We are excited to experience Aviation Geek Fest Seattle 2015 (AGF15) on February 21 and 22. We all VERY much appreciate your patience with getting you information and putting the tickets up for sale.
The Full AGF15 tickets sold out in about 30 seconds — crazy. All this point, there are not additional tickets (Full or Mini) for sale.
One of the #AGF14 groups standing in front of a GE90 engine on a new Boeing 777 – Photo: The Boeing Company
Know that there have been many people working behind the scenes to make this event happen (huge shout-out to Sandy and Toni at the Future of Flight). Although we were later in getting the tickets out than we wanted, we are happy to share this amazing event with some awesome AvGeeks. We are hoping to see you all soon in Seattle.
View from the central meeting spot of the delivery center, taken during a previous event in September of 2013
UPDATES:
This is an update log to let you know what updates have been made since the initial posting of this schedule on January 23rd.
- Jan 23: Added discount links for Uber/Lyft rides down below. We have confirmed that no cameras will allowed during the CEC tours.
- Jan 26: We have confirmed that the minimum age to visit the CEC is 16. Been updating ticket buying instructions (down below) as we figure new things out. Full AGF15 tickets sold out in about 45 seconds. As of now there are some Mini tickets still available.
- Feb 5: We have been giving AGF discounts at Paine Field’s other attractions (there is not free entry). You can see the discounts below in the Saturday schedule.
- Feb 15th: Updated the schedule with better times and split the schedule between Full and Mini tickets.
- Feb 16th: Additional schedule details were added/changed. We might get access to additional aircraft at the MoF on Sunday. There will also be two VIP tours on Sunday for Mini Ticket holders only: a ramp tour of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and a tour of Alaska Airline’s maintenance facility.
- Feb 18th: Added our guest speaker to the #AvGeek Social on Saturday night.
- Feb 19th: Mini tickets are no longer for sale.
THE SCHEDULE:
There will be two ticket types (more explained below and in the ticket section). Full AGF15 SEA Tickets (Groups A & B) will give you full access. Mini AGF15 SEA Tickets (Group C) will give you partial access.
FULL TICKETS ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21st: Paine Field Day
- 9:00m to 1:00pm- This is free time. Get discounted entry to Paine’s other aviation attractions: Paul Allen’s Flying Heritage Collection for $8 [open 10am-5pm]; Historic Flight Foundation for $8 [open 10am-5pm]; and the Museum of Flight Restoration Center for $2 [open 9am-4pm].
- 11:00am- Check-in at the Future of Flight will begin on the gallery floor (follow the signs). You can still get access to the gallery, the Strato Deck and the Boeing Store before 11am, if you have your tickets with you (printed out, on your phone, etc). The Future of Flight opens at 8:30am. Starting at this time, you will get your $20 Boeing Store gift card and other goodies.
- 1:00pm- Welcome talk. We will celebrate the sixth AGF, go over some rules, answer some questions and get ready for our adventure. Please be sure you are in your seat, on the gallery floor by 1pm.
- 1:15pm- You MUST be checked in by this time and present or you will not be able to board the bus and participate in the tours for the day.
- 1:30pm- Attendees will be split into four different groups and assigned to which bus you will go on and which activity you will see first. All groups will see the same things, just in different order.
- 1:30pm to 5:30pm- Visitors will get a VIP Boeing factory floor tour as well as be able to drive by the Delivery Center, the paint booth, the new 777X construction and the Dreamlifter Operations Center. Children must be over 12-years old to participate. No cameras will be allowed, although Boeing will be taking some photos to share with the group afterwards. You must store your cameras and phones in your car, in lockers at the Future of Flight or we will securely hold on to them during the tour. Transportation, during the tour, will be provided.
- 6:00pm to whenever- The AvGeek Social will take place on the Future of Flight gallery floor. Free food, beer (including the new #AvGeek Beer) and additional drinks will be served. Chad Lundy, Boeing Test Pilot, will be our guest speaker during the evening. Also, we will be giving out some pretty awesome airline-related giveaways via a raffle.
MINI TICKETS ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21st: Paine Field Day
Business class section of the Boeing 747-8 International mock-up at the Customer Experience Center – Photo: David Parker Brown
FULL TICKETS ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22nd: Boeing Field Day
- 8:00 to 10:00am- get VIP access to the Museum of Flight from 8am-10am (it normally opens at 10am). Check-in will be by the theater (past the main ticket desk). Our headquarters will be in the Northwest Aeroclub Room in the Red Barn.
- 8:00 to 10:00am- Tour the third Boeing 787 (ZA003) from 8:00am to 10:00am only. It is likely that we will have access to some of the other aircraft, but we will not know for sure until that morning.
- 11:30am- Meet in the Museum of Flight lobby.
- 11:45am- You must be with the group by this time or you will miss the bused tours.
- Noon to 3:30pm- Attendees will be broken up in multiple groups and load into buses. Groups will go in different order, but all groups will tour the Renton Boeing 737 Factory and Boeing’s Customer Experience Center (photos of the 747-8I mock-up in the CEC taken in 2011). The age limit to tour the 737 factory is 12, and to tour the CEC is 16. No cameras will be allowed.
- 3:30pm to 5:00pm- Open time. Enjoy the rest of the time that the Museum of Flight is open, start heading home or do something else in Seattle.
MINI TICKETS ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22nd: Boeing Field Day
AvGeeks brave the nasty weather to get up close and personal to a Dreamlifter during AGF14
TICKETS:
You must have a ticket to attend any of the events. We understand that the demand very much out weighs the supply. Last year the tickets sold out in three minutes. Although we have long-term plans to potentially increase the number of attendees, we have been able to offer a new option of the Mini Ticket this year to allow more people to experience some AvGeekness.
Tickets went on sale at 4:00pm PST on Jan 26th and Full AGF15 Tickets sold out in about 30 seconds.
Here were the ticket options:
- Full AGF15 SEA Ticket (Group A & B): $100 – (~200 available) gives access to the main activities on 2/21 and 2/22
- SAT: VIP factory floor tour, $20 Boeing gift card, drive around KPAE to view different aspects (as listed up above), and AvGeek Social. SUN: Admission to the Museum of Flight and VIP 787 access. Will take the 737 factory tour as well as tour the Customer Experience Center. All transportation is taken care of between the MoF and the CEC. As an extra bonus, you will also receive a 10-month membership to the Future of Flight.
- Mini AGF15 SEA Ticket (Group C): $50 – (100 available) gives access to limited activities on 2/21 and 2/22
- SAT: Access to the Future of Flight Gallery and AvGeek Social. There will be tickets reserved for you to take the public Boeing tour (purchased separately). SUN: Admission to the Museum of Flight starting at 8am, with VIP 787 access. Ability to visit the Customer Experience Center (need to provide own transportation). Able to check out all the other wonderful things that Seattle has to offer an AvGeek.
- We are still working on other potential options for the Mini AGF15 ticket, but have not been able to confirm them at the time of posting. Count on this being the minimum.
- We are not able to hold or guarantee tickets.
The Hilton Garden Inn at Paine Field is right next to the airport and provides awesome views – Photo: David Parker Brown
WHERE TO STAY:
There are many hotels up north and down south to stay in. We have two that have given AvGeeks a special deal:
- The Hilton Garden Inn at Paine Field is once again offering an AGF15 special. Use promo code ’œFLY’ which will get you a room for $99, which includes breakfast for two. The hotel is awesome check out our review.
- The Hampton Inn in SeaTac is also offering a special for AvGeeks. You can pay $92 for Double Queens and $99 for King Suites. Breakfast is included. Just go to the website, enter preferred arrival and departure dates and then enter ’œAGF’ in the ’œAdd Special Rates Code’ to get your special rate.
The Concord at the Museum of Flight in Seattle – Photo: David Parker Brown
GETTING AROUND:
If you are not familiar with the area, Future of Flight, at Paine Field, is located about 40 miles north of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). There is really no viable public transportation for getting up to Everett. The Museum of Flight, at Boeing Field (aka King County International Airport), is located about five miles north of SEA. If you are looking for a ride, you can obviously rent a car at Sea-Tac, leave comments about carpooling in the comments, and/or use Lyft or Uber (those specific links will give you a discount), a taxi or Shuttle Express.
The first Boeing 747 parked at the Museum of Flight
OTHER STUFF
If you are not from Seattle, make good use of your visit here. Some things of interest:
View of Seattle from the Columbia Center Tower
HAVE QUESTIONS?
If you have questions, please leave them in the comments, as others probably have similar ones to you and we can answer them there for you.
Also be sure you are already on the Aviation Geek Fest email list and follow #AGF15 on Twitter.
Heading upstairs of the very first Boeing 747 at the Museum of Flight – Photo: King Hui
SOCIAL MEDIA
Chances are you are on social media, be sure to be following the following:
- Future of Flight: @FutureofFlight, Facebook
- Boeing: @BoeingAirplanes, Facebook
- AirlineReporter.com: @AirlineReporter, Facebook
- Museum of Flight: @MuseumofFlight, Facebook
PREVIOUS AVIATION GEEK FESTS
a) Guys, there is no Uber up to Mukilteo – https://www.uber.com/cities/seattle for a map. There is to/from Museum of Flight & Customer Experience Center.
As such, I is actively looking into a limo or taxi option so a few of us can leave the Hilton Garden Inn early Sunday (and I mean early – like uh 6:45-7 AM Pacific so you now have been forewarned and it takes 50 minutes to make the trip), split the bill and get to the Museum of Flight before the doors open.
If you’re interested – growlernoise-at-gmail-dot-com and I will keep you updated.
b) This is going to be one awesome AvGeekFest. Last year’s inside tour of the 747 was awesome – and so too was the quiet time at the Museum of Flight. Not to mention the Paine Field factory floor & 737 Factory tours, the gift card, the networking, the social and more.
c) The recommended hotel – Hilton Garden Inn Seattle North – is top-notch. Been going at least annually since 2011.
Yours;
Joe A. Kunzler
growlernoise-at-gmail-dot-com
https://www.flickr.com/photos/avgeekjoe/
Uber will definitely drop you off outside the blue area (what they call “reliable coverage”). I’ve done that lots of times. I expect you wouldn’t have much trouble getting a ride from Seattle up to Paine Field. It may be harder to get someone to pick you up there, though.
Helpful Tip: you can take Shuttle Express direct from SeaTac to Paine Field for about $40.00. Info and booking at shuttle express.com
I think that’s the solution for a group to book that. I was looking into a limo.
Jen, I just talked to Andre from Shuttle Express.
It would have to be prepaid and the $139 cost would have to be divvied up. $27.80 divided by 5 or $34.75 divided by 4.
I got lucky and honoured last year to carpool down there. That’s usually the AGF norm.
I’ve got a Full Size Rental Car for the weekend and I’m staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Everett. I am willing to take 1 or 2 avgeeks down to MOF if they were willing to kick in a few bucks for gas and the rental. (obviously not to cover the whole thing)
All depends on the tickets. If i get one will take up ur offer. N happy to pitch in for gas n rental…
Same here as D-Rock, staying at Hilton Garden Inn and have rental car and can give a lift for 2 more avgeeks.
Cory, I’d like to take you up on that if that’s okay. Just as long as we arrive at the Museum of Flight NO LATER THAN 7:55 AM Sunday please :-).
E-mail: growlernoise-at-gmail.com
Great news indeed!
A little bit disappointed by the camera ban. Was hoping to make xxx photos.
You still get a lot of photo ops over the three days that are 100% legit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/avgeekjoe/collections/72157641132027535/
Basically the most basic rule is: AGF guests can’t take your own camera onto Boeing property. Otherwise, photog away.
Yup. I will start a flickr group for AGF15 just like I did last year for AGF14.
See here : https://www.flickr.com/groups/2494553@N25/
for last year’s group.
(N.B. There’s nothing “official” about this, totally up to you if/where you post your photos, but we did get about 500 pics tagged and bagged there last year and I had a blast doing it 🙂 )
And anyone who shares their AGF15 photos with us, we will also share them on our wrap-up story!
David
Thanks David as I will share. 😉
DPB & JetDillo: The AGF15 Group is up – https://www.flickr.com/groups/agf15/
Rock on, I got this.
Recruiting EA-18Gs……….. well I’m working on that.
I hear the Future of Flight will have their own AGF15 group Jet’Dillo and the volunteer behind it has it on his to-do list today. Right after starting to recruit Boeing EA-18Gs to perform for AGF15 as he is right now.
You did totally awesome with the group last year!
The positive part of no photos — you just get to enjoy the experience. I think so many times there are those of us who get so caught up into getting the right photo that we forget to stop and smell the roses!
David, AirlineReporter
David… I totally agree! Sometimes its just best to experience the moment through our own eyes! I am constantly taking pictures, and not completely “in the moment”.
This is really great, but most of my aviation geek freinds (a long list) and I already have plans to be at the “2015 Northwest Aviation Conference & trade Show” at the Puyallup Fair & Events Center. It is very unforturnate that these two events are on the same weekend this year, … and sad that I did not know soon enough about this one. Maybe next year we can work to schedule this on a non-interfernce basis with the “Northwest Aviation Conference & trade Show”.
Kind of bummed that we will miss this really cool event. 🙁
Dan
Hey Dan,
With all the aviation stuff in Seattle, we are always going to run into a conflict. Previous years we did President’s Day weekend, which was the weekend for V-Day and had lots of request to change. We try our best, but cannot make it work out for everyone! Either way looks like you will have a great weekend.
David, AirlineReporter
I have my web-clicking/F5-fingers ready for Monday afternoon 🙂
Really looking forward to this, esp. now that it’s less than month away!
So is the air park going to be closed during our visit?
Would love to go back in Concorde!
The Air Park is in a big state of flux right now. What they can “99%” promise us is access to ZA003 from 8-10am and during that time they will try to get us access to any of the other aircraft as well. After 10am, it will be whatever might be open to the public at the time, which might not be anything.
Unfortunately we might not get as much access this year, but it is totally worth the short-term sacrifice to get these planes under some cover and preserve them for the years to come!
David, AirlineReporter
Well put DPB. I really appreciated the 747 exclusive tour: https://www.flickr.com/photos/avgeekjoe/sets/72157642236238104/
But it was blatantly obvious a permanent cover is necessary for these rare aircraft.
Yes, I remember the “City Of Everett” was on-again/off-again until the clouds parted and the rain stopped. Seemed like it cleared up just long enough for us to get inside and have a look around.
Won’t forget that trip at all 🙂
David, You’ve done it again! What a great lineup! You and all the others that work behind the scenes to make this happen deserve all the credit in the world.
hi Dan,
Where will the link to purchase ticket be? I can’t seem to find it. I know it will be dead until the appointed time but I would like to know where I can see it before the time.
Thanks
Mcd
We will be providing the link after we finish building out the page. The link won’t allow one to buy tickets until Monday at 4pm.
David, AirlineReporter
Sorry I meant David!!
Hoping my UA 777 has inflight wifi as I will be somewhere over the north Pacific en route to HKG at 4p PDT Monday. Ironic to miss out on a Boeing weekend by being in a Boeing plane unable to communicate with the ground for 13-hours!
This is where having good friends try to get tickets for you is important :)!
David
Alas, it is that good friend who will be sitting next to me on that 777. Not to mention she was the person who referred me to your event! However, I may be able to find another such friend who is equally crazy about such matters.
During the camera restricted portion of the event will Boeing have a staff photographer there to take photos?
Is anyone here staying near seatac and have a car with an extra seat open?
Yes, Boeing will have a staff photog. Count on it.
Thank you Joe!
I’m so incredibly excited to make this one before I go overseas for awhile. I too will be renting a car for the weekend and am happy to help carpool probably three people, or four people if you don’t mind squishing a little. I will be staying with family nearby, but don’t mind coming over to the field before heading down on Sunday or even just picking people up on my way to Paine on Saturday. I just hope my refresh finger is fast enough. 🙂
Hey Dave I’ll gladly take you up on that carpooling offer.
Happy to help where I can. I am flying in really late Friday and then leaving late Sunday night. That is all I can get away for. So based on your comment below I can’t do much to and from the airport, but I am happy to help once up there.
I’ll take you up on it – growlernoise-at-gmail.com please.
Just as long as we arrive at the Museum of Flight NO LATER THAN 7:55 AM Sunday please :-).
Okay I’m going to make a small announcement. There are no promises as we’re about to talk about something weather & schedule dependent.
But you might want to be flying in early Friday morning of AGF. There may/may not have an unofficial AGF15 Friday event on Whidbey Island.
See there is an effort to lobby the US Navy to use NOLF Coupeville the Friday before in the early afternoon…. it’s a half-hour ferry & hour-long Island Transit fare free bus ride from Mukilteo to NOLF (there’s a bus stop to/from there). But if things work out, Avgeeks can watch naval aviation action from 5-2-5 feet away. On public property.
We will NOT know however if this effort pans out until 12 February if this effort is successful. But I think I should tell those flying in to request a Friday morning landing at SeaTac. Stay tuned… and GO NAVY!
Joe,
We’ve got first flight out from SFO(took a bit to convince Mrs. Jet’Dillo to sign up for that 🙂 ) , but it will take us a while to get our car and such sorted before we get up to Paine. I’ll keep this in the back of my head while we make our plans.
At worst, I’ll see you on the mound between the hotel and KPAE Friday noon-ish 🙂
On the photographic front, my recommendations would be:
Bring extra batteries, and extra/big flash cards.
I am really starting to get excited, getting things tied up for the trip out. For those of you that have not been, this is absolutely the best place to hang out as my wife would say “amongst your airplane people”. She does not get it, but at least she is supportive of my geekdom!
Anyone flying in Friday afternoon? I arrive 1330 at SEA, I’d love to carpool with anyone if possible.
As well Monday morning, anyone flying out early Monday morning? Also request the kindness of carpooling if possible!
Philip… I arrive at SEA at 14:04 on Friday, and will be getting a rental car. If timing works out, I would be glad to give you a lift. My flight back to Detroit is at 8:45am on Monday, so glad to carpool there too, if you need.
Sweet, timings are pretty good! How much do you want for the ride, if anything? Few more hours till the tickets come out….
I will be arriving at SEA at 1404 on Friday, and will have a rental car. I would love to give anyone a lift up to the Hilton Garden Inn at Paine Field, and/or a ride back to SEA before my flight to Detroit at 0845 on Monday.
Also, I am willing to carpool to the various events to and from the hotel, if anyone is interested.
These plans are contingent on getting a ticket this afternoon!
Thanks, Ken
Ken, did you get a ticket?
Yes! I got a ticket! Hit me up on email if you want a ride.
Ke**********@ou*****.com
Are tickets transferable? If I’m lucky enough to get tickets I was considering giving one away to one of the readers of my blog in a contest.
They are not transferable. You have to put in the names of the people that you want to attend the event with your ticket when you check out.
David, AirlineReporter
Good idea. Nothing against “Pizzaman” but in general, got a real problemo with scalpers descending upon this… magnificent holiday.
Pizzaman, At least one of your readers will be attending! BTW – You gave me a lot of good advice at FTU Seattle last April. I was able to score a round trip award on Cathay (1st class) for this summer.
I’m really hoping to get full AGF15 tickets. Do you need to pre-register, or does that link just go live at 4pm & you purchase the tickets through the “Register Now” button?
You want to use the link you see in the story. Right now it says it does not work, but at 4pm, it will take you to the check out page to get your tickets.
David, AirlineReporter
Woohoo! I snagged two tickets for a friend and myself – really excited to be attending AvGeek 2015!
Its 4AM in DXB and I have managed to get a full ticket. worth the wait. “SEA” u all soon!!!!
DXB huh? You might be the person coming from the farthest!
David, AirlineReporter
Really looking forward to the 14hour flight to attend AGF15.
If it is on EK, then no worries 🙂
David, AirlineReporter
Well, it sold out between as soon as the link worked and I finished typing me and buddies info… Oh well
When will we be able to add our names to the waitlist
Portal opened 20-30 seconds late (command-r on my mac repeatedly), but thankfully I got in for 1! That was a rush!
Hello from the UK. Got me a ticket so see you all there!!!!
Seriously?! Sold out in 30 seconds?
My desktop computer kept looping back to the place to enter your name for registration and before I could get anywhere the full tickets showed sold out. I had the same problem with trying to order the mini tickets. When that didn’t work I switched to my cell phone and was able to successfully order the mini tickets.
I am hoping to get my name on the waiting list to “upgrade” to the full tickets.
Dream come true! :-))
Hello David,
The website had a 30 second ticket delay. I was on at exactly 7PM using google time as my reference. It sold out in less than 30 seconds. The website screwed me up. it didnt go live until 30 seconds past 4PM PST. wow!. i signed up for the wait list and bought the MINI as my flight and hotel and car are already booked.
I am guessing it was the server time was off on their server.
David, AirlineReporter
I didn’t like that it made me put in information first, my fingers where too slow typing so I lost out on tickets
Sold out before I could type in all the information for myself and my wife, even after refreshing F5 as soon as registration opened. I did get into the waitlist though, so I hope that that can clear me quickly.
I was able to get on the waitlist for full tickets. I had to use my cell phone. I encountered looping back the beginning problem on the waitlist that I encountered when trying to purchase tickets on my desktop computer as described a few posts above.
Woot… got my ticket! Also booked the Hilton. Coming in from Toronto via Vancouver. Any other canucks??
Yep! But I haven’t booked flights yet.
I haven’t booked flights yet… hoping to use up miles to get to either YVR or SEA from Toronto on the 18th – staying around a week.
Will need to look into “Field Carrier Landing Practice/FCLP at OLF Coupeville Feb. 20th” (per Kunzler note).
From YYZ also! No flights booked yet, just the ticket & Hilton. I’m a first-timer to this and Seattle so any offerings of carpooling are welcomed!
Yup, my friend and I will be driving down from Vancouver though I’ll fly from Prince George first!
I just booked my flights… arriving YVR on the 18th… picking up a rental car and making my way to the Hilton for Fri. 20th. Not leaving from YVR until the 27th – so planning to get in some sightseeing. It’ll be my first trip to WA and BC. 🙂
The form kept rejecting my entries as “missing or incorrect information”,even though it was all correct. By the time I re-loaded and re-entered, main tickets were sold out :(.
I got mini-tickets for myself & Mrs. Jet’Dillo and we’re on the waitlist for the main ones, so at least there is that.
Great to hear you’re still able to make it.
I was lucky and managed to purchase two tickets but I only typed in one name (mine). Did I do something wrong? Was I supposed to type more information? Am I now bringing an invisible/nameless friend?
Jim, I have the same issue. There will probably be a way to take care of it.
If the worst case is that I only get to keep the ticket for which I typed my name (and have to return the other “nameless” one), I could live with that. As long as I get to keep my one! 🙂
Jim, I did the same thing with 3 full tickets. Only put in 1 name (mine). I found a email this evening from Melody at Future of flight stating she needed the names and email addresses of the other 2 attendees by 4pm (PST?). Its already 9pm (EST) here in Indiana. At this point I don’t know if I have 1, 3 or 0 tickets. I will have to call her in the morning to confirm… Suggest you (and anyone else who made this mistake) do the same…
Update – Seems Names and email address for all individuals/tickets are necessary for badges and security purposes… I was able to get this taken care of with a few emails to Melody… SHOUT OUT TO MELODY – She is awesome to work with!!! I’m going to my first AGF!!!
Can’t wait! — Coming from Florida with the wife and friend!
That was the most stressful event I’ve ever experienced trying to register!! I sat on my PC watching the clock turned 4:00..the link didn’t work until 4:00:42 ..once I got in..the ticket quantity said “sold out”..I had several windows open so I tried to register again. After 4 tries, I was shown a ticket with a barcode..
Now my question is..did I really get in? Did I get the full ticket? Nowhere did I see it let me select group A or B..When do I pay?
Got my ticket! Thanks so much to David and everyone who is setting this up. Is anyone else coming from the Boston area?
I was able to get 2 mini”s.. missed out on the grand prize but my fiancee and i are looking forward to a great weekend in SEATTLE!! will be a great time anyway!! Thanks David for putting it all together. Cant wait to meet you all.. See you soon from Baltimore!
Good to see that some people from outside the US got in.
Either way it will be an awesome weekend and we’ll see you all in SEA/KPAE next month! 🙂
Got my ticket! I will be arriving at SEA around 8:45PM Friday and renting a car to drive to the Hilton Garden Inn at Paine Field. If anyone needs a ride around that time, let me know!
Polite reminder: Try to book flights that get you to SeaTac in Friday morning – the earlier the better.
There may or may not be Field Carrier Landing Practice/FCLP at OLF Coupeville Feb. 20th. We will know Feb. 12th sometime between 8 AM & 5 PM Pacific one way or another, and then hope for clouds above 1,500 feet. I am obviously lobbying my NAS Whidbey pals for this… it’s only 100 minutes via mass transit or car to get there.
P.S. If there is no OLFing that Friday, well then that’s more time to spend at the FOUR museums around Paine Field & I will personally ask TWO EA-18G pilots to visit Paine Field for us.
My flight arrives right around lunchtime on Friday, but will have rental car and if others are arriving around that time I can get at least 2 others up to OLF Coupeville if they will be flying.
It has been 20 years since I have been in Seattle area, but I got my Pilots Certificate in Bremerton many many moons ago.
Looking forward to this!
John
Okay John, I will keep everybody updated… including DPB & Sandy & Toni.
Fellow AvGeeks,
I was able to get a Full ticket and I will have a rental car. I am planning to arrive in town on Friday and will not be leaving until Monday, but should be able to provide rides down to Boeing Field.
This will be my first GeekFest, so looking forward to it.
John
Would you be so kind to allow me to carpool with you if timings of our flights are good?
Phillip,
My flight is scheduled to arrive at 1245 PST. I believe i saw below that yours is scheduled to arrive at 1330. That should work out well, as it will allow me time to get the rental car and then meet you to travel up to KPAE. I look forward to meeting you and hope that the flights are on schedule.
Hey John that does sound good. How about your outbound on Monday?
email me if possible, ph**********@ya***.ca
Phillip,
I sent an e-mail with my flight details a week ago. Did you receive that message? I would be glad to provide you a ride from Sea-Tac up to KPAE.
Please let me know if you received the message or if I need to re-send it.
John Moore
1st time attender at AvGeekFest
Congratulations on the instant sell-out. I hope everyone has a grand time.
-C.
I was lucky enough to get a Full ticket & I can’t wait! See you there!
Maybe a lottery system next year with excess funds going to FoF/MoF? Just a suggestion. Congrats to all who got in – I’m sure it’ll be awesome.
Just got the car confirmed, we’ll have room for one person and a bag from SEA to the Hilton on Friday. Arriving SEA around 11-ish Friday morning, heading right up the Hilton/KPAE.
Excited you made it!
I arrive at 1330 friday and would love a lift…but I think that’s too late for you?
Philip,
Yeah, that’s a bit longer than I’d like to hang about. Our flight is at 0900 from SFO, so I’m actually expecting to be at the rental place around 11. Looks like others are getting in around 1230-1245, maybe you can work out something with them ?
I can try! How does Monday go for you?
Dave, I was able to get the full ticket(yay for me!) and this is my first geekfest. For the non camera allowed tours, will cameras have to remain in a rental car (for instance) or do they just have to remain in the bag?
No cameras or phones on you. In the past, we collect phones and keep them securely in a basket per bus.
David, AirlineReporter
Ok, thanks for the reply and always good to know in advance.
Last year Mitchell, you could leave your cameras in the Future of Flight or Museum of Flight conference room and all was good. A good idea would be to get to the conference room and pat yourself down… ;-).
Last year, both Future of Flight and MOF provided event rooms for us to leave cameras and phones in during the tours last year that were locked after everybody left.
I left my stuff there and didn’t have any problems getting it back.
(Could museum staff still open that room?—probably. Nothing that’s not embedded in concrete and sunk in the Marianas Trench is ever completely secure)
Even then Megatron got out of the Marianas Trench. 🙂
I scored a ticket! Is it best to stay at Paine Fri. and Sat. nights, or move to SeaTac Sat. night?
Unfair, Unfair, Unfair. You need to be an IT Geek not an Aviation Geek to get the ticket in 30 sec. Must have fast internet, fast computer and know the tricks to login the fastest.
Next time — those who attend AGF15 can not attend AGF16. Let every one have a chance to enjoy and take home great memories.
Believe me. No one hacked. No one used bots. It is just about lots of people trying to get tickets at the same time. Yes, unfortunately most of this today was luck.
It is unlikely we will do any restricting of guests, but we are hoping to provide better ways for others to experience it. This is why we worked hard to provide the Mini Ticket option.
David, AirlineReporter
I work in IT and I have a fiber internet connection with over 150mbps but I still couldn’t get the ticket. I had the ticket registration link up ready on 2 PC while looking at a clock on a time server. The link didn’t work for me until 4:00:40 . By then it was sold out. Bummer..after waiting for nearly a year and taking half the day off from work to try to snag the ticket. All well.. I’m from Vietnam so my plan B is to go there late summer to see the Vietnam Airlines 787.
I did not get tickets, so will not be flying in from Singapore. Outside of the usual Aviation Geek events, would I be able to visit the Boeing plant etc for such tours, and would they be as detailed as the experience from the Aviation Geek event itself….or are they “specials” that only would be made available to these events and not the public?
You can check out all the public aviation stuff to do in Seattle here: https://www.airlinereporter.com/aviation-in-seattle/
David, AirlineReporter
I was unable to get a ticket. Absolutely no luck, second year in a row! I was planning to fly from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. When will I be able to add my name to the waitlist?
The wait list link is found in the Ticket section above.
David, AirlineReporter
I was waiting for the [promised] email notification with the website to buy tickets that never came then frantically searching on these pages around the time. Is there even a link anywhere to the wait list?
Yes. Go to the link for buying tickets. You can wait list there.
The link is in the TICKETS section above, right below the Dreamlifter photo.
Ok, well I bought a Mini ticket and got on the waitlist for the full.
Michael,
Sucks you missed it, I did too. But it seemed they made it pretty clear in the emails, tweets, facebook posts and on the stories that they posted that the link would show up on the page. I do not remember ever seeing any promise of a link to buy directly being in the email.
Even if an email would have been sent to buy tickets, by the time any server would have sent the email, all the tickets were gone.
Hopefully next year!
I’m getting in Friday @ 2330, staying @ SEATAC Hampton Inn. Anyone want to carpool from SEATAC/Central Seattle to Paine Field on Saturday and then back? Contact me at mo******@gm***.com.
Hello everyone,
I feel so fortunate to get a VIP ticket to the AV Geekfest 2015. I will be arriving via Amtrak into Seattle Friday Morning and am staying at Sheraton Seattle. I have a car and willing to give rides to and from Plaine field and Boeing field.
What time should I arrive at Plaine field on Saturday Morning? Any other advice??
Thnaks,
John
As per http://jetcitystar.blogspot.com/2015/01/3rd-annual-avgeek-breakfast-2015.html – get here by 8 AM and have breakfast.
Also while you’re at it, HAVE FUN! Oh and make sure to clean your camera AND pack a spare battery.
I’m so looking forward to this!
I’m planning to fly YYZ-SEA non-stop on the Thursday evening, so that I can have a day to tour around Seattle itself (I’ve never been there) and to decrease the chance that a delayed/cancelled flight means I miss the weekend events. It also opens up the possibility of going to the FCLP at OLF Coupeville that Joe Kunzler is trying to organize on the Friday afternoon.
I’m hoping to use my Aeroplan miles to book my flights. The two best options for my return flight are:
Option A: Sunday departure
SEA 19:00 – YVR 19:52 DH3
YVR 22:30 – YYZ 05:51+1 773
Option B: Monday departure
SEA 08:00 – YYZ 15:33 E90
Option B has the advantage of being a direct/non-stop flight, of course, but it also means an extra hotel room night in Seattle and definitely taking a vacation day on the Monday (I might take the Monday off even with Option A but not necessarily so).
Does anyone have a recommendation for or against either of these options?
Return back through Vancouver and catch a 787 into YYZ…
Somebody else asked about a 1900 departure back to the US east coast here earlier and a couple of us advised against it.
Mostly based on the fact that you’d have to be heading to SEA around 16:30 at the latest for a 1900 flight (1900 Departure=boards at 1820-1830, – 1 hour for check-in&security lines=be there no later than 1730, subtract another hour to get to SEA & drop off your rental if you have one. I’m not sure if the tours will be over by 1600 or not).
If you have to, you gotta do what you gotta do, but I would just stay Sun. night, leave Monday morning.
Stay the Monday night!! Glad to see I’m not the only one coming in from YYZ!!
Just to close the loop…
FYI, I ended up finding another option. 🙂
Depart SEA at 22:54 on the Sunday evening. Red-eye to ORD and then an early morning connection to YYZ.
The best part is that I got it as a “Classic Flight” business class one-way Aeroplan reward ticket, rather than a usually-many-more-miles “Market Fare” redemption.
Thanks everyone for the comments and advice!
Tomorrow by this time we will know about OLF Coupeville… Stay tuned all of ya.
I have sent every e-mail I can and called in a few markers. But that only goes so far.
Weather is the big problem. But AccuWeather reports good weather.
OLF is down next week. I’m sorry guys. Put in a request for some jet noise at Paine Field AGF Friday.
I too did not get a full ticket but i think the way David and crew have it set up is more than fair! everyone trying to get a ticket within that 30 seconds was not happening! and remember, its still a weekend in Seattle!! I have never been but will find plenty to do.. aviation and non- aviation.. Thanks to all of you.. Its what will make this a great trip!
Yes, the system is a bit obscure but I think the main intention (which I definitely support!) is to avoid scalpers getting their hands on the tickets. Imagine what one of these tickets would be worth on the secondary market (if there was one) and only the (non-avgeek) scalper would benefit in such a situation.
Our system worked well when it wasn’t so popular. Last year they sold out in three minutes (a bit more time) the year before I think it took a day and a half. We will be re-evaluating for future events.
David, AirlineReporter
Keep up the great work David! See you soon!
I too was lucky enough to snag a ticket. I started clicking into the site about 10 minutes early until it finally popped up. Here’s hoping even more people will be able to come next year. Really excited to see all of you in a couple of weeks.
I will be flying into KSEA at about midnight Friday and then will be heading north in a rental car. I’m happy to take anyone else up north that gets in late like me. I’m actually staying in Snohomish with family but will gladly pick people up on the way to KPAE on Saturday, and Seattle on Sunday. There is also an informal breakfast for Avgeeks. Check out the details here: http://jetcitystar.blogspot.com/2015/01/3rd-annual-avgeek-breakfast-2015.html
Flying out late Sunday night but happy to help anywhere in between.
Dave,
I have a similar schedule to yours Late Friday night thru Late Sunday night and I’m staying at the HGI at KPAE and going to the breakfast. Can I hope a ride?
That should be just fine. Hit me up on Twitter @davidvlynn or through my blog.
Did you ever get a ride figured out? Hit me up if you still need one. nolandman.at.hotmail
I know check-in on Sat is at noon but the Future of Flight opens at 8:30. Will we be able to access the gift shop and stratodeck if we get there before noon?
He Marvin,
The gift shop is open to the public. The Strato Deck you can access, but you will need to be sure to bring your AGF15 ticket with you.
David, AirlineReporter
Don’t know why my posts haven’t been going through but thank you to Joe and Dave for posting a link. Wanted to invite everyone that’s attending Aviation Geek Fest to the 3rd Annual AVGeek Breakfast that will take place Saturday February 21, 8am-10am at the Mukilteo Speedway Cafe. See the link for more details.
http://jetcitystar.blogspot.com/2015/01/3rd-annual-avgeek-breakfast-2015.html
See you there!
Just curious: is anyone flying from EWR?
I am! I’m doing YYZ-EWR-SEA on Friday with United.
Philip,
Sent you an e-mail earlier today –
Did you get transportation from SEA-TAC to Paine Field?
John
YUL from friday on AA and, back on the Red-Eye to JFK(yul) on sunday evening.
How do you get added to the waitlist for the full AGF15? When I follow the link for the waitlist, it says that AGF15 is sold out and will not let me waitlist.
https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07eagnnymo5d589560&oseq=&c=&ch=
Advice wanted from Paine / Boeing Field(s) photographers regarding a good all-around lens to bring with me for my Nikon DSLR.
In the past, particularly when shooting aircraft and movements at LAX, I have rented a NIKKOR 70-300 VR lens, and I have been very happy with that… Is that a good lens for plane spotting around Seattle? I only have room for one extra lense, and I want to reserve it soon, so… Do I go with the 70-300? Or something else? Ideas? Thanks!
I’m not a local from PAE but I’m certain a 70-300 will be perfect. I’ll have a 300 f4 with me and I think it’ll be a bit much..
Hi fellow Geeks.
Greetings from Denmark (that’s in Europe by the way :-)).
Looking forward to the AGF15 for the first time, and Seattle for the first time as well. 🙂
Arriving late Thursday at Sea-Tac – quick sleep at Airport hotel.
Friday morning heading for AVGeek-heaven at Paine Field and maybe Air force event mentioned by Joe!
Back to Sea-Tac sunday evening.
Anyone with the same plan and a car with free space for a AV-viking around that time??
See you soon.
Casper –
I am scheduled to arrive in SEA at 10:18 PM on Thursday and depart Sunday at 11:14 PM. Does this align with your schedule?
Cheers –
Craig
Cheers Craig,
Yes, that’s pretty close to my plan. 🙂
Are you planning on heading for Paine Field after you land at SEA thursday?
Regards
Casper
Casper –
Yes, I am planning to head directly to the Hilton Garden Inn at Paine Field. Can you send me email (cdm2014busybunch.org) to follow-up?
Craig
My email did not render correctly – cdm2014 at busybunch.org .
Same for me: first trip to Seattle and (obviously) first AGF. I’m Canadian but I work for a Danish company. 🙂
I’m scheduled to arrive at SEA (from YYZ) at 21:21 on the Thursday, and I’ll be renting a car. I’m planning to stay downtown-ish that night so that I don’t have to battle rush-hour traffic on the Friday morning to see some sights (mainly taking a ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island). From there I’ll be heading to NOLF Coupeville for the afternoon (if the Navy thing is actually on) and then to the Hilton Garden Inn at Paine Field for two nights. See separate posting for my tentative plans for the Friday evening in Everett.
My departure is scheduled for 22:54 from SEA on the Sunday evening.
Just an FYI for people. There’s two aviation related events taking place the same weekend as Geek Fest. There’s aviation geekery across Greater Seattle that weekend!
NarCon: National Association of Rocketry Convention held at the Museum of Flight
http://www.narconseattle2015.com/
Northwest Aviation Conference: Taking place in Puyallup Washington
http://www.washington-aviation.org/
HOCKEY NIGHT IN EVERETT?
I’m not sure if anyone has plans after the sun sets on Paine Field for the Friday evening and I don’t want to make things too complicated (especially for myself!) but I’m thinking of going to a hockey game. 🙂
Tri-City Americans @ Everett Silvertips
Xfinity Arena at Everett (about 15 minutes drive northeast of Paine Field)
7:35pm Firday Feb. 20th
If you don’t know which league these teams play in (WHL = Western Hockey League = u20 “junior” league based in western Canada/USA), you may not be interested in going… but you’d would be welcome anyway if you do decide to go.
The exact price would depend on the seats selected but, FYI, most tickets are in the $20-$30 range.
If you’re interested, please leave a comment here. Depending on how many replies (if any!) are posted, I’ll have to figure out the best way to purchase/distribute tickets.
Since it’s my first time to AGF (coming from YYZ… rental car @ YVR, arrive Seattle either the 19th or 20th) I’d love to join folks who’ve been-there-done-that and would be happy to drive (I’m staying at the Hilton) – or passenger – in a car along with some experienced AGF’ers. Please rsvp here and/or email jay (underscore) marm (at) yahoo (dot) com if you’ve done AGF and you’d like to help direct as a passenger or have space as a driver. Looking forward to a great experience at AFG15!
(forgot to mention, that I have signed up for the Saturday morning breakfast)
I will be arriving SEA on Friday, 2/20 from DTW at 1054, DL2423. Renting a car and heading to the HGI at Paine Field. Willing to take a rider or two if the timing works out. I’m a first-timer to AGF.
Hey Mike… I am flying out from DTW as well, but at the 1403 arrival on Delta. Are you from Detroit?
Ken, yes. I live in Troy. You?
Hey Mike… I live in Milford, but I work in Troy. I’m at KVLL / Oakland – Troy Airport. We fly the news helicopter for 2,4&7.
I’m looking forward to meeting you!
Ken, I know the field. I live off of Coolidge at Big Beaver, work even closer. I drive past the field a few times a day. I see the ‘copters operating there frequently. Looking forward to the AGF and meeting you. Are you staying at the HGI at PAE?
Yes, I am staying at HGI Paine Field. I arrive Friday afternoon, and leave Monday morning.
Ken, missed you at AGF. Are you involved with AGF type stuff around Detroit (besides your helicopter job)?
Hey Mike… Yeah, I had a last minute change of plans which prevented me from going to AGF15, but I will try for a ticket next year… As for AvGeek stuff around Detroit… Not much… The chopper keeps me plenty busy, but I try to snap shots of other aircraft when we see them air-to-air, and working at KVLL provides me with plenty of other opportunities to talk aviation. I also go out to LAX about once a year to meetup with a bunch of spotters for a weekend. Anyway, if you want to come by KVLL and meet up, and check out our operation, I would love to have you! Hit me up on email and we will set it up. kenmcquillan at Outlook dot com
Thanks!
To those of you who have been to AGF before, is it best to stay at Paine Field Saturday night and drive south to BFI Sunday morning? Or better to get a room in Everett Saturday night?
Hey Mike,
I think it really depends on what you want to do. I really like staying at the HGI at Paine b/c you can look out over the airport from your room. However, I have heard that all the airport facing rooms have been taken at this point.
If you want to check out ZA003 at the Museum of Flight on Sunday morning, it might make sense to drive down Sat night and stay closer there.
However, if you want to drink lots of beer on Sat night during the social (I know I will be), then probably shouldn’t be driving down.
I am staying at the HGI on Sat night (even though I actually live farther south) and will just be getting up early to make it down to the MoF on Sun.
Either way, make sure to use the AGF15 discounts that are mentioned in the story above!
David, AirlineReporter
David,
On my way north from SEA, I would like to stop at the Museum of Flight to take in the Shuttle tour. Will my AGF15 ticket allow me museum entry on Friday afternoon? Also, is it necessary to print the ticket or can I use it from Passbook?
I am disappointed that I missed out yet again. This demand is just insane!
I hope in future years the avgeek fest will be able to accommodate more people or host multiple avgeek fests per year such as a summer event. Probably will involve lots of coordination with Boeing and other parties but totally worth it and obviously the demand is there for the hardcore plane spotters to see the real Boeing tour separated from the regular ‘civilians’
Hello fellow AGFers,
For those of us attending not local to the Seattle area with full tickets, I inquired w/Sandy and Bonnie at the FoF Fdn about the ability to transfer the adult membership to someone who *is* local to the area so that they can enjoy it, and they confirmed it can be done; they’d just need first name, last name, snail mail address with city, zip and email. The membership can be upgraded to Family for an additional $25 and you’d just need to include the additional adult first name and last name (must be in same household).
Sharing in case some of you have friends/family locally. Cheers, M
I know the observation deck at the FOF is not free anymore, but is it possible to get a observation-deck-only ticket or something on Friday afternoon for those of us want to spot from there ?
Found the answer to my own question 🙂
Looks like a “Gallery Only” ticket for $10 will take care of that 🙂
Hey, if you show your AGF ticket, you can access the Stratodeck for free on Friday!
David, AirlineReporter
Good work David and Sandy & Toni!
🙂
We will find out tomorrow if OLF Coupeville will rock n roll for us AGF Friday.
It’s off, sorry
Is that for full tickets or mini-tickets as well ?
Got tickets to the “mini” and will be arriving on the 20th. I’ll be renting a car if anyone may need a ride. I’ll be staying up by Paine field but not at the Hilton Garden, and heading back to seattle airport area for Sunday night.
Looking forward to it 🙂
Hi,
I have a question about the dinner on Saturday. I have celiac disease and so can’t eat gluten. Will there be things I can eat? And if not, will it be a problem if I bring my own food?
Thanks.
Just got the OLF schedule – no OLF next Friday the 20th.
Sorry about that. Have asked to see about some EA-18Gs coming out to Paine Field. Sorry guys, I did what I could. I was just hoping….
Oh well more time to watch jets at Paine Field. Hopefully EA-18Gs too!
Just learned that Airways beer will be served Saturday evening–looking forward to trying it. As a Californian I will have to taste the PSA Oatmeal–and I’ll wear a shirt that matches!
I want to personally thank the Aviation Geek community for their love of AVGeek Breakfast. We have only 4 more spaces open that I can ensure space for in the restaurant during the time we’re there. If you haven’t already reserved your name, please do so now. Can’t wait to meet all 50 of you there next Saturday! We’ll have to consider a new venue for next year to have room for everyone. Instructions on the link below. I’ll be posting a final update to the breakfast next Tuesday evening.
http://jetcitystar.blogspot.com/2015/01/3rd-annual-avgeek-breakfast-2015.html
I’m both happy and sad to say that the 3rd Annual #AVGeek Breakfast is FULL! I’m thrilled that we have 50 people coming. Sad in that I can’t accurately gaurantee a seat in the restaurant for any more people. See the website for the updated information. See you next weekend!
http://jetcitystar.blogspot.com/2015/01/3rd-annual-avgeek-breakfast-2015.html
Happy to eat up with Runway Girl, JetDillo and Isaac. I hope Dangerussandy Ward will be there.
I’ll toast ya Isaac too and dedicate a belch to COER. In fact, every avgeek should dedicate one belch this week to an aircraft noise complainer.
Folks, my contact hasn’t returned my e-mail to verify we’re still on for AGF Sunday transportation. I’m a full ticket.
My public e-mail is growlernoise-at-gmail-dot-com. Willing to pay $20 cash or a bit more for a ride that’ll deposit me at Museum of Flight Sunday no later than 8 AM. Also SeaTac International no later than 7 PM (but I’d prefer 4:45 PM) please.
I will reply when somebody confirms please. I can’t drive (bad left eye, Asperger’s).
Got my ride arranged. All is great!
Yours;
Joe
Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner.
Any waitlist news ?
Hopefully soon we will notify the majority of those on the wait list that they will unfortunately not be getting a ticket and hold on to a last few who still might.
David, AirlineReporter
All packed and ready to leave on EK229 to SEA; 19th Feb to attend #AGF15
See you all there!
First aviation geek fest I will miss (was not available when tickets went on sale) the first five AGF were amazing so I hope everyone has a great time this year too!!
I knew there had to be someone that had attended every AGF and this was their first. Sorry your streak was broken this year Kevin. Ian & I started attending AGF starting in 2010 and as far as we could determine from this years attendees, were the oldest. Do you have a Twitter account or email I can contact you at? My email address is listed on my website under the breakfast post. Definitely hope to see you next year!
http://jetcitystar.blogspot.com
Hi Isaac – my twitter is TxAgFlyer, I’ll definitely be back next year! While sad I missed what was undoubtedly a lot of aviation fun I’ll take solace that someone who has never been before likely went in my place.
I hope everyone has a grand time. Save other obligations, I’d be with you, (perhaps giving David hell at every turn?) I know it will be fun and David’s team now has lots of experience. I hope everyone has a grand time and yup, the weather looks very good. Whee… Big airplanes… -C.
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