How much?! Arlington World Cup parking and hotel prices may give fans pause
One of the big stories coming out of this year’s World Cup has to do with the high prices fans are likely to pay for everything from transportation to parking to lodging, to say nothing of the match tickets themselves. So how bad will it be, really, here in Dallas-Fort Worth?
On Thursday, ESPN reported about the exorbitant prices in World Cup host cities. According to the report, round-trip train fare from New York City to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the games will take place, will increase from $12.90 to $105 on match days. It was originally going to be as high as $150 per round-trip fare until New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped in and worked out a deal with NJ Transit.
Similarly, train trips from Boston to Foxborough Stadium will be four times more expensive than normal during the World Cup, and parking at just about every host stadium will start at more than $100 per spot, according to ESPN.
For games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington (or Dallas Stadium, as it’ll be known while FIFA is in town), matchgoers parking in FIFA-sanctioned lots will have to purchase passes in advance through JustPark. On Thursday, parking prices on the site ranged from $125 to $200 ($500 for oversized vehicles) for the group stage games, with the exception of the June 22 Argentina v. Austria game, for which prices started at $175. Parking for the later stage games ranged from $150 to $250 (and still $500 for oversized vehicles).
Locals going to the matches are advised to use public transportation if possible, not only to avoid paying for parking but also to avoid traffic snarls around the stadium. From Fort Worth, fans can take the Trinity Railway Express to CentrePort Station then ride shuttle buses to the stadium.
Trinity Metro spokesman Ted Zimmerman told the Star-Telegram the fare from Fort Worth to Arlington and back will be $9 on match days. Zimmerman said Trinity Metro will also offer shuttle service between Fort Worth and Arlington on non match days for people wanting to visit area attractions.
The typical fare from Fort Worth to CentrePort is $2 per trip. Day passes for regional rail trips, which will get you to Dallas, are normally $9.
A spokesperson for DART didn’t respond when asked if fares will increase coming from the Dallas area to Arlington.
Hotel prices spike in June
Looking at prices on Hotels.com on Thursday, the Motel 6 on Thaxton Parkway in North Richland Hills was priced at $900 and $1,000 a night during the week of June 13-20. For comparison, a room in May at that property will run you around $50 a night.
At the Extended Stay America Suites on East Lamar Boulevard in Arlington, rates for June 13-20 were pushing $800 a night, whereas in the weeks leading up to the World Cup you could get a room for less than $90 a night.
No one answered the phone at the Motel 6 when the Star-Telegram called to inquire about the rate spike. A message left for management with the front desk clerk at the Extended Stay America Suites was not immediately returned.
Those two hotels are hardly alone, though, when it comes to rate increases. Again, looking at Hotels.com prices, a La Quinta Inn and Suites in Grand Prairie is charging more than $800 a night the week of June 13-20, and a Home2Suites down the road was only slightly less expensive at $787 a night. Those rates were higher than the advertised rates for the upscale Loews Arlington, and only a couple hundred of dollars a night less than the Hotel Drover in the Stockyards, which had rooms for $964 a night as of Thursday.
With that being said, there were still rooms available around Fort Worth for less than $100 a night, and many mid-tier rooms were available for just north of $100 on Hotels.com.
Prices on Airbnb were still fairly reasonable as of Thursday, too. A search of properties near Fort Worth yielded more than 1,000 results. A two-bedroom, two-bath home off West Seventh Street was priced at $2,800 for the week of June 13-20, but most homes and condos were going for between $1,000 and $2,000 for the week.