Everyone Wants To Be In Washington On Inauguration Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Nov 11th 2008 at 7:02PM

This year's hottest ticket in town isn't the Super Bowl, it's the Presidential Inauguration on January 20, 2009. Yes, tickets are technically free and handed out a week before the event but that hasn't stopped the sale of tickets. Some people who already know they will be getting a ticket are selling them to brokers. StubHub.com already lists tickets to the parade, the swearing-in ceremony and the inaugural gala for several thousand dollars each.

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has spoken out against ticket selling, expressing fears that people could be swindled. Members of Congress are giving away 240,000 tickets. Jackson's office will have around 400 tickets and will distribute the bulk of them to the public, first come, first serve which is the policy of most of the elected officials with tickets. The offices of senators and representatives are said to be flooded with constituents asking for tickets. Of course this varies by region. This might be a time to find your friend in Wyoming or Alabama or other traditionally Republican areas and ask if they can request tickets for you since there may be less of a mad rush there. You can also discreetly inquire through various concierge services. They may not advertise tickets but especially if you are already a customer, they may be able to offer you some assistance.

California Senator Dianne Feinstein is said to be considering legislation to make it illegal to scalp tickets to the event following the news that a pair of tickets sold for $10,858 each through Stub Hub. As with any other prized events, there always three main ways of going about things: the persistence approach which mainly relies on luck and standing for hours in the right place, using your connections or spending a boatload of money. If you happen to have the third option there are also plenty of ultra-pricey inauguration packages. None of them come with tickets to the swearing-in ceremony but they do give you a chance to celebrate in style. Washington.org has rounded up the best of the bunch which we will check out in the gallery below.

Gallery: Washington D.C. Hotel Packages

Tags: inauguration, washington dc, WashingtonDc

Filed under: Events

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Corey Nov 11th 2008 9:53PM

Ah, yes. A party for the common man.

Then there is the $40k hotel packages http://www.abc2news.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=a0def0d5-8c1b-469b-8c7e-571442b3fae3

But remember kids, trickle down theory doesn't work so take notes of who goes and make sure they get taxed accordingly.

Spread the wealth!

chad.dawkins Nov 14th 2008 4:05PM

You do realize that all he's going to do bring back the tax plan that Clinton had don't you? You make it sound as though he's going to tax rich people down to where they're making $50K a year or something.

Alan Nov 13th 2008 4:23PM

http://Superbowl-Rooms.com is also getting a piece of the action... They usually cater to Hotels for the SUPER BOWL, OLYMPICS, Final Four and sport events but now are selling hotels for the inauguration... Check them out or call 917-224-1231

jules15487 Nov 23rd 2008 7:42PM

I have 50 affordable rooms in Alexandria VA for presidential inaugural. Contact me if you are interested for more details. I also have RT air package with hotel from Indianapolis. Space is Very Limited. You may contact me at juliehott@hottdestinationstravel.com