For the first time, I splurged on the VIP access to Ommegang’s Belgium Comes to Cooperstown (BCTC) and it was expensive but there were a few advantages that I thought made the cost worth it:
- Camping on Friday. This was a huge deal to me because it’s a 5 hour drive to Ommegang
- VIP Dinner with music and drinks on Friday
- Free Breakfast on Saturday
- Early access to the tasting session (only 30 minutes)
I’d say the #1 and #2 bullets were most important. I didn’t find 3 and 4 that appealing. If the VIP session was 1 hour earlier than others, maybe. Further, arriving on Friday showed me that a lot of non-VIPs show up on Friday anyway and set up camp and just share bottles with friends. I’d say half of the people camping weren’t VIPs. This leads me to believe that I’ll just show up on Friday next year but will ask permission first so I’m not turned away after driving 5 hours.
I took a few photos of the VIP dinner and thought it would be nice to share them here.
Was VIP worth it? For camping and the dinner, yes it was but if camping is possible without the extra $100 per ticket, I’d probably skip it next year.
\
\
\
\
