ULTRA = HOME!
It’s almost the start of festival season! While you go through your festival memories of 2017, make now the time to purchase your festival tickets for this year. Not only will this save you hundreds of dollars in the long run, but it will ensure that you can have a healthy budget to accommodate some of the most popular fests in the U.S.
My annual large festival purchase is Ultra Miami. With the 20th anniversary slated for 2018, sleeping on tickets and accommodations until last minute is inadvisable. If you have your Ultra ticket already, congratulations! You are ahead of the game. If not it’s time to dig deep and visit the website to grab that right now. Ultra sells out yearly, and typically in February, however with the 20th anniversary creating so much buzz, sources tell us that an imminent sell out could be earlier rather than later. Payment plans are available for those who wish to go and not drop all their cash in one lump sum. Visit https://ultramusicfestival.com/tickets/miami/ to get those tickets locked in now.
If you have never attended before, Miami is an amazing, yet expensive city for accommodations during Ultra. I highly suggest looking at your budget and planning accordingly. Many hotels in the downtown area are sold out for the weekend. If you can find a hotel downtown that still has availability, I highly suggest that. Ubers and taxi rates are quite high after the festival, and staying close to Bayfront Park has many money saving advantages for those who book their rooms early.
If you prefer to stay on Miami Beach, availability will be much easier to find at this point in the game. Plan to spend at least $50 per ride, and an hour in traffic to travel to the festival. Leaving early is paramount for this option so that you don’t miss the early sets during the day. The benefit to staying on the beach is Miami Music Week pool parties will be much closer to your accommodations. Rideshare with your festfam to Ultra and plan to wait out the Uber surge after the festival has concluded at midnight daily. Book your hotel now, and make sure to check the map of air bnb allowances. Miami is very strict on Airbnb’s and many Ultranauts who book one get canceled on last minute so the price can be increased by double the amount right before the festival. Visit this useful site and click on the short term zoning map to alleviate any concerns. No one wants to stay in an illegal Airbnb. Trust me.
I’ve Officially Been #Columbused
As for air travel, flights are a completely different story. There’s still time to land some great deals. Look to purchase these on a Tuesday (traditionally the best day to purchase air travel) and set alerts on your preferred travel website to watch the cost of flights. Email alerts are a great way to ensure you get the best price for flights to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale airport.
All in all my suggestion is to budget $1500+ for a successful trip to Ultra. Start saving now! It is absolutely worth EVERY PENNY!
Just check out this magnificent lineup, and realize this is only phase one! I can’t wait to see who is announced for phase two! I’ll look forward to seeing all you Ultranauts in Miami!
Originally published on festivalsquad.com
