Above three sales channels have been most effective with regards to my own Tickethunting. Usually I secured via these channels about 50-70% of the desired tickets, although that varies enormously per Games (Rio and Beijing were easier than London, for example). It is clear already that in Japan with the 35 million inhabitants of Tokyo we have enormous competition. But even though not everything works right away; keep trust. There are several other options. Like…

4-Online public sale sites

These are commercial websites (countless numbers) where maps or entire packages/journeys are offered. I avoid these sites. It is terribly expensive (up to 10x the normal price) and scams are lurking. But that does not mean that it cannot be a solution. Certainly not. But be alert and always check / google the site for references.

In addition, you have mutual sales between individuals via eBay, Marktplaats (NL) and other sites. As with public sale sites (the distinction is difficult to determine), the risk here is high. But I have had more success with this than with the purely commercial sites. You can sometimes try to find out via e-mail what the motives of the seller are. Are there spare tickets or is it about a cancelled trip due to circumstances? Does it look suspicious or is it simply too good to be true (what it often is). Don’t do it then!

All these sales options are particularly useful in the run-up to the Games, the following 5 options are especially valid during Tokyo2020!

5-black market

During all the Games I attended, I bought tickets at the local black market. I often paid too much, but the tickets were always valid. Luck probably. As with point 4, there are many risks here. But we sometimes consciously took the risk, especially for matches / finals where the Dutch qualified. See the example of the Beijing hockey final. We were more careful in Rio, but we succeeded there too.

6-Fall with the door in the house

This is a Dutch saying (..). Let me explain since this one seems far-fetched. But it once gave my travel companion tickets for Ranomi Kromowidjojo’s golden 100 meters (swimming). He did this by simply standing in front of the entrance with a sign “Wanted SW012”. To his great surprise, a group of Chinese people passed by, leaving them with a ticket since one person of the group fell sick that morning. Bingo.

I also once sold (spare) tickets while I only had 5 minutes before I had to go into the London metro. I stuck a note on my Orange hat and turned around to the huge waiting line for the metro. Within 2 minutes people pointed to me and a little later I was able to make people happy with the spare tickets I had. Bingo again. A market is a place of supply and demand!

7-Holland Heineken House / ATP

You also must buy tickets for the Holland Heineken House. The location of the HHH is not yet known but the organisation mentioned already that it will be in the Bay Zone. If you want to go there, keep that in mind for your schedule. It is worth it, and I will return to this in detail in one of my next blogs. The Dutch ATP organization has always had a point of sale in the HHH during the past few Olympic Games. I assume that will be the case again (via Sunweb) in Tokyo. Especially for matches with Dutch participation there are sometimes tickets for sale during the Games. Inform yourself during your Tokyo stay. You can suddenly see Pieter van den Hoogenband winning gold in Athens like we did.

8-Social Media (e.g. Twitter)

I really experienced the power of Twitter during the London Games12. Then via hashtag #Tickets a virtual marketplace was opened with people who offered / looked for tickets during the Games.

9 Network

You can also build a network via Twitter. In the preparation of London, we even met with like-minded people to exchange contacts, knowledge and sometimes also tickets. I do not know if we will organize this for Tokyo2020 but having a Tokyo2020 network that is also working on the Tickethunt will certainly help. Moreover, nice to meet up in Tokyo!