There's still time to book a trip to the Olympics

LAURA BLY, GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

Originally published Sunday, January 20, 2002

Sports fans still waffling over a trip to Salt Lake City's Winter Olympic Games needn't worry about being left out in the cold.

Ticket brokers are hawking a broad selection of events, while airlines and resorts continue to dangle discounts in a last-ditch bid to convince skiers that there's room both on and off the slopes.

To be sure, many ticket and lodging choices already are gone. According to Olympic organizers, more than 85 percent of available tickets have been sold, including most gold-medal events. Prime hotel rooms in Salt Lake City, a 45-minute drive from most venues, were snapped up early, too.

And tour packagers are reporting an 11th-hour flurry of interest: Boston-based Target Sport Adventures (www.targetsport.com; 800-832-4242) says January sales of its $999 "Winter Games Packages" -- three nights in a Park City hotel or condo, airport transfers and tickets to two Olympic events -- are running one-third higher than December, which itself had twice the business of the previous three months.

But a flagging economy and post-Sept. 11 security jitters, coupled with a historical propensity for out-of-state skiers to bypass Olympic venues in the winter the Games are held, are prompting plenty of wheeling and dealing. What procrastinators can expect:

- Event tickets: They're evaporating through the Olympic organizing committee's official channels, including its Web site (www.saltlake2002.com), phone (800-842-5387) and some three dozen Salt Lake City-area ticket outlets. Many events are sold out, including such high-profile choices as men's bobsledding, snowboarding, and men's and women's giant slalom.

But many other sessions -- including, as of last week, the opening and closing ceremonies -- still have seats. An Olympics-sanctioned ticket auction on eBay (where earlier winning bids have gone for five times face value) listed more than 50 items earlier this week, including front-row seats to the men's hockey final.

Unofficial ticket suppliers, meanwhile, are scrambling. Scalping is legal in Utah, and brokers plan to open storefronts throughout the Salt Lake City area.

- Lodging: Olympic organizers and corporate sponsors have relinquished some blocked hotel space, and about 5,000 hotel rooms are still available within a two-hour drive of Salt Lake City. Private homes and condos are plentiful, too -- even at resorts hosting Olympic events. And owners who had hoped to go for the gold are lowering their sights: ResortQuest International (www.parkcityski.com; 800-401-9913) just dropped prices for a two-bedroom-plus-loft Park City town house to $350 per night on selected dates in February, a 40 percent savings.

- Airfares: Would-be spectators still can land some flight deals: Online agency Orbitz recently tracked prices in several markets for flights Feb. 9-25 and found that some airfares actually dropped.

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