AEW All Out / Chicago Trip Labor Day Weekend 2019

Sears Centre Arena

Happy New Year! It's Mark Darden with the first blog post of 2020. This post will be about my experience at All Elite Wrestling's pay-per-view extravaganza, All Out. As you may or may not know, I am a huge pro wrestling fan and I’ve been going to events for the last 19 years. However, every event that I have attended has been by the undisputed king of pro wrestling, WWE. This was the first time going to an event that wasn't WWE and I must say that the atmosphere was completely different than what I am used to. Also, I did not come alone as I attended All Out with my good friend, Tamika.

How Much Did It Cost?

All prices are in US Dollars.

Disclaimer: The numbers without brackets is the price that I initially spent.

() = Cost that refunded back to me

[] = Final cost that I spent

TRANSPORTATION: $244.30

  • Miller Transportation: $47.00

  • American Airlines: $112.30

  • Ventra Card CTA: $10.00 for all day pass for friend, $5.00 loaded on my card

  • Lyft: $50.00, $20.00

LODGING: $102.49

  • HI Hostel Chicago: $102.49

ENTERTAINMENT: $387.38 ($194.00) [$193.38]

  • AEW All Out: $349.38 ($175.00)

  • Willis Tower: $38.00 ($19.00)

  • Millennium Park: Free

  • Magnificent Mile: Free

  • Navy Pier: Free

  • Chicago Riverwalk: Free

FOOD: $200.90 ($23.08) [$177.82]

  • Portillo's: $10.57

  • Sears Centre Arena: $28.00, $30.00

  • Main Event: $16.19

  • Ben & Jerry's: $8.52

  • Giordano's: $75.48 ($23.08)

  • Devil Dawgs: $15.66

  • Sweet Home Gelato: $8.81

  • McDonald's: $7.67

GRAND TOTAL: $935.07 [$717.99]

Let's put the numbers into context. The most expensive purchase for this Labor Day weekend trip was the tickets to All Out. $349.38 was spent via StubHub to acquire the tickets and I was not too thrilled about the purchase. The face value of the tickets was $180 but due to scalpers and high demand, the price increased exponentially.

Tamika and I took Miller Transportation from Columbus to Chicago for $47.00. Being a Greyhound Road Rewards member, I was able to a companion pass that I acquired earlier in 2019 and Tamika's ticket was free. We both flew back to Columbus via American Airlines out of O’Hare Airport for $112.30 apiece.

We ate a lot of food when we in Chicago and it was all delicious. We stopped at landmarks such as Portillo's, Devil Dawgs, and Giordano's and I left Chicago with food baby.

Thanks for reading! 2020 will be a great year for myself as well as Buckeye Muscle Media, LLC. I may not travel as much as in years past, but I do intend on taking my travel writing career to the next level. Next week I will be in New York City for the New York Times Travel Show where I will make great connections with other travel experts. This past Wednesday, I celebrated the first birthday of IT'S GAME TIME FOLKS!: Quest for 30 and you can order your copy in the shop today.