I have a received an email from singaporegp.sg saying I was entitled for the Singapore GP Tickets Exclusive Sale!

Firstly, thank you very much for helping to make the first Formula One night race such a resounding success. With your continued support in 2009, we hope the FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX will reach even greater heights.

As you may have read in the press, we are testing the new upgraded ticketing system before we start public sales on April 9. As part of the evaluation, you have been randomly selected from the SGP database to have the option to purchase tickets before the public release. All the transactions during this period will allow us to “load” test the system.

So if you were intending to buy tickets for this year’s race, we have
set aside early bird inventory exclusively for you in return for you
booking during the testing period. The prices will be the same as
those offered during the public sales starting April 9.

I don’t know if I should disclose the link and the password but I guess it would not work unless you use my email address.   Having the password and link gives you the advantage to book seats that are more preferred and those with nice view.  I was thinking of posting the link to the beta site and the password but I thought that this would be risky if you did not receive your own mail.  This is because it is under “beta testing” and there might still be some bugs.  If you have not received the email then you may not justify for any complaints in case a problem ocurred with your ticket purchasing. 

 

The ticket sales are so fast! For the bay grandstand that is! I was just deciding wether to buy the 3-day walkabout or the bay grandstand for a PHP 2,500 difference (SGD 80). I was so inclined to buying the Bay Grandstand ticket and this was my final decision! Unfortunately I ended up with a ticket up to the 5th row already (was aiming for the front row!!!) but see onlly a couple of days then the system indicates only 5th row up is available! Then I let it pass for another 3 hours because I re-assesed if I really indeed want the Bay Grandstand and if the SGD 80 is worth the upgrade. After 3 hours I decided that I really want the grandstand and guess what… The ticket availability is already for 6th row up!!! I die die leh… I so regretted that I made my decision so slow!

I have noticed thought that prices did not go lower (as compared to last year) prices for the early bird are the prices at which tickets were sold last year! I bought my Sunday Walk-about pass for SGD 108 for the 2008 Singapore GP. SGD 108 is also the same price being offered for the early bird now but regular rates for it is SGD 128. Click here to view the price changes from last year’s GP. At least singapore GP is transparent about this.   There will be bigger savings though if you buy the Turn 1, 2 and Pit Grandstand just in case you want to spend around PHP 40,000 / SGD 1188 to PHP 42,500 / SGD 1288 (discounted price) to maximize your Formula 1 experience.  Where I want to go though is the “Paddock Club.”  The VIP side.  No tickets can be bought to go here though… XD 

Anyway, I purchased my ticket immediately before I get the far seats! I bought this before April 9, 2009 (the official starting date of the buying of tickets).

Here is a guide for those who are interested in buying the tickets on April 9, 2009.

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Ticketing for the 2009 FORMULA 1â„¢ SingTel Singapore Grand Prix will be released in two parts, each starting with an early bird release, both of which offer significant savings over regular ticket prices.

All grandstands, except for the Bay Grandstand, will be released for sale via selected channels during part one of the ticketing launch on 9 April 2009. This will be followed by part two on 20 April 2009, where the Bay Grandstand and three-day Walkabout tickets will also be released for sale islandwide (see Annex 1)..

In all, a total of 72,000 tickets will be released. This is an increase of 2000 tickets when compared to the initial release last year.

The early bird release will consist of up to 50% of the available inventory for grandstand and walkabout passes. Once the early bird allotment in each area is taken up, the balance in the respective category will be offered at the regular 2009 rates.

“We are fully aware of the need to reflect the realities of the current economic situation. Our objective has always been to make the race as accessible as possible. Singapore GP remains committed to this, hence we will continue to offer various pricing points. For 2009, we have introduced our lowest prices ever and held or bettered 2008 ticket prices,” said Mr. Teo Hock Seng, Chairman of race promoter Singapore GP Pte Ltd (SGP).

In the early bird release of part one, fans will have the opportunity to purchase tickets for Turn 1, Turn 2, Stamford and Pit Grandstands with savings ranging from 7% to 14% when compared with last year. These prices also represent an average of 15% discount on the regular 2009 prices.

Tickets for the three-day Walkabout, Padang, Connaught and Esplanade Waterfront Grandstands have been held at the same price as last year during the early bird release of part one, offering savings of 12% to 29% over the regular 2009 prices (see Annex 2).

This year, the Bay Grandstand will be presented as a one price category, instead of different pricing points for the upper and lower seats as applied in 2008.

The configurations of the Marina, Raffles and Turn 3 Grandstands are being studied to maximise the viewing opportunities due to the recently announced changes which includes revisions to the Pit Lane Exit and Turn 14.

Currently, only three-day season passes are available for grandstands. However, SGP does not rule out the possibility of releasing single day grandstand tickets closer to the race weekend, pending the take-up of the season passes.

Tickets released in part one of the launch will be available for sale via three channels: online (http://tickets.singaporegp.sg), the ticketing hotline (+65 6738 6738) as well as the SISTIC Box Office, located at the Singapore Indoor Stadium from 9 April 2009. They will not be available at the other SISTIC outlets or via SingPost until 20 April 2009.

As the title sponsor of the race, SingTel is offering its customers the chance to purchase a limited number of single day walkabout tickets at early bird prices, before they are officially released for general sale. These will be exclusively available at the SingTel roadshow at Wisma Atria shopping centre from 10 to 19 April. Any remaining early bird tickets will be available for sale in the second part of the general ticket launch.

In part two of the launch, beginning 20 April 2009, the Bay Grandstand and Walkabout tickets will also be available at SISTIC and SingPost outlets island wide. Subject to availability, all other remaining grandstand inventory released in part one and remaining early bird single-day walkabout tickets will also be available for sale.

Ticket holders are advised to visit the official website, www.singaporegp.sg, regularly for updates and detailed information on the various ticket categories.

*source: www.singaporegp.sg

Schedule of Singapore Grand Prix Ticket Sales and Prices:

Part One (April 9-19)
Grandstand: Padang, Esplanade ($598), Connaught ($898), Stamford ($998), Turn 1 and 2
($1,388), Pit ($1,488).

Part Two (April 20 onwards)
Grandstand: Bay ($298). Walkabout: Three-day season pass ($188), Friday pass ($38), Saturday pass
($68), Sunday pass ($128). Early-Bird prices
Grandstand: Bay ($248), Padang, Esplanade ($498), Connaught
($698), Stamford ($898), Turn 1 and 2 ($1,188), Pit ($1,288).

Walkabout: Three-day season pass ($168), Friday pass ($28), Saturday pass ($58), Sunday pass ($108).

The difference between the Singapore Grand Prix 2008 and 2009 Circuit.

Yes indeed this is one of my dissapointments. The main difference between last year’s ticket sales and this year’s is that they no longer offer seats to the Singapore Flyer. This was a total dissapointment for me because to last year, this was where I was stationed.

There were great photography opportunities here too since F1 cars slow down on the dangerous curve at Turn 22.

 

 

 

 

 

I had the walkabout tickets but they provided here bleacher seats and I deemed myelf lucky!!! I have made the most out of my ticket.

Notice the green area for tha walk-about tickets above and compare it with the walk-about tickets on the yellow area below.  It’s sad for me that’s why I considered buying the Bay Area Grandstand.  If the walk-about area is the same as last year’s I would have still bought the same ticket (only for three days).  But potong stim this is >.< I guess it’s one of their marketing / sales tactics.  oh well, back to reality.

 

Summary links:

1.  Purchase Singapore Grand Prix tickets here.

2.  Singapore Grand Prix Ticketing Release Details.

3.  Singapore Grand Prix Early Bird Savings Off 2008 & 2009 Regular Ticket Pricing.

4.  Download the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix night race Circuit map here.

5.  Play Formula 1 online.

6.  View the parade of the stars video captured by me. XD

Last year I have witnessed the first ever night race in the history of Formula 1 Grand Prix in Singapore and I went there to be a spectator on a really really tight budget. I was able to squeeze in a PHP 20,000 (around USD 444) for everything:

Airfare PHP 10,000 (USD 222) *estimated including terminal fee and tax
Lodging PHP 2,536.43 (USD 56.37) *actual
Singapore GP Sunday Ticket PHP 3,569.70 (USD 80) *actual
TOTAL PHP 16,100
*USD amounts may be overstated or understated but at that time, I could buy 1 USD at 45 PHP.
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Anyway, the remaining money was spent on transportation and food XD.  Food is expensive btw.  So we brought with us some cup noodles for our breakfast 🙂

Airfare

I booked a flight at Philippine Airlines on an online promo (booking online at a cheaper rate). The F1 Singapore Grand Prix was held on September but I booked my ticket as early as June! Regular tickets without the promo and if purchased near the event is around PHP 15,000 (USD 333) at that time. So then and there I had a savings of 5k just for the ticket!

Actual fare: USD 216 (this flight included meals yaye)
Plus terminal fee and taxes: 200 + 1,600 (not sure bout exact tax payment because I was so excited to even note this lol)

Lodging

I booked at a hostel and not a hotel! Hotels are really expensive and I think Singapore Law requires them to put up additional mark-up during Singapore GP season. I don’t know though if this extra mark-up goes to the hotel company or to the Singapore government. Anyway I booked online through hostels.com even in June most of the hostels with “en-suite” (private) rooms are booked already! @_@

I was aiming to book for a room for two so that at least I could have a peace of mind. I stayed at Gas 81 hostel. It was a nice experience here and I gave a decent review for it. It is really cheap around PHP 600 (USD 13) a night for a private room and since it is so cheap you should not expect much. I never did! But when I came there at least it had a clean room, although no windows but it is air-conditioned as well.

I had a TV on my room and they provided a universal plug so that I could charge my gears. The best part in the room is that they had unlimited wifi access! Which is a must for a blogger and an online-dependent person like me! In the morning you would spend your time roaming around Singapore. You wouldn’t want to waste your time sleeping even in the expensive comfy hotel room you booked, right? At the end of the day, you just need a comfy bed to sleep with. The bathroom in this hostel, although it’s not designed to please your eyes and it really had no interior design quality to it, is pretty much clean and NOT smelly! Which is good enough for me to just freshen up and take a bath.

Still don’t expect too much on this USD 13 room a night. But still it was good enough for me.

The location of this hostel by the way is far from the heart of the city. I thought this would be a disadvantage but it gave me a nicer experience in Singapore.

The hostel is located at the Residential Area of Singapore. I had the chance to walk around the neighborhood and noticed that it was indeed a pretty safe, peaceful, clean and pleasant place to live in! The houses were humble but nice, people would use bicycles to roam around the area. There’s even a bike shop near our place! I hope we could use bicycles as a normal mode of transportation here in the Philippines as well. It is very environment-friendly.

Along the hostel are a line of restaurants as well. There is also a 7/11 shop at its side.

Another favorite of mine is the sweet and sour (and spicy) pork of this budget restaurant (karinderya) just a minute walk outside the hostel.

Transportation from here is not such a hard thing even if we were away from the center of the city! I had two options:

• have a 10-minute walk to the nearest MRT station (Kembangan). I tried this when we initially tried to commute around and it should be fine walking but the heat was just a killer! It is so hot to walk around Singapore at that time! So, I suggest that you opt for this only if you would walk at night.

• or, to ride a bus just a minute away from the hostel that would take you to the Kembangan station

Click here to know more about the MRT and Bus schedules and fares and more.

Singapore Grand Prix Ticket

I only purchased the Sunday walk-about tickets.  To me, I just needed the day pass to the race itself and that’s what I bought indeed.  The neck strap of the non-walk about tickets though were much nicer XD  The most expensive ticket though (the Pitstop Grandstand) costs around PHP 45,000 to PHP 50,000 (USD 1,100). XD and that does not include access to the Padock Club Area.

I was happy with the ticket I bought! I really got a nice glimpse of the Formula race as I was sitting at a corner along the Singapore Flyer Zone. The price of my ticket is the minimum price for the Sunday race itself yet I get to be at a very nice location! The ticket was all worth it! The Flyer zone also had many events and entertainment along as we wait for the final championship! There were dancing and music and lots of food everywhere!

We also witnessed a car crash on the porsche competition which was a “side race” and it was just amazingly mad!

On this 2009 season though… I am not so happy about the new ticket sales. The walkabout area was wide and you could access up to the Singapore Flyer. I just received a mail yesterday about the new Singapore ticketing information and I was dissapointed because the walkabout tickets does not include the Flyer zone anymore… Boleh! >.<

I will post about it more on my next entry. I will also try (hope I have the time) to make a post about tips if you are planning to watch the Singapore Grand Prix on September 2009.

If you have been to the Singapore Grand Prix before and you think you can contribute by giving additional tips, kindly do so by commenting below.

Strategically Position yourselves.  Know where to sit or stay at the Formula1 Grand Prix.

USEFUL LINKS:

1.  Click here to go to the best F1 Fansite I ever know in the world!

2. My gallery of the 2008 Singapore Night Race! (Warning, pictures are copyrighted.  You may however ask permission if you would need to use the picture or just credit my site flaircandy.com)

3.  Buy Singapore GP Tickets! Tickets are available for purchase for the earlybirds at a discount on April 9, 2009.  However, randomly selected persons who are beta testers to the new Ticketing system may now purchase the tickets. NOW! as I type this lol

4.  List of Hostels in Singapore and the availability of rooms for the F1 Season on September 2009.  Hostels in Singapore are generaly decent and safe 😀

5. List of Hotels in Singapore. Click the link if you want to have an idea at how much the Hotels in Singapore cost. There are some cheap hotels as well and you still might want to consider booking in a hotel if hostels just don’t work for you.