Badminton Prices - Too High?

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Pablo349

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Hi Everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone else, like me, will not be going to Badminton this year due to the prices being extraordinarily high. I have been going every year for the past 4 years for one day of the event. However this year with prices being very expensive our family wont be going. Even booking on-line is still expensive. We're just going to TRY to save for the Olympics!
Anyone else going to be watching the event on the TV instead of going this year?
 
1 day at Alton Towers will set you back £31.68 yet people perceive Badminton as expensive? You still have to pay for food etc on top of everything at Alton Towers.

At Badminton you get a lot for your money and the more people you go with the cheaper it is for the car parking. At Badminton you can be there for the whole day which £ per hour makes it excellent value and there are ways to cut costs like sharing a car, buying tickets online and taking a picnic. Its also possible to print off the entries so you do not need a guide and a semi decent radio will pick up radio Badminton for commentary.
 
Does anyone know if you are allowed in free on the thursday because you are a BE member? it says £10 a car on the website, but surely as it is the grassroots, and not the 4* weshould get in?
 
I've been probably 3-4 times now and have enjoyed it. For me though it's more the time it takes to get there that puts me off and TBH I think I can probably see more on the red button xx
 
abenton said:
Does anyone know if you are allowed in free on the thursday because you are a BE member? it says £10 a car on the website, but surely as it is the grassroots, and not the 4* weshould get in?
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We're going on Thursday - according to the Badminton website personal admission is free - you just pay £11 for the car pass.
 
I'm going camping there for the 3rd year in a row, and it actually struck me how reasonable it is (I'm a skint student). It's just the food there that I find ridiculous - will be trying to take as much of my own food as possible this year.
 
For food take a stroll through the local produce/food world tents - prices there are a fraction of those at the food stands. Fairly certain it was Badminton last year - decent portion of paella £3.50 (queue was large though), venison burger £4.00 (from the Badminton estate stand iirc). Could also get a cheese and some bread if you bring serving implements. Also the mexican place which has been by the big screen for the last couple of years is relatively reasonable in the grand scheme of event catering.

For a big sporting event tickets are pretty cheap - my season pass is £43 for all 4 days. Car pass not horrific either. You'd pay far more for 1 football match, and parking for that sort of thing is a real killer.
 
Having been a Badminton attendee almost every year since the early nineties, last year I decided to have a change and go to Burghley. I'm luck that they're both about the same distance from me, and I have to say I don't think I'll bother with Badders again! The last few times I went to Badminton it was a bun fight - far too many people, fences all bunched together so I couldn't see a thing, shopping village totally packed... Burghley felt far more civilised - the fences are evenly spaced so I could watch a couple at each fence and move on, the shopping village wasn't so vast I could only get to see half of it... Definitely back to Burghley for me this year, I don't resent paying the money half as much!
 
Just looking at the prices - Badminton is CHEAPER than Burghley. Admittedly there's about £2 in it, but still cheaper...

The only difference is the free access to the SJ at Burghley, but that doesn't save that much compared with the need to stand in the stand most of the day! For me Badminton is closer - I have free accommodation (aka a floor) a similar distance to either and if I didn't Badminton is less restrictive for camping - you can use a tent, horsebox or camper van rather than having to have or hire a caravan.

I do like both, and try to make it to at least 1 or preferably both...
 
I go on xc day to badders (to be fair, it's the only one "close" to me!), I think the ticket prices are very fair and I absolutely love it!

all I ate last year there was a bacon butty from a van first thing
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I don't remember the prices being too expensive, but then I didn't pay for it lol
 
Badminton isn’t that much! Although I may go on Friday this year as I’m utterly skint (emergency tax rate, paying out an extra £250 a month at the moment, not good!)

We always car share and it tends to be who ever isn’t driving (we take turns) pays for the car pass.

For watching actual XC I have to say I LOVE Gatcombe, a picnic on the hill over looking the water and you can see at least half a dozen without moving!
 
I agree that the prices are too high. Having been several times to cross-country day in the late 1990's/early 2000's, the last time I went was the very dry year when most of the Brits pulled out and I vowed then that I would never go again. Having left home at 6am and arrived off the motorway near Badminton before 8.30am, I was so frustrated to queue for well over a hour to get in, and then only see about half the field compete.

Since the price per person came in, instead of the price per carload, there is no incentive for people to car share, so the traffic congestion has become much worse.

I don't care that the cost is comparable with a football match or Alton Towers - I can't afford to do those things either as my horse and family need to eat.

What I am more likely to do is to arrange a holiday in the Loire Valley in France to co-incide with the 3* at Saumur, where it cost 10 Euros per person for cross-country day - how come they can do it cheaper than Bramham or Blenheim?
 
I'd guess Saumur etc have funding from local councils as the French local councils tend to give really good backing to local sporting events. And you've got the Departmental and Regional Councils rather than just the county council in the UK. Hence different prices

I always aim to get there for about 7 or so on the XC day, so traffic isn't really an issue, and I dawdle out at the end. I usually walk the course, hanging around in places with a big screen or a complex and have always enjoyed it. Worth every penny IMO. Even in pelting rain (coat, waterproof trousers).
 
The prices don't bother me. I go to Badminton, Burghley, Bramham, Olympia etc every year. It is quite expensive but i throughly enjoy them so its worth the money. We always stay in a nice cottage near badminton for 7 days around the event and have a real good time.
 
Wishful said:
Just looking at the prices - Badminton is CHEAPER than Burghley. Admittedly there's about £2 in it, but still cheaper...
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They are pretty much the same price aren't they??? If you pay on the gate, ticket and car entry is the same price everyday except for SJ day when Burghley is £2 more. But the rest of the days its identical.
 
Being Lincolnshire born and bred I'm a proud Burghley girl, but I love Badders too and to my mind it isn't pricey for a fantastic day out, but I suppose if you have to travel a fair way it would be expensive given fuel on top
 
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