mini (very mini) rant

[ceagle]

I say mini, because I'm not knocking the cons themselves... as entities their reputations for fun are good... but, why are these bloomin' European cons So Expensive?? $140 for Eurofurence and $122 for ConFuzzled.. that's about THREE times more than USA cons! .. PLUS, ya got all that extra travel expense! ... Do they figure "hey, they are going to pay all that extra money anyway, so our higher price is relatively less noticeable than, say, if their travel cost was lower?" ... just theorizing here..
I've gone to every single FurtherConfoo and it's always been $35 for the entire con!! (this year was the first time they raised the rates, and only by $5) ... and travel cost for me is under $50, whereas E.F. is more like $1,500.. and ConFuzzled is looking like it'd be $1,200.
Travel cost is less significant when you write it into the whole 'vacation expense' thing, but I still don't understand why the actual con costs are SO much higher.. It's not the exchange rate, because that is not 3x higher... so, um... why?

Comments

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

My understanding was that, originally at least, EF included your hotel stay in the cost of registration. This was because space was limited to the number of beds available in the hostel where it was held. I don't know whether that's still the case since they now have open enrolment and allow people to stay at the hotels around the area, but that may be part of the price factor.

[hastka.livejournal.com]

It's Europe, everything is more expensive. :P

You're just such a jet-setter.

I went to the first couple FCs through 2001ish. Sorta miss being out west, but what can ya do. :P

[marymouse.livejournal.com]

Have no idea about ConFuzzled - but I do believe Eurofurence does include your hotel. Considering a typical furry con hotel stay is about $400+ for 4 nights (Thurs-Mon), that's not bad. I know they have you room with people at EF, so it probably just evens out as if you had roommates at a US con.

Unfortunately, cons can't control the flight prices - those are even getting ridiculous in the US!

[atkelar.livejournal.com]

Well... there's a number of reasons for that. From what I gather, in the US it is more "common" to write "minimum amounts" to the price tag and imply that there's taxes to be paid as well, with some services maybe even paid by the customer.
In Europe we usually have prices that include all taxes/fees and whatnot and if you have a valid reason to skip on any of these you might have to take it to the billing department.
That and - of course - just about everything costing more over here. Earn your money in Europe, spend it in the US. That's the way to stretch it ;)

[orv.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of how it irks me when Europeans use how few Americans travel outside the US as evidence of how provincial and isolationist we are. I always wonder if they have any concept of how massively expensive it is to travel to Europe from the US. I mean, it's one thing if you already live in Europe and can just drive to another country. A European vacation is out of reach of most Americans financially.

[sayh.livejournal.com]

I'd say. $35 for a con is absurdely cheap. For Confuzzled to pay $122 for a con sounds much more what I'd expect to pay for a con. With all the work that goes into organizing such an event, expecting prices down to $35 is not what you should, I believe.

Secondly, I do really not think that Confuzzled and Eurofurence was put up with Americans in questions, so the thought that they are expencive because travel cost also are expencive is probably not too valid :) Me and Swan are not able to afford attending the US cons. Cost WAY too much to travel, Flights to the European cons were as low as $100 both ways. So Confuzzled was quite cheap for us compared to what a US con would be.

[sayh.livejournal.com]

I can't just opt and drive to England for Confuzzled! I could in theory drive to Eurofurence, but it would take a full day to do so.

And I can't help how messed up the US economy is. Even as a student, I travelled to the US and Australia. Why should these things be so out of reach for americans, but not us?

[sayh.livejournal.com]

Flight prices within Eurpe is absurdly cheap OvO

[orv.livejournal.com]

Heh, as a student I was lucky if I could afford to travel to the next state by car. All my money went to tuition and living expenses. I'm still paying off the loans.

[sayh.livejournal.com]

I could afford going to Australia. I could NOT, however, afford having a car. Cars are rather expensive here. OvO
I am still paying off my loan too :) Though tuition is free, living expenses are not. And I pay taxes now so that others can get free tuition too :P

[sayh.livejournal.com]

Also, a con that is 5 times bigger could cost a lot less, you dont need 5 times more organizational costs.

[orv.livejournal.com]

I didn't own my own car in college either. I borrowed my parents'. I went to college in a town of 7,000 that was 100 miles from any other city of any size, so it was difficult to get by without transportation.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

I guess that shows a bit of the trade-off right there... our con prices are seen as absurdly cheap, and your in-Europe airfare is absurdly cheap... so I guess it's all a matter of purrrspective :D

[blue-lory.livejournal.com]

Wow! OMG! C's human! ;) I don't think I've ever heard you complain publically or whine publically for that matter... proof that you are very very Californian! ;)