Enough is enough

[Old Timer]

Just went to book my tickets. Last year my wife's ticket was $75, this year it is $110!!!

How can you justify a 50% price rise? Do you want to chase the spouses away? Bad idea!!

Oshkosh used to be affordable. Ive been coming since the early 1980's and finally I have been priced out.

[steveinindy]

Sorry to hear that. Such is the economy we live in though thanks largely to the gouging the oil industry has been giving us.

However, I will ask if a $35 increase breaks the bank, how can you afford to fly?

[Old Timer]

I can't affored to fly, that's why I belong to EAA

[Jeff Point]

It appears that they have eliminated the discount on the spouse's admission, which has been in place for a long time. Anyone at HQ care to comment on this?

[Mike M]

I can't afford to fly, that's why I belong to EAA

concur. wholeheartedly.

[martymayes]

Sorry to hear that. Such is the economy we live in though thanks largely to the gouging the oil industry has been giving us.

[insert 'rolls eyes' emoticon here.....]

However, I will ask if a $35 increase breaks the bank, how can you afford to fly?

To you it's $35, to him is a 50% increase. I think his comments are justified and deserve an explanation.

[RV8505]

I guess you never been to Disneyland. $90.53 per day. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/tickets-passes/ Personaly I think it has become more expensive because of the spouses. Air conditioning, Splashdown toilets, Bands, Trams, kidventure. I guess it is a necessary evil if you want to spend a week around planes. I think $110.00 for a week of entertainment is a pretty good value.

[Jim Clark]

I really grow tired of the Disney comparison. There simply is nothing to compare. Disney is a for profit business that has invested hundreds of millions to create an experience that enough people in a country of 300 million are willing to go to once every generation. Airventure is a fundraising event supported by it's members and vendors every year. Everyone pays and it is getting over the top for many of our brethren. Airventure is a business that will stretch the prices until returns diminish. That is not an improper business model but it should be questioned and reviewed when a membership supported organization whose core mission is to expand involvement in private aviation prices itself beyond the reach of some of its members. I appreciate Old Timers post and we all need to consider his concerns.

[Sawdust]

I really grow tired of the Disney comparison. There simply is nothing to compare.

I agree - this is WAYYY better than Disney at a fraction of the cost. I've been to OSH four times now, and my total cost for a 9 days of more opportunities than I can consume is extremely reasonable, especially compared to any other activity of it's type. I get airplanes, nightly entertainment (multiple options), Airshow, museum, personalities, camping, and so much more at a price much lower than about any other type of vacation I can come up with. And the best part is that by doing so, I'm supporting the organization that supports me.

[steveinindy]

[insert 'rolls eyes' emoticon here.....]

Roll your eyes if you like, but it's probably more accurate than you want to admit. Airshow aircraft tend to suck a lot of fuel and that fuel hasn't gotten cheaper.

To you it's $35, to him is a 50% increase. I think his comments are justified and deserve an explanation.

I agree it's justified to ask. I just was asking a similar question.

To anyone it's a 50% increase (or if you want to be picky, something like a 46.66666% increase). I wasn't aware he wasn't a pilot and it amuses me that those of us who are and freely spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on their hobby get ticked over pocket change increases in the cost of their vacation.

This must be the same ostrich approach that gave us the out of control debt in Washington. Must be nice to be able to just ignore these things......

I've yet to see a "fiscally conservative" politician except at election time. All of them have their heads crammed somewhere and it isn't in sand.

As for the "ostrich approach" to the EAA and Airventure: if you're so unhappy with the organization and it's events, there's a really simple solution to your frustration. Keep your money, don't be an EAA member and don't attend Oshkosh. If it's a sinking ship, well...you know the analogy.

I'm more than willing (like Chuck pointed out) to pay $110 to get to see planes I don't see anywhere else, support the EAA in it's mission and have every conceivable vendor I could ever need as a designer and builder in one location. Hell, I leave every year with way more "free" stuff than I ever spend on attendance and that includes the gas it takes to get there.

As far as aviation conferences and events goes, this is probably the cheapest one out of the year that I attend (since I don't just go to regular local "zoom zoom" airshows).

Like I said in the other thread, live together as brothers and sisters or perish apart as fools.