It’s the timeless quest of the baseball fan: finding cheaper baseball tickets.

As I’m sure you know, it’s not the easiest thing to do. Baseball teams jack up the prices of the really good seats, especially teams that have become contenders of late and have increased demand for tickets.

You’ve also got all those surprise fees that show up when you’re buying through the team or StubHub, so the listed price of the ticket is less than what you’ll pay. Sometimes much less, and you get a rude and annoying surprise at the checkout screen. And it’s a hassle to go to the box office to avoid those fees.

Team websites and StubHub are generally the go-to outlets for buying baseball tickets. After all, they’re authorized, so they seem safer. It’s not easy to trust a website you’ve never heard of with your credit card information.

So, if there was a search engine that listed available tickets from legitimate outlets that you might not have heard of (and might otherwise have trouble trusting), you would use it, right? Or at least, would you add it to your list of sites to search for some cheaper baseball tickets?

If your answer is “well, yeah, of course I would”, then SeatGeek is for you.

SeatGeek is a search engine for third party ticket sellers. They feature listings from numerous online ticket outlets, like Score Big, Vivid Seats, Tickets Now and many others, including locally based ones like ACE Tickets in Boston.

With each listing of tickets, SeatGeek assigns a “Deal Score” to show the user what kind of deal they are getting on each ticket; you can sort the listings either by price or by Deal Score.

The best part? Well there’s two best parts in my opinion.

The first is that the outlets listing their wares on SeatGeek are likely legit. No outlet, not even StubHub, has a perfect record delivering tickets, but at least you can be reasonably certain that these won’t rip you off. I’ve used SeatGeek numerous times and have never had a problem. They’re not perfect, but they do make efforts to resolve their issues, and they don’t get any more online complaints than other ticket brokers, including StubHub.

The other “best part” about SeatGeek is knowing up front what the ticket will cost. MLB teams and StubHub charge fees that are a percentage of the ticket price, so you can expect a sizable markup by the time you reach the checkout screen. There are no such surprises with SeatGeek; you can elect to show the full price with the fees. (Incidentally, keep that in mind when comparing…go to the checkout screen on StubHub or the team website first and see the total cost before you compare.)

Every time I’m searching for cheaper baseball tickets now (which is always), I always check SeatGeek in addition to the team website and StubHub. Very often SeatGeek is where I score the best deal. I’ve even gotten tickets for family members and friends and saved them a good chunk of the budget they offered me.

So the next time you’re looking for cheaper baseball tickets, definitely check out SeatGeek and compare for yourself.

And make sure you use this link, because I like SeatGeek enough to have kept them as an affiliate of mine for several years now. Ballpark E-Guides earns a commission from your SeatGeek purchase, so thanks for your support!

I first discovered Hotwire when booking hotel rooms on a ballpark trip way back in 2003, and I have been using them so much ever since that paying $100 for a hotel room is something I don’t even consider anymore.

I’m sure you’ve noticed how expensive hotel stays are these days. If you book directly through a hotel website, you’re looking at triple digits to stay anyplace decent, and that’s not even counting the additional markup to stay in an expensive city like Boston. Years ago, before I became independently middle class, I would often stay in a Motel 6 or whatever place accepted AAA coupons.

Have you ever stayed in a Motel 6? You’re kind of happy just to see a bar of soap in the shower. But there’s a reason Motel 6 and Super 8 and Days Inn are so popular. Price.

Now, I don’t mind paying more for a nice room. I’ve stayed in Doubletrees and thought they were well worth the few extra bucks. But if I can get that room for $60 instead of $120, I’m going for it.

Hotwire makes that possible.

Hotwire lists rooms that hotels have trouble occupying and are willing to offer for a discounted price. You can sort hotels in your search by star rating, by a high level of positive reviews, by geographical area and by amenities. If you want a three star place with free breakfast and a pool near the O’Hare airport, and at least 80% of the people who review it liked it, Hotwire can find it for you.

There’s one catch: Hotwire won’t give you the name or address of the hotel until you book it, and there’s no canceling unless you pay a few extra bucks for a cancellation policy.

I have no problem with this. How many times are we familiar with the area we’re staying in anyway? I’ve had less than stellar experiences staying in popular name brand hotels. There can be a world of difference between two Best Westerns (I like Best Western, just using them as an example). If 90% of the customers liked the place, I figure I’ll be fine.

I have gotten some absolute steals on hotel rooms through Hotwire, and it’s still my favorite site for lodging.

By the way, you can also get inexpensive rental cars and flights through Hotwire, and I’ve done very well using Hotwire for that too.

Full disclosure: Hotwire is an affiliate of Ballpark E-Guides. Even if they weren’t I’d happily recommend them anyway. So tell them I sent you and use this link to try it on your next baseball trip.

(Hotwire ad courtesy of Hotwire.)

Whenever I am going to drive and park at the game, especially in a ballpark that’s in the heart of a city, I always check ParkWhiz first. You should look at this great website too, for two very good reasons.

The first is the cost of parking, of course. At Fenway Park in Boston, for example, most lots within a half mile of the ballpark cost upwards of $50 or more. At Yankee Stadium in New York, the team lots next to the stadium are $35 as of this writing. I can only imagine what they’ll cost at Wrigley Field this year.

In the heart of the city especially, people want to be close to the ballpark, especially at night. You probably don’t want to be in an unfamiliar place with your kids searching for the garage five blocks away where you parked. So many times, people will pay that exorbitant parking fee.

This lot was literally a half mile from Fenway.

The second reason is traffic. If you’ve ever been stuck in downtown Baltimore on a Friday night looking for an affordable garage, as I have, you know how utterly exasperating that can be. You just want to get to start enjoying your crab dip fries at the Yard, but you’re sitting…and sitting…and sitting at that red light that seems to be green just long enough to empty the gridlock and let one car through.

It’s far, far better to know exactly where you’re going and have your spot reserved. I have never had a problem in Baltimore since that miserable experience, thanks to ParkWhiz.

ParkWhiz is something like StubHub for parking. The website and app enable you to search from a decent selection of available spots, and you can sort them by price, popularity or proximity to the venue. You select a spot, print the reservation and take it with you, plug the address into your GPS and get there practically hassle-free. You may still deal with traffic, but at least you know where you’re going and it’s already paid for. If you want, you can Google the address and see what people say about it.

OK, OK, I’ll park here!

Take it from me, there is a world of difference between searching for a garage at 2 MPH and paying $50 for it and just having your reservation and going and paying half that or even less. Finding a decent parking spot at many ballparks is a hassle I rarely deal with anymore. ParkWhiz saves me money every time I use it, and it’s a GREAT relief to know that my spot will be there.

You should always book your parking beforehand if you’re driving to the game, unless you already know a great inexpensive spot. And I have found ParkWhiz to be the best resource for that.

So tell them I sent you (full disclosure: ParkWhiz is an affiliate of Ballpark E-Guides). Whenever you’re parking at a ballpark in the city, try checking ParkWhiz first.

(ParkWhiz logo courtesy of ParkWhiz.)

So you have no problem taking a 4-5 hour trip to see your favorite team in another ballpark, right?

For fans whose home ballparks are outrageously expensive to visit, like Cubs and Red Sox fans, it’s a popular thing. Much of downtown Baltimore’s hospitality industry is dependent on Red Sox and Yankees fans that visit Camden Yards 21 times a year.

If you want to save a boatload of money on such trips, try a Megabus.

Just saying, when they’re in service they’re great.

Megabus is a luxury bus service available now in about 50 cities in the U.S. and Canada (and in the U.K. even, but anywhere they don’t play baseball doesn’t matter). They have single and double decker buses, all of which have Wi-Fi and free plug-ins. And they do it all for a ridiculous price, sometimes as low as $1. You have to book such deals well ahead of time, but that’s worth the trouble.

Megabus operates from popular transportation hubs in large cities, so your only part of it is getting to the transportation center. In my home town of Philadelphia, that would be the 30th Street Amtrak station. With most ballparks in downtown areas these days and easily reachable by public transit, you should be able to leave the car at home and save a ton.

I’ve used Megabus a few times with great results, but my favorite example is when I used one from NYC to Boston…for just $2.50 round trip. I found a couple of $1 fares and the fee was just 50 cents.

Between gas and tolls, driving that distance would cost at least $50—assuming you are using your own car. And that’s not figuring in the aggravation of the traffic, which is always bad in Connecticut and usually bad near New York and Philadelphia. Not dealing with that is certainly worth a few extra bucks. Did I mention the price of parking in Boston?

Four hours is a long time to ride on a bus, but Megabuses are clean, air-conditioned and comfortable, with free Wi-Fi to keep you busy. You can take care of all that other business you are too busy driving to do, or you can go onto the upper level and enjoy the panoramic view. You’re allowed one piece of luggage and a carry-on bag, which for a weekend trip should be plenty.

He may be small, but he looks friendly enough.

Megabus covers most major cities in the U.S. and Canada. In most cities (not all, but most) they’ll drop you off near a public transportation hub that will get you anywhere else in the city in short order, certainly to the local ballpark.

It isn’t perfect, according to some reviews I’ve read…sometimes buses are late (honestly…is there a bus service that’s always on time?), and a few people have complained that the Wi-Fi doesn’t always work.

But I personally have never had a problem with them, and to get from New York to Boston and back for practically nothing? I’ll take it.

www.megabus.com

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