the pictures of flower crowns, the Ferris Wheel, and Fashion Nova fits you may be wondering is it even worth the hype. The answer is yes.
I read an article not too long that listed out other trips to go on instead of spending your money on ‘Chella. That’s cool and all but if you’ve never done it or more so done it right then it’s easy to say that. It’s almost like going to a festival and not wanting to there to be tons of people, lines, or hot in California. It’s not happening. That kind of stuff that kind of comes with the territory.
Personally the few days in the valley are some what ethereal. It is a sense of pure happiness and joy in the air mixed with grass and dirt but still...joy. If you are thinking about going #BONTHEGEAUX: Coachella is here to help you kick off your plan and make some decisions. This is part 1 to help you outline your plan and as the year goes on I will be dropping other information and sheets to get you in order quickly. In the meantime and between time, if you have questions feel free to reach out via IG @thebrittanyb_ or email at greetings@thebrittanyb.com
As always, stay classy my friends
XO Brittany B
CONTENTS
Weekend 1 or Weekend 2
Securing Your Tickets
Housing for Coachella
Planning Travel
Budgeting
Leading up to Coachella
weekend OR
2
1
WHICH ONE?
weekend
The great debate that has gone on for years! Which is better? What should you choose? Is there really a difference? Both have pros and cons but if you are going with a group of people, large or small, before tickets even go on sale you need a plan, and it starts with deciding which tickets you are going to get. There is no price difference in weekend, just between General Admission and VIP. I don’t think it’s necessary to do anything other than GA but more power to you and your coins if VIP is your thing.
The short run down‌.
1
Obviously the pro of choosing Weekend 1 is that you see everything before the second weekend. The acts aren’t ruined for you via social media because you are there living it the first go-around. It also seems that there more parties the first go around from what I discovered with both my Coachella Party Guides. Weekend 1 tends to be a larger crowd and ticket sales can get difficult if you don’t plan correctly. Weekend 2 still has plenty of options of things to do, but the crowd is a little smaller than opening weekend. You do get the same acts but the surprise guests could be different. Even though you may have seen some of the shows online, the good thing is they have tweaked issues and smoothed over performances. Although a tad dusty from the gang of people trampling the grounds days before, you also have time to get the skinny on what to check out around the grounds, more time to prep, and generally an easier
2
experience to get tickets.
SECURING YOUR
TICKETS
Purchasing your tickets can go one of two ways‌ seamless and stress free when you have a phone,
It seems it’s as easy as going to the website, choosing a
weekend, clicking purchase, and celebrating but lol..nah. iPad, and computer going or It really is a thought out process especially if it is a potentially like your life is group of people going. No being held on by strings child left behind does not when you have a phone, apply to Coachella. Now that iPad, and computer going. you have decided on a The true emotional roller coaster that Heather Headley weekend as a singular was howling about was person, unit, or whole nation buying tickets for Coachella. of Wakanda, where do you go from here?
Follow Coachella on Instagram and Twitter for the ticket sale dates.
The pre-sale that occurs in June allows you to do two things: get your tickets before the regular release in January; two, you can choose to do the payment plan to pay a portion upfront and set monthly payments after. If you do the payment plan make sure you always update your card info if anything changes.
Create your festival ticketing account prior to the release date. Makes the process smoother
The day of purchase is there! You’ve made it. Make sure that you are in a space you have a great signal or WIFI that is of Herculean strength. Your squad needs to be locked and loaded ready to go and get tickets for each other if necessary. Have a plan of who is getting what, and for who. You can only get two tickets in a transaction.
Be prepared to wait. Ticket sales are in Pacific Time (PT) so plan accordingly. Personally I block off my calendar during that time as busy so that I am less likely to be interrupted by my job because Coachella > work. If you’ve been paying your tithes and are blessed you potentially can get in and out quickly. I’ve seen waits as little as three minutes and as long as 40. If you didn’t get your desired tickets your first time, don’t fret, yet. There is the regular sale that happens in January. However, the payment plan doesn’t apply to these sales.
Hous As soon as you get tickets the next step is to procure housing or potentially choose camping . You want to have first pick of what is available. Personally my group bought tickets and then secured housing within the following two weeks. On average most people spend $300-$450 per person for the duration of their stay . The earlier you plan and budget for this trip the better because frankly it is costly CAMPING If you choose to camp, you purchase your pass for the grounds and there is a certain check-in window for you to set up your site. There is also special RV parking. If you camp there are showers on the ground or if you choose to rent a Juicy Van, you can also get a portable shower. If you plan to do that, make sure you get up early to avoid the rush. Camping isn’t for me personally, but it seems as though it is extremely convenient to roll over and already be at the fest. The camp “streets” are also labeled to make it easy to find other friends or give directions.
Hotels If it is four people or less a hotel may make sense. There are plenty of options in Palm Springs and surrounding areas but are also costly. A lot of the locations do Coachella packages available
sing
for
COACHELLA HOUSES
Options are plentiful for renting a house. Prices sky rocket during Coachella double to triple of what the cost usually is so be prepared for the inflation of both the base cost and deposits. If you want a house that is for a large amount of people to fit comfortably do not wait until January to secure. Housing dwindles day by day. Sites such as HomeAway make it easy for booking and setting up payment plans.
Palm Springs/Cathedral City A lot of the larger group houses are located here. A forty minutes drive outside of Indio, the majority of the day parties are hosted at hotels/spaces in Palm Springs. There are shuttle passes you can purchase with your Coachella tickets to transfer back and forth as well as taking Ubers/Lyft.
La Quinta/Indio Closer to the festival grounds, these areas are full of houses on Golf Courses and private estates. Easy to drive and/or uber back and forth from the house to the festival. Granted as close as it is, one of the days that I drove it took about 30 minutes to get to the parking lot due to back to back traffic. At night it was less than ten minutes to get back to the house.
LAX The most popular, Los Angeles Airport is about 2 hours to infinity to/from Palm Springs depending on traffic. Don’t be one of the horror stories of missing your flight because you left too late. Book your flight for later in the day to give you some forgivingness with post ‘chella traffic. There is a train you can take the Amtrak to Palm Springs from LA.
Santa Ana A smaller airport, it has less traffic than LA and about a two-three hour drive as well. The downside is the flights tend to be more expensive and they are not as frequent as LAX.
Palm Spring Airport Probably the priciest of the three depending on where you are flying from, it is also the most convenient as far as travel time and not having to deal with all of the thousands of drivers on the road.
PLANNING
There are three Airports that are close by to fly into. For LAX and Santa Ana you will have to rent a car to get to Palm Springs/Indio/La Quinta/Coachella Area.
TRAVEL
BUDGETING By now you’re probably saying to yourself “hey all of this sounds great but how much does it cost and why in the entire hell didn’t I tell you up front?’’ Simply put I’m a wild boy and can tell you Coachella is amazing and it’s worth the money. Fin.
Realistically it’s about a $1500 Trip. Below is a simple breakdown of a budget. You may luck up and save money in some areas like flights and housing so it is a general overview to give you a good idea for planning purposes. If you come in cheaper, kudos!
Ticket (GA)
$430
Housing
$400
Flight
$300
Groceries/Liq
$75
Rental/Gas
$100
Misc
$200
(merch, food, vices)
Total
$1505
LEADING‘Chella up to
If you got the early sale and secured housing, you will be coasting for a while in anticipation of you wonderful fairytale weekend in Coachella, CA. If you are missing one or the other or even both, you still have time. Keep an eye out for people selling tickets, the January sale, and housing.
Leading up to the festival, there are some important things to keep your eyes wide open for:
1) January Sales (for your friends)
2) Line up of Artist 3) Coachella Food (I like snacks so I put it on the list) 4) Set Times (the week of) 5) Your list of things you need. Check out my blog post titled 30 Days Til Coachella. It gives a complete list of everything you will need out in the Valley. 6) Part two of this guide that will get you through the festival. Getting into parties, grocery lists, and more. As always, I got y’all!
ABOUT #BONTHEGEAUX
(pronounced be on the go) Travelogs by Accustomed are a series of magazine-style guides that give readers information on various travel related topics . These detailed guides contain areas such as basic planning needs, restaurant
suggestions, transportation knowledge, and more of social events and travel destinations. Founded in 2017 by Brittany B, Accustomed Travel aims to assist the young millennial traveler by creating custom itineraries from start to finish for single or group trips, taking the hard work out of the who, what, when, how, and why out of your vacation. Check out the these other free guides via my Resource Library by visiting www.thebrittanyb.com. Also read on my various trips, tips, and experiences on the blog. •
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Coming Soon: Dallas Brunch Guide, Chicago City Guide, Costa Rica, and Belize
For more information or questions, please email me at greetings@thebrittanyb.com
-XO