How to Get the Best Tickets to the Olympics

If you’ve been thinking about experiencing the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro this summer, don’t wait any longer to plan your trip. The best hotels are nearly sold out. Luckily, one of our Trusted Travel Experts for Brazil, Martin Frankenberg—a Brazil native based in São Paulo, with an office in Rio—just dropped us a line to share some good news and useful tips.

As we explained in our how-to-plan article last summer, Olympic tickets and hotel bookings are available only through Authorized Ticket Resellers (ATRs)—and even back then nearly all of the hotel rooms were already spoken for by the International Olympic Committee and its long list of VIPs, sponsors, and staff.

The news is that Martin can now officially sell tickets and book hotels for you—and he has access to the hotels you’d actually want to stay in. At the time of this writing, he can still get travelers into the Sofitel, the Caesar Park, and the new Grand Hyatt. A few other new-for-the-Olympics luxury hotels—including the Trump and the Emiliano—are expected to open soon, too, possibly bringing a few more room options.

As for events, Martin notes that you can still buy tickets to just about everything, even the most popular events like the opening ceremony. (The only two not available at this time are the men’s tennis final and the men’s basketball final.) Of course, certain events come with big buzz and matching prices. For example, while the initial round of gymnastics will cost you only $300–$400, the finals round for sprinter Usain Bolt is more like $3,000. The most expensive tickets go up to about $7,000.

Fortunately, prices for official tickets are regulated, and if you buy through Martin you’ll pay the set price plus a transparent handling fee and be assured that your tickets are legitimate. You’ll also be buying what’s known as VIP hospitality tickets. That means they come with a few perks:

• the best available Category A seats
• access to the event’s hospitality lounge for food and beverages
• a pass to use the VIP mini vans in Rio’s Olympic driving lane—which means you won’t be stuck in traffic as you travel between events

We recommend reaching out to Martin via this Trip Request Form because then you’ll be identified as a Wendy Perrin traveler, which brings a few additional benefits. You’ll be set to have the best possible experience in Brazil.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.