USMNT Gold Cup Plans

Many have asked, "Why do Gold Cup? It doesn't count this year." My response: "Why not? I can afford it." Gold Cup is a tricky tournament for the traveler, with four games across the USA, a semi-final (for which we have to qualify), and a final (for which we have to qualify). I'll be traveling with David (American Outlaws San Diego President); having someone to share the bills definitely makes it easier, although I am lucky I can also schedule work in between as well!

July 9th Portland: I have scheduled a couple of site visits in Washington already, so I am fortunate in that work will pay for my inbound and outbound flights, as well as the rental car (cheaper to fly me to Portland and pay for rental car versus coming home). I still need to book a hotel, although I have my eye on a Doubletree hotel downtown. Once I get about 900 more Hilton points, I'll be able to book. [Trying to get those last few points is always the hardest!] There's currently a Living Social deal available today only - $99/night is not a bad rate, and the hotel's less than 2 miles from the stadium. You could always take a cab and party downtown; I'm sure it'd be cheaper than parking at the stadium.

July 13th Salt Lake City: It's funny how I've never been to Salt Lake City in my life, but within a month's time span, I will visit twice. I am not sure what SLC did to get two USMNT games, but they were sure lucky (not that I am jealous or anything LOL). A rental car was booked using points, my inbound flight's paid for by work, and my outbound flight was paid using miles. I've booked a Homewood Suites downtown; for some hotels, Hilton lets you book a partial rate and points, so our rate is $40/night. For those who are unfamiliar with Homewood Suites, they're pretty decent. You get free breakfast, free light dinner and alcohol Monday through Thursdays (pending state law), a fully equipped kitchen, big fridge, dishwasher, and most importantly for us - coin laundry. Since we'll be on the road for 16 days (according to Worldmate - wonderful travel app!), easily accessible laundry is a must. Homewood Suites tend to be reasonably priced. Had I paid, the cheapest rate available is $84/night - not bad at all! This hotel also puts us about 5 blocks from the AO bar.

July 16th Hartford: From Salt Lake we go to Hartford. Thankfully I had miles to use or else the United airfare would have cost around $500! We made the decision to stay in Salt Lake City longer and leave for Hartford on July 15th (instead of flying into Hartford on the 14th) mainly because the hotel was cheaper in Salt Lake. Ten minutes walking distance from the AO bar, the Hartford Homewood Suites downtown is about $300 (thank goodness for points)!

At this point in the trip, the question is, what do you do? The next game, the quarterfinal, is in Baltimore on July 21st, almost a week later. It seems silly while on the east coast, to go home to Houston or for my San Diego companion, all the way back to the west coast. So what did I do? Schedule a site visit in Boston. Boston is less than a two hour drive from Hartford. This means work will pay for the rental car in Hartford, hotel/meals/ground transportation in Boston, and my flight from Boston to DC. :-)

July 21st DC - From Boston to DC, it's pretty cheap to travel. A one-way, 1.5 hour flight on US airways is $81 between the two cities. You can take the train, but the train is only $10 cheaper and an eight hour journey. In addition, the rental car (paid by work) has been booked for pickup at DCA; rarely do train stations have rental car companies on site. The Baltimore stadium is about 45 minutes away from DC. One may ask why I decided to fly into DCA instead of BWI, and the simple answer is that we are staying with a friend. Thankfully she has agreed to put up with us for a weekend, as I'm out of hotel points at this stage. She'll also have a washer/dryer in her apartment, which is definitely a plus. We'll arrive on a Friday and leave on the Monday after game day; I look forward to exploring DC. It's actually one of my favorite cities with lots of cheap, free things to do (thanks to my tax dollars!). I used miles to book my flight to Houston, my home.

For David, things are a bit trickier living on the west coast. He'll book his flight after the quarterfinal in Baltimore. If the USA wins, he'll book a flight to Houston so he can stay with me for free. If the USA loses, he'll book a flight home to San Diego. While this may seem like we are cursing the USA or have little faith, keep in mind, we were at the Olympics' semi-final and final in KC last year when the USA did not qualify.

Should the USA qualify for the semi-final on July 24th, it's an easy drive to Dallas from Houston (about 4-5 hours). At this time, I have not decided if I myself will drive and stay overnight at a friend's place. I am also working on a charter bus trip for the AO Houston chapter, so this is another option as well.

The final is in Chicago on July 28th. I am currently awaiting work, but most likely I will be able to schedule a visit on July 29th (which means work would pay for hotel, flights, etc). I would fly early into Chicago on game day mainly because there is a Houston Dynamo game on July 27th. Ironically, the Dynamo play Chicago Fire in Houston on the 27th. Too bad the game isn't in Chicago or else we could've had a potential double-header (reminiscent of Chicago 2009 when there was a Dynamo game on a Friday night & USMNT WCQ game on a Saturday night). Often, I am asked if I am club over country or country over club, and the answer is that I am equally both. I am a season ticket holder for Houston Dynamo, and I attended all USA domestic home games last year except one (Brazil friendly in DC). My actions speak for themselves.

In a nutshell, those are my gold cup plans. I look forward to seeing you at the games!