Need Turin tickets? Call your Euro pal
Tickets to events at the Turin Winter Olympics next February aren’t cheap, but if you can convince a friend or relative in Europe — or most parts of it — to buy them on your behalf you can save a lot of cash. A check of the official Turin website shows a ticket for the Canada- Germany men’s hockey game in the preliminary round can be purchased for 40 euros. But the tickets are available only to people who live in the “ European Union, European Economic Area and some other countries.”
Residents of most countries, including Canada, have to buy tickets through a company designated by their national Olympic committee.
In Canada’s case, the company is CoSport, which wants $ 67.50 ( U. S.) for the hockey ticket that’s listed at 40 euros on the Turin site. Using yesterday’s exchange rate, $ 67.50 ( U. S.) would equal $ 80.08 ( Canadian). Also using Tuesday’s rates, 40 euros would cost $ 55.98 ( Canadian). CoSport managing director Mike Patterson said a Canadian can order tickets through a friend in Europe but only if they have a valid European credit card and European address. As of yesterday, tickets were sold out for the gold- medal and bronze- medal men’s hockey matches. But CoSport still had tickets for quarter- finals and semifinals at costs ranging from $ 168 to $ 403 ( U. S.). There’s no service charge if tickets are picked up in Turin, but it costs $ 40 ( Canadian) per order to have tickets shipped to Canada. The Canadian Olympic Committee gets an undisclosed, upfront fee from CoSport for the right to sell Olympic tickets in Canada, a COC spokesperson said.