Airshow Prices

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Ravioli

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Last weekend I went to an airshow at Fort Worth Alliance (KAFW), It was a good show, the Thunderbirds flew, the local youth groups had booths and sold there stuffs. All the good airshow stuff.

And the show was FREE, with two or three levels of upgrades up to $90/day with lunch/beer/wine

So what's my problem?

PARKING WAS $40!

Is this an unusual pricing setup?
 
Car! Good question though, a friend of mine flew in. I'll have to ask if he was charged.

Could be my solution for next year. It's a 6NM trip :)
 
Our most recent airshow was 100% free to the public thanks to many supportive sponsors. There was a VIP area available for pay and included seating, food, and beverages. We even had a free concert between the day and night shows.
 
Still at $40, compared to how much for a ball game or Disney World or other over priced events? It's a great deal. But yeah, free is always better.
 
The Brunswick Show was supposed to be around $50 per person. They threw up a whole ****-ton of No Parking signs on the streets around the airport that are 100% open all year long. Seems like a shady way to force people into paid parking.
 
At one time the parking money was reasonable,and went to a charitable organization ,like the Boy Scouts or a local church group. Now it seems commercial enterprise is trying to capitalize on the event,which could eventually kill the shows.
 
Both shows I've flown into included free parking for GA arrivals on the ramp. Added perk was hob-knobbin with the performers "backstage" and we beat the insane traffic out after the show was done!

Brian
 
I've been known to use my card key to open the gate to the hangars and park there. Being a member of a flying club that is a tenant has its advantages. But, otherwise, they don't charge to park at the air show at KOLM in June.
 
frfly172 said:
At one time the parking money was reasonable,and went to a charitable organization ,like the Boy Scouts or a local church group. Now it seems commercial enterprise is trying to capitalize on the event,which could eventually kill the shows.
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It does take a lot of money to put on an airshow. With the exception of Oshkosh and maybe a few others, I doubt many make a profit. Our last airshow was relatively small, but cost $100,000 and had 15,000 spectators. That works out to $6 per person, figure $20 average per car, just to pay the bills for a small airshow.
 
midwestpa24 said:
It does take a lot of money to put on an airshow. With the exception of Oshkosh and maybe a few others, I doubt many make a profit. Our last airshow was relatively small, but cost $100,000 and had 15,000 spectators. That works out to $6 per person, figure $20 average per car, just to pay the bills for a small airshow.
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Yea, well, as long as you don't advertise it as free then gouge everyone in the parking lot. Advertise $x per car.
 
$40.00 is a little steep, but they do need to pay all the people directing traffic. Well worth it to me for a day hanging around airplanes.
 
I'm used to living and operating in rural communities and small towns where parking is expected to be free if you want people at your business/event/etc. So, for me just asking for money to park is a little irksome to begin with... and anything more than like $5 sets off the internal penny pincher voice "you're getting ripped off! you're getting ripped off!" so bearing that in mind...

Yeah $40 seems ridiculous to me. Sure they have to pay the parking staff.... who are probably paid at or just above minimum wage. Round that $10/hr, figure how many of them there were and about how long they'd have been there. I'm guessing the first dozen cars paid for them.
 
tecprotb said:
$40.00 is a little steep, but they do need to pay all the people directing traffic. Well worth it to me for a day hanging around airplanes.
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Yeah. But I think the thing that instantly annoys me about this is that I sort of expect costs to be related to what I'm doing. The true cost may be around $40, but this allows them to say "admission is free!". I'd rather pay $10 for parking and $30 for admission. Same amount of money, but my sense of fairness is more at ease with that than free admission and $40 for parking. It's not like most airshow parking is paved, or really close.

I dunno. I'm not fooled by 'It's only $4.99" pricing either. It's $5 + tax. :)
 
Last air show I went to I climbed the fence. And got caught (and subsequently removed from) sitting in the VIP area.

I was 33....
 
Probably their way of traffic control. Was there some kind of shuttle service from remote parking areas that were cheaper? What's the public transportation picture there? Were they running extra bus service that day? It sure encourages carpooling. In addition to covering parking lot costs, there are probably a lot more cops on duty in the surrounding areas doing traffic control. If the Tbirds were there, this was one of the "biggie" airshows. I've been to a couple of airshows where the traffic just getting anywhere near the airport was a nightmare.
 
rolivi said:
Car! Good question though, a friend of mine flew in. I'll have to ask if he was charged.

Could be my solution for next year. It's a 6NM trip :)
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If he wasn't charged, he will be. With reckless disregard for the airport manager's wishes. :D

I REALLY wanted to attend this airshow but was shot down because the airport does not allow pilot spectators to fly in. *shrug*
It is on their webpage. They recommend for pilots to fly to other airports in the DFW area and rent a car. *sigh*
This is the first and only airshow I've heard where they shun pilots. And it's not for the lack of parking space. I wonder why exactly but at this point, we are all just guessing.

Sooo ... how did your friend manage to sneak in? I'd love to know (for next year).
 
BigBadLou said:
If he wasn't charged, he will be. With reckless disregard for the airport manager's wishes. :D

I REALLY wanted to attend this airshow but was shot down because the airport does not allow pilot spectators to fly in. *shrug*
It is on their webpage.
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What's their website and is that memo still posted? I'm curious how they enact and enforce that. It's a public use airport, so while obviously it would have been NOTAM'd closed during the show, they would have needed a similar NOTAM for some time before the show to essentially prohibit others from flying in, would they not? And was that the case?
 
No idea how they enforce that. That's why I asked Rob how his friend "snuck in". One must wonder.
And no, I did not actually check any NOTAMs. (partially because I forgot due to other plans)
http://www.allianceairshow.com/GuestInformation/ParkingInfoDirections.aspx

Rob, you probably stumbled into the "Premium" parking lot which charges $40 on the spot (but $20 in advance). Next year, you might want to buy a parking stub in advance to save money. I agree that $40 is pretty high.
Also, how was the turnout? As in: how crowded was the place? Could you see ramp space available possibly for GA parking?
 
@BigBadLou - I placed the call to find out.

We saw a Cherokee 235, my friend's RV-7A, and an RV-6A from the Houston area parked there.

More to come.
 
$40 just to park? F that, I would have kept on going and threw my beer cans out the window in protest.
 
I guess I would view it as your parking and entrance fee. First I have heard of a "free" air show. That being said the $40 is probably accounting for multiple people in the vehicle.

Other than Oshkosh the last airshow I went to was in KC last year...that was a freaking nightmare. ALO has had okay ones in the past. The one at DVN has been run out of town but from what I have heard it was always good. The one that was at AAO was pretty good, especially in the evening when it had cooled down.
 
rolivi said:
Is this an unusual pricing setup?
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Forgot to answer your actual question.
I have only been to a handful of airshows (or two handfuls) but the fees were usually per person at the gate, not in the parking lot.
So I would agree that this is an unusual setup.
 
@BigBadLou - Just heard from my friend. He was invited to have his plane on static display.

No hope for us :(
 
Thank you for the follow-up, Rob.
We (a few pilot friends about one hour from the show) were actually considering flying in IFR on a flight plan with a commercial pilot behind the wheel to "drop off passengers" (ourselves to the show). Then the plane would stay at the FBO until the pax were ready to fly out again (which would coincide with the end of the airshow). But we never got past the beer planning stage. :(

I admit I never checked the NOTAMs so I do not know whether they closed the airport to all GA traffic that weekend. Does anybody know? I wonder what paying pax in charters did, Alliance is a busy airport.
 
We're going to the CAF airshow at KRBD tomorrow, tickets are $32. Dunno about parking, guess we'll find out!
 
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