How Much Does It Cost To Go To Coachella?

Updated on October 2, 2026 | Written by Alec Pow
This article was researched using 10 sources. See our methodology and corrections policy.

Going to Coachella in 2027 will realistically cost about $1,100 to $2,000 per person for a budget trip with General Admission and shared camping, around $2,000 to $4,000 for a hotel-based trip, and $4,000 to $7,000+ for a VIP weekend with premium lodging and spending. At the extreme luxury end, official Coachella packages now reach $15,000 for two people at Safari Camping and $32,000 for two at The Resort at Coachella.

The ticket itself is only the starting point. For Coachella 2027, three-day GA passes started at $599 for Weekend 1 and $549 for Weekend 2, while VIP started at $1,299 and $1,249 respectively. Add camping or a hotel, transportation, food, drinks, merchandise, a locker, and travel to Indio, and the real weekend cost can easily become two to four times the festival-pass price.

Article Highlights

• 2027 GA started at $599 (at $30 per hour, earning that amount would take about 2.5 full-time workdays, before taxes) for Weekend 1 and $549 for Weekend 2.
• GA pricing rises by tier, reaching as much as $699 and $649 during the published advance-sale structure.
• VIP started at $1,299 for Weekend 1 and $1,249 for Weekend 2.
• A three-day Coachella shuttle pass currently costs $150.
• Standard car camping costs $160 plus Indio lodging tax.
• Preferred camping is $420, front-row preferred is $520, and powered car camping is $620.
• Official hotel packages for two currently start around $3,500 total.
• Safari Camping costs $15,000 for two.
• The Resort at Coachella costs $32,000 for two.
• GA lockers currently cost $89–$109 for the full weekend.

How Much Does It Cost to Go to Coachella?

The next Coachella is scheduled for April 9–11 and April 16–18, 2027 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.

Coachella’s current pass page uses tiered pricing. There is no difference in access between GA price tiers. Earlier buyers simply pay less.

2027 Pass	Weekend 1	Weekend 2
GA starting price	$599 (about 2.5 full-time workdays at $30 per hour)	$549
Later GA tiers	$649 / $699	$599 / $649
GA + Shuttle starting price	$729	$679
VIP starting price	$1,299	$1,249

These are festival prices with service fees included. A separate $16 shipping charge applied during the 2027 advance sale.

Coachella’s GA advance-sale inventory is currently no longer available, so anyone buying later may need a future general sale, official waitlist, or official resale inventory rather than assuming the original $549 or $599 starting price remains available.

Weekend 1 vs Weekend 2

Weekend 2 has a meaningful price advantage before lodging is even considered.

At the first GA tier:

$599 – $549 = $50 saved per person.

For four friends:

$50 × 4 = $200 saved.

The same lineup, art, food, and festival activities are scheduled for both weekends, so this is one of the cleaner ways to cut the base price if the dates work for you.

Pollstar’s 2027 ticket announcement confirmed the tier structure and the $50 Weekend 2 discount across GA tiers.

Current Camping Costs

Camping remains the cheapest official accommodation strategy, but 2027 prices are considerably higher than the $102 figures found in older Coachella guides.

The current Coachella campground options include:

Camping Type	2027 Price
Car Camping	$160 + TOT
Group Car Camping	$160 per car + TOT
Preferred Car Camping	$420 + TOT
Front Row Preferred Camping	$520 + TOT
Powered Car Camping	$620 + TOT
Ready-Set Tent Camping	$690 + TOT
La Campana, 2 people	$2,600 + TOT
La Campana, 4 people	$3,300 + TOT
Lake Eldorado lodge, 2 people	$2,300 + TOT
Lake Eldorado tent, up to 4	$3,000 + TOT

Festival admission is sold separately from these camping prices.

For four people sharing one $160 car-camping space, the base camping expense is only:

$160 ÷ 4 = $40 per person before tax.

That is why camping remains the strongest budget option.

Free Showers

One older cost estimate that should be removed entirely is the idea that campers must pay $7 to $10 every time they shower.

Coachella’s standard campground showers are currently free.

The festival also offers optional Super Duper Showers with shorter lines, mirrors, and power outlets for a fee, but ordinary shower access is included for campers.

This is a small correction individually, but three mornings of supposed $10 shower fees would otherwise overstate one person’s weekend budget by $30.

Hotels

Hotels can cost more than the actual festival passes, particularly when booked through official packages.

The current official Weekend 1 hotel packages combine accommodations, festival admission, and Coachella shuttle access.

A three-night GA package for two currently starts around $3,501.49 total.

That works out to approximately:

$3,501.49 ÷ 2 = $1,750.75 per person.

A four-night package begins around $4,169.32 for two.

Those package prices include taxes, service fees, and shipping, making them easier to budget than building the trip from separate hotel, pass, and shuttle purchases.

Shuttle and Parking

The standard official three-day shuttle pass is now $150.

Buying GA and shuttle together saves $20 compared with purchasing the two separately.

Preferred parking is considerably more expensive at $299 for the weekend.

The festival’s transportation guidance strongly encourages shuttle use because shuttles have dedicated routes and drop passengers closer to the festival entrance.

If four people share one $299 preferred parking pass, the parking cost is about $75 each. If everyone would otherwise buy a $150 shuttle pass, driving together can be cheaper, although fuel, traffic, designated-driver issues, and lodging location also matter.

Flying to Coachella

Airfare is one of the least predictable costs because attendees travel from across the U.S. and internationally.

Palm Springs International Airport is much closer to Indio than Los Angeles International, but flights into Palm Springs can be more expensive or require connections.

LAX may provide cheaper airfare, but the ground trip to the Coachella Valley creates another cost and substantial travel time.

For budgeting rather than claiming a universal airfare, a domestic traveler might reserve roughly $250 to $700 for flights and adjust that number after checking their actual route.

International travel can easily exceed $1,000 before local transportation.

Food and Drinks

Coachella does not publish a single official menu price because vendors change, so using an exact universal $15 meal or $18 cocktail figure would give false precision.

A safer festival budget is approximately $60 to $120 per person per day for someone buying most meals and several drinks onsite.

Over three festival days that becomes:

$180 to $360 per person.

Campers can spend less because the campgrounds allow certain food and cooking supplies under festival rules.

Water refill stations also reduce beverage spending if you bring an allowed reusable container.

Locker Cost

The current Coachella locker prices are:

• Medium GA locker: $89
• Large GA locker: $99
• XL GA locker: $109
• Small charging locker: $79

These prices cover the entire three-day festival rather than one day.

GA lockers include a refundable $10 lock deposit in the listed price.

Two friends splitting a $99 large locker would therefore pay about $49.50 each.

Budget Trip

Here is a realistic low-cost 2027 example for someone driving with friends and camping during Weekend 2:

• Early GA pass: $549
• One-quarter of a $160 campsite: $40
• Shared fuel/transportation: $100
• Food and drinks: $225
• Shared locker: $50
• Merchandise/miscellaneous: $100
• Total: about $1,064

Add higher-tier GA pricing, more food and alcohol, camping supplies, or a longer drive and a practical low-budget target becomes roughly $1,100 to $1,500 per person.

At a $30 hourly wage, a $1,200 Coachella trip represents:

$1,200 ÷ $30 = 40 hours of gross wages.

That is approximately one full 40-hour workweek before taxes.

Hotel Trip

A couple using an official three-night GA hotel package starts around $3,501.49 total.

Add an illustrative $800 for two round-trip domestic flights, $500 for food and drinks, and $300 for merchandise and other extras:

• Hotel + GA + shuttle package: $3,501
• Flights for two: $800
• Food/drinks: $500
• Other spending: $300
• Total for two: about $5,101

That works out to roughly $2,550 per person.

At $30 per hour, $2,550 equals about 85 hours of gross wages.

VIP Trip

VIP admission alone starts at $1,299 for Weekend 1 and $1,249 for Weekend 2.

VIP does not automatically include a hotel, food, drinks, parking, or transportation.

The main benefits are access to dedicated VIP areas with additional shade, seating, specialty food and beverage vendors, bars, and upgraded restrooms.

A traveler combining VIP with a hotel, flights, food, and discretionary spending can reasonably cross $4,000 per person without buying any ultra-luxury hospitality package.

Safari Camping

The old idea that Coachella’s most expensive glamping starts around $5,000 is now far too low.

Official 2027 Safari Camping costs $15,000 total for two people.

The four-night package includes:

• an air-conditioned furnished tent or cabana;
• premium festival passes;
• Safari-exclusive golf cart transportation;
• concierge services;
• air-conditioned restrooms and showers;
• daily breakfast;
• late-night snacks;
• private parking;
• Wi-Fi.

That is $7,500 per person before flights and additional festival spending.

The Resort

The highest official 2027 lodging tier goes much further.

The Resort at Coachella is currently priced from $32,000 total for two people, or $16,000 each.

It includes a four-night air-conditioned yurt or residence, the highest available access level for the package, private golf-cart transportation, concierge support, private bathroom and shower facilities, breakfast, Wi-Fi, and Safari Campground access.

That makes a true top-end Coachella weekend several times more expensive than the old article’s $10,000+ luxury ceiling.

Payment Plan

The 2027 advance-sale payment plan required only $49 down, with the remaining amount split into payments through January 2027.

The plan charged a $55 flat fee rather than interest.

For someone financing a $599 GA pass, that fee raises the effective price by about:

$55 ÷ $599 × 100 = 9.2%.

The payment plan helps cash flow, but it does not make the ticket cheaper.

Hidden Costs

Shipping: Advance-sale festival orders currently add a $16 shipping fee.

Camping tax: Camping prices are listed plus the City of Indio transient occupancy tax.

Payment-plan fee: The 2027 advance plan adds $55.

Flights: Domestic airfare can easily become the second-largest cost after admission or lodging.

Ground transportation: Airport transfers, rental cars, rideshares, shuttles, and parking can add hundreds.

Festival food and alcohol: Three days of buying everything onsite can add several hundred dollars.

Lockers: Current weekend prices run $79 to $109.

Failed hotel-package payments: Current hospitality terms allow a $50-per-item restocking fee if a payment plan ultimately fails.

Premium package changes: Safari transfers after the first 24 hours can carry a $1,000 transfer fee under current hospitality terms.

You may also want our price guides to Morrison Planetarium tickets, musical tickets, and Masters tickets.

Buying Safely

Coachella uses AXS as its main festival ticketing platform.

If initial inventory is gone, Coachella recommends its official waitlist and AXS resale system.

The festival explicitly warns that it cannot authenticate or support passes purchased through unauthorized third-party scalpers.

That matters because a cheap resale wristband that cannot be used is not a saving.

What We Verified

We checked Coachella’s current 2027 pass structure, advance-sale rules, official camping prices, shuttle and preferred-parking costs, locker pricing, shower rules, payment-plan charges, official resale process, hotel packages, Safari Camping, and The Resort at Coachella.

The verified 2027 opening GA prices are $599 for Weekend 1 and $549 for Weekend 2. VIP started at $1,299 and $1,249. Service fees are included in the advertised festival-pass prices.

Standard car camping now costs $160 plus local lodging tax, the three-day shuttle costs $150, and ordinary campground showers are free.

Official premium lodging now extends from $2,300 to $3,300 for Lake Eldorado and La Campana options to $15,000 for two at Safari and $32,000 for two at The Resort.

Answers to Common Questions

How much should I budget for Coachella?

Plan on roughly $1,100–$2,000 per person for a relatively frugal GA trip, $2,000–$4,000 for a hotel-based weekend, and $4,000–$7,000+ for VIP with premium lodging and spending.

How much is a Coachella ticket in 2027?

GA started at $599 for Weekend 1 and $549 for Weekend 2. VIP started at $1,299 and $1,249.

How much is camping at Coachella?

Standard car camping is $160 plus local lodging tax. Preferred and upgraded camping runs from $420 to $3,300 before Safari-level packages.

Are Coachella showers free?

Yes. Standard campground showers are free. Optional upgraded Super Duper Showers are available for an additional fee.

How much is the Coachella shuttle?

The current three-day Any Line Shuttle Pass costs $150. Buying GA together with a shuttle saves $20.

How much does luxury Coachella cost?

Official 2027 Safari Camping costs $15,000 for two people. The Resort at Coachella costs $32,000 for two.

Does Coachella have a payment plan?

Yes. The 2027 advance sale offered $49 down and equal payments through January 2027, with a $55 flat payment-plan fee.

Can you buy a one-day Coachella ticket?

No. Standard festival admission is sold as one wristband valid for all three days of the selected weekend.