Travelling to OKC, for a Thunder game...

[mrpeach1985]

I'm looking into coming over to OKC, from the UK, to catch a Thunder game (or two, if possible). Now, my dates to come over are limited, due to working rota's and having to save the money to make the trip over. So....that all but discounts seeing any games this season.

My aim, is to travel over, for Mid/late November, for a 10 day vacation. The predicament I'm in is, if I book within the next few weeks (before schedule is released) I can get flights for a fairly cheap rate. But if I leave it until the new schedule is released, the flight costs will rocket, leaving a serious hole in my pocket.

So, the questions I have is. What are the chances of there being ZERO home games, in mid/late November, meaning my trip would be an epic fail? How easy is it, and how do I go about getting tickets to a game? What area's should I look to stay in/avoid? Best hotels, that are within vicinity of, well, pretty much everything (I don't drive)? And, the other main question, WHERE THE NIGHTLIFE/BARS, at?

Sorry to bother you all, with a huge Q&A...I just can't seem to get the answers I crave, from Trip Advisor.

Thanks in advance! THUNDER UP!!!

[spearsy23]

Generally there aren't long road trips to begin the season so you'll probably be able to catch at least one home game.

You can get tickets @ http://www.nba.com/thunder/tickets/singlegame when they go on sale. The upper deck seats are only 10 bucks, but you can get some pretty nice ones for $130 or so.

If price is an issue, your best bet for a hotel is http://www.hotelguides.com/hotels/oklahoma/oklahoma-city/156340.html
I've never had any issues with econolodge, they aren't nice but they're clean and safe. If price isn't an issue there are a lot of really nice hotels that are also within walking distance of Chesapeake Energy Arena.

I can't help with the nightlife, but if you want some good american food I would recommend Toby Keith's I Love this Bar and Grill http://www.tobykeithsbar.com/restaurant-locations/oklahoma-city-bricktown which is also within walking distance. We ate there last time we went down and it was really good.

[mrpeach1985]

Awesome!! Thank you for that info Spearsy, it'll really help. Also, that Toby Keith Bar you mentioned...is that named after Toby Keith, as in the country singer?

[spearsy23]

Awesome!! Thank you for that info Spearsy, it'll really help. Also, that Toby Keith Bar you mentioned...is that named after Toby Keith, as in the country singer?

Yeah, it's his franchise. They have live music some nights if you're the kind of person who likes country music.

[mrpeach1985]

That's amazing! I love Country! Which people think is weird, given where I'm from!

I'm gonna book flights firstly, at the end of the month. Its time I experienced the famous Chesapeake arena and its glorious atmosphere, first hand!

[Thunderhead]

There's plenty of nice downtown hotels that are within walking distance of the arena. And for nightlife, the Bricktown district has plenty ( that is where Toby Keith's is located ) .

I believe its the Courtyard Marriot that is right next door to the arena, if ya got a room with a balcony you could throw a rock and hit the Peake arena.

There are other more upscale hotels, The Skirvin, the Colcord , and several new hotels in Bricktown , such as Holiday Inn Express which just opened, and a Hampton Inn , Renaissance, Residence Inn ... plenty of hotels, just depends upon you budget.

Bricktown has plenty of restaurants and night clubs within walking distance of whatever hotel. My favorite is Tapwerks Ale House, its modeled after an English Pub ..... with a tremendous selection of beers ..... imports, Belgiums, and American Craft beers

http://www.tapwerks.com/

There's generally some kind of live music somewhere in Bricktown, but as to the clubs, you on your own, sadly, I'm a bit old for that anymore. Though I was at the ACM UCO Performance Lab last night to see a blues/rock band out of Chicago called The Steepwater Band.

And if ya get tired of Bricktown, there's always the MidTown district about 10 to 15 blocks away, with McNellies pub, Fassler Hall which is sort've like a German bier garden, and several upscale restaurants of different cuisines.

MidTown is less touristry, than Bricktown. There's a downtown bus, runs every 15 minutes, that will take ya to the edge of the MidTown district.

But get a hotel downtown or in Bricktown, and ya can't go wrong. Take a shuttle from the airport to you hotel, and everything you will need will be within walking distance .

[Thunderhead]

BTW, when I go to Tulsa for concerts, I use Priceline to book a hotel, and I can always find a nice downtown hotel for under $90 per night. Might save ya some bucks in OKC also.

[mrpeach1985]

Thanks Thunderhead, appreciate the info, man. I'll buy you a beer when I finally make it over!

[Thunderhead]

Next season, when your trip gets closer , look me up here. I'm a season ticket holder, but I sell a majority of my tickets ( 41 games is a lot of games to attend ) , and I can at least save you the high 25% to 30% fee's of buying on the Thunder Ticket Exchange or StubHub. I have lower level corner seats, they not great seats, but not bad either.

[spearsy23]

Next season, when your trip gets closer , look me up here. I'm a season ticket holder, but I sell a majority of my tickets ( 41 games is a lot of games to attend ) , and I can at least save you the high 25% to 30% fee's of buying on the Thunder Ticket Exchange or StubHub. I have lower level corner seats, they not great seats, but not bad either.

How much do those run per game?

[mrpeach1985]

Next season, when your trip gets closer , look me up here. I'm a season ticket holder, but I sell a majority of my tickets ( 41 games is a lot of games to attend ) , and I can at least save you the high 25% to 30% fee's of buying on the Thunder Ticket Exchange or StubHub. I have lower level corner seats, they not great seats, but not bad either.

That would be amazing!! I shall definitely do so. Thank you! Aiming for late Nov time, so hopefully we ain't on a long ass road trip, meaning I don't get to see any games. Knowing my luck, that's exactly what would happen!!

[Thunderhead]

Next season, when your trip gets closer , look me up here. I'm a season ticket holder, but I sell a majority of my tickets ( 41 games is a lot of games to attend ) , and I can at least save you the high 25% to 30% fee's of buying on the Thunder Ticket Exchange or StubHub. I have lower level corner seats, they not great seats, but not bad either.

How much do those run per game?

That's really hard to say, it varies from game to game. I sell on StubHub and price at market value, and that varies a lot. Face value of my tickets are $61 ( goin up to 66 next year , btw ) ,and only a couple times this season have I sold for less than face ( net StubHub fees ) . I've gotten as much as 2.5 X face .

There's generally not a big demand in November, though I've always sold my tickets, even without KD and Russ this past year. This time of year, demand is higher, but still, I only netted face value for the Pacers and upcoming Sixers game. Depends upon the day of the week and opponent, the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday games .... demand is much lower. Friday night is large demand.

I don't know if those that buy from the Ticket Exch and StubHub, realize how much fee is included. There's fees for the buyer, but also fee's for the seller. I always price in the fee. StubHub comes to about 25% and I think the team exchange ( Ticketmaster ) is 30%, and they don't allow the seller to mark down below face value. I only use StubHub, cause I despise Ticketmaster.

But the fee's can be bypassed, by using PayPal and email. I've sold some tickets on Craigslist doing that.

[mrpeach1985]

Wow!! $66 is really cheap, compared to some of the prices I've seen. Do you have more than one ST? As i'll be coming with a friend, and would like to sit with him at the games. The plan is to come over on Friday 27th Nov, until 9th December. So, pretty much any home games in that timeframe, I want to be at! Hoping to make at least two!!

[Balkman32]

you have to go to Kd's new Restaurant!

Seatgeek.com is a great website for tickets.

[Podirk]

you have to go to Kd's new Restaurant!

Seatgeek.com is a great website for tickets.

Been meaning to chime in hear and mention KDs. Went for the first time before the Dallas game a week or so back. Recommend the Thunder Sticks as an appetizer! Great skewered chicken. Wasn't high on the burger I got (wasn't bad...wasn't good) but have heard good things about the Chicken Fried Steak...and the Ballers Menu items (I'm not a baller too many kids for that).

If you wanna try and run into some of the other teams players stay at the Skirvin night before a game, that's the usual place for visiting teams.

Late November some normal annual activities around the stadium are the Devon Ice Rink opening towards the middle / end of Nov. and I believe some tree lighting festivities...I'm sure neither are anything to write home about but if your staying for a week plus, some low-key stuff might be nice.

[Thunderhead]

Wow!! $66 is really cheap, compared to some of the prices I've seen. Do you have more than one ST? As i'll be coming with a friend, and would like to sit with him at the games. The plan is to come over on Friday 27th Nov, until 9th December. So, pretty much any home games in that timeframe, I want to be at! Hoping to make at least two!!

I will ask market for my tickets, not face, but I can save ya the 25% fee. Hard to know right now what market will be in that time frame next season. Way too many variables to know what they would cost.

And yes, my tickets are a pair.

[spearsy23]

Next season, when your trip gets closer , look me up here. I'm a season ticket holder, but I sell a majority of my tickets ( 41 games is a lot of games to attend ) , and I can at least save you the high 25% to 30% fee's of buying on the Thunder Ticket Exchange or StubHub. I have lower level corner seats, they not great seats, but not bad either.

How much do those run per game?

That's really hard to say, it varies from game to game. I sell on StubHub and price at market value, and that varies a lot. Face value of my tickets are $61 ( goin up to 66 next year , btw ) ,and only a couple times this season have I sold for less than face ( net StubHub fees ) . I've gotten as much as 2.5 X face .

There's generally not a big demand in November, though I've always sold my tickets, even without KD and Russ this past year. This time of year, demand is higher, but still, I only netted face value for the Pacers and upcoming Sixers game. Depends upon the day of the week and opponent, the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday games .... demand is much lower. Friday night is large demand.

I don't know if those that buy from the Ticket Exch and StubHub, realize how much fee is included. There's fees for the buyer, but also fee's for the seller. I always price in the fee. StubHub comes to about 25% and I think the team exchange ( Ticketmaster ) is 30%, and they don't allow the seller to mark down below face value. I only use StubHub, cause I despise Ticketmaster.

But the fee's can be bypassed, by using PayPal and email. I've sold some tickets on Craigslist doing that.

Those lower levels are only $66? That's where I sat the first game I went to and I thought they were great. Do you end up making money off those if you sell more than 1/2 of them?

Edit: what section are we talking? Maybe I'm thinking closer than what you're talking.

Double edit: nope those are the ones I was thinking of. Sh*t, I wish I had $6,000 to drop on a pair. After I get done saving for a house I know what I'm spending money on

[mrpeach1985]

What other towns/cities are close by OKC, that are worth visiting, that are accessible by train?

[Thunderhead]

What other towns/cities are close by OKC, that are worth visiting, that are accessible by train?

At the present , there are none close. But there is a train that travels to and from Dallas/ Ft Worth , once daily. After you get to Ft Worth, you can ride the Dallas train system to most parts of the city.

There will be a train between Tulsa and OKC. I'm not sure when it begins operation, maybe soon, like well before you plan your trip.

The only other public transportation is the OKC city bus system or Uber . There's a bus transit station downtown with routes that cover most of the city, is like a $1.50 to ride. And then there's a route that circles through downtown , Bricktown , and its free. They call that the Discovery bus. I ride the City bus bout once a week, to meet my wife downtown for dinner, since she works on other side of town. It takes a lot longer to get around, but its functional. They don't run at night though.

[spearsy23]

What other towns/cities are close by OKC, that are worth visiting, that are accessible by train?

At the present , there are none close. But there is a train that travels to and from Dallas/ Ft Worth , once daily. After you get to Ft Worth, you can ride the Dallas train system to most parts of the city.

There will be a train between Tulsa and OKC. I'm not sure when it begins operation, maybe soon, like well before you plan your trip.

The only other public transportation is the OKC city bus system or Uber . There's a bus transit station downtown with routes that cover most of the city, is like a $1.50 to ride. And then there's a route that circles through downtown , Bricktown , and its free. They call that the Discovery bus. I ride the City bus bout once a week, to meet my wife downtown for dinner, since she works on other side of town. It takes a lot longer to get around, but its functional. They don't run at night though.

To add on to this, since you said you like country music, Tulsa usually has a few cheaper concerts every month.