LA28 Olympics: The Complete Guide for Australian Travellers

Quick Answer: LA28 Olympics Dates and Tickets

Game days run on your phone: maps, Metro times and ticket emails. A HelloRoam eSIM for the USA, set up before you leave Australia, has you online from the moment you land at LAX, with 24/7 support if something needs sorting.

Get your USA eSIM before you flyInstall it at home, then turn on data roaming for it when you land. From A$4.07.See USA plans

Official LA28 tickets are sold through the Games' ticketing partners, AXS and Eventim la28.org. For a guaranteed seat now, On Location, LA28's official hospitality provider, is selling packages that pair tickets with lounge access and premium service la28.org.

Demand has been huge. LA28 says more than 6 million Olympic tickets have sold, the vast majority of the inventory on offer so far. The 2027 sale drops the draw and the per-person limits, so anyone with an LA28 ID can buy, but popular sessions will be scarce. Preliminary sessions in swimming, gymnastics and athletics are a more realistic target than the opening ceremony and, in practice, deliver the atmosphere that makes the Games worth the journey.

On Location packages remove the uncertainty. For Australians who've already committed to a long-haul flight and accommodation costs from the other side of the Pacific, paying a premium for a guaranteed ticket simplifies what is otherwise a layered planning problem.

Packages cost more than general tickets. Whether that premium is worth paying depends on your tolerance for uncertainty and how firm your travel dates are.

Practical framework: create your LA28 ID now, sign up for LA28's newsletter to hear when the 2027 sale opens, check the LA28 hospitality site for packages, and book refundable accommodation until tickets confirm.

LA28 at a Glance for Australians

• Dates: Olympics 14 to 30 July 2028; Paralympics 15 to 27 August 2028.
• Key venues: LA Memorial Coliseum for athletics, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood for swimming, and Fairgrounds Cricket Stadium in Pomona for cricket.
• Tickets: the next general sale opens in 2027, first-come, first-served. Hospitality packages are on sale now.
• Flights: Qantas flies to Los Angeles from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Perth travellers need a connection.
• Entry: an approved ESTA and an e-Passport for Visa Waiver Program stays of up to 90 days, unless you hold a US visa. Step 2 below has the details.
• Mobile data: Telstra's Day Pass costs A$10 a day in the USA; a travel eSIM is one upfront price for a set allowance.

LA 2028 Ticket Prices and Buying Options

LA28 hasn't published one price list for every session. Its first 2026 ticket drop included US$28 tickets, but roughly half a million of them sold during a presale for Los Angeles and Oklahoma City locals la28.org. Buyers in 85 countries still got tickets in that drop, so overseas fans aren't shut out.

That leaves two routes. On one side: the 2027 general sale at face-value prices. On the other: hospitality packages that guarantee your seat today.

The 2027 sale is the next chance at face-value tickets for the LA28 Olympics, and LA28 hasn't announced the opening date yet la28.org. With most inventory already gone, be online the moment the sale opens.

On Location's packages combine a ticket to the session you choose with lounge access and premium service, and LA28 says they're on sale now. Check prices and availability at On Location's official event packages. No waiting on the 2027 sale, no scrambling for seats.

For groups flying from Melbourne or Brisbane, a package can make logistical sense: you lock in the session first and build the trip around it.

Skip resale sites for now: LA28's verified resale program launches in 2027, and LA28 says tickets listed for resale anywhere before then aren't verified.

Flying to Los Angeles from Australia

Qantas flies to Los Angeles from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane qantas.com, and it's a long haul across the Pacific. LA28 lists five airports serving the Games region: LAX, Burbank, Long Beach, Ontario and Santa Ana (John Wayne) la28.org. The smaller ones are handy if you add a US domestic leg.

Watch fares early. LA28 says most airlines release schedules 11 to 12 months before travel, so expect fares for the Games from around mid-2027 la28.org. Set fare alerts now so you see them when they open. Olympic travel has a way of clearing out the affordable cabin fast.

One practical move: when fares open, book a refundable or changeable one, even if the 2027 ticket sale hasn't happened yet. You hold the seat at a sensible price and can cancel if the sale doesn't go your way. Nothing is guaranteed until your ticket confirmation lands.

Perth travellers: the hidden extra leg

No airline flies nonstop from Perth to LAX, so Perth travellers face a domestic leg to Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane first, or a connection through another hub.

That extra leg deserves careful thought in your planning. Build in a night's stay at your connection city, or consider a deliberate stopover somewhere like Honolulu. Arriving jet-lagged into a Games with packed transport and compressed schedules is a punishment of its own making.

Perth travellers need one more buffer than east-coast Australians. Build it in.

Getting Around Los Angeles During the Olympics

LA28 says spectators can reach the Games by public transport, venue shuttle stops and park-and-ride. Australians who get their Metro fares sorted before departure will find trains more predictable than rideshare on peak event days.

The C and K Lines both stop at LAX/Metro Transit Center, where a free shuttle runs to every LAX terminal metro.net. It's also Metro's shuttle stop for SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, which hosts Olympic swimming (LA28 lists it as 2028 Stadium). On Rams and Chargers game days, a free SoFi Stadium Express runs from there metro.net. LA28 hasn't published its Games-time shuttle plan yet.

The D Line subway extension opened its first new section, to Wilshire/La Cienega, on 8 May 2026. The next sections to Century City and Westwood/UCLA are still under construction, and Metro forecasts them to open in 2027 but hasn't set exact dates metro.net. Check Metro's site before you plan a trip to Westwood.

Before leaving Australia, sort how you'll pay. LA Metro takes contactless credit and debit cards, including Apple Pay and Google Pay, and you can add a TAP card (LA's transit card) to Apple Wallet or use the TAP app metro.net. That means stepping off a long-haul flight and onto a train without fumbling at a ticket machine on no sleep.

Rideshare surge pricing will be rough on finals days and around the opening ceremony. Peak demand near major venues pushes fares well above standard rates. If your budget is already stretched across flights and tickets, factor this in early.

One practical rule before boarding in Sydney or Melbourne: download an offline navigation map for LA. Venue connectivity under crowd conditions is patchy, and real-time navigation in a city this size needs a data connection. Google Maps and Maps.me both support offline download. Plan for the gap.

Venues are spread across the region: Downtown LA, Inglewood, Long Beach, Pasadena and Pomona, among others la28.org. Expect transfers, not strolls.

Staying Connected in Los Angeles: eSIM, SIM and Wi-Fi Options

HelloRoam's US eSIM plans run on the AT&T and Verizon networks. Plans of 3GB and up last 30 days, enough for the whole Games at one upfront price. As of October 2026, Telstra's International Roaming Day Pass for the USA costs A$10 for each day you use your phone there, with 2GB of data a day telstra.com.au. Use it on all 17 days of the Games and that's A$170, so check Telstra's page for the current price before you fly. Our eSIM vs roaming comparison sets out the trade-offs. An eSIM is a digital SIM profile you install by scanning a QR code, with no physical card swap.

For a trip covering the whole Games, a 10GB plan is a sensible starting point. Navigation between venues across a city this size consumes data steadily. Factor in digital tickets, messaging, and the occasional video call home, and 5GB runs thin by week two.

A dual SIM setup (phone running two active lines simultaneously) is worth the configuration time. Keep your Australian number active on your physical SIM for bank authentication codes and calls from home. Route all US data through the eSIM. Most current iPhones and Android flagships handle this natively; check the eSIM compatible phones list before you buy.

One honest caveat: venue Wi-Fi at large stadium events is unreliable under full crowd conditions. A stadium built for NFL crowds, with tens of thousands of simultaneous users, creates genuine network congestion. Don't rely on the venue network for navigation or ticket display.

Install the eSIM at home before boarding, not on arrival. Scanning the QR code takes a few minutes over home Wi-Fi, and the plan starts when your phone connects to a US network, so you land with data ready.

Breaking Removed from the 2028 Olympics, Five Sports Added

Breaking is the sport that drops out. It made its Olympic debut at Paris 2024 but isn't on the LA28 program la28.org. Boxing stays. It was left off at first after the IOC stripped the International Boxing Association of recognition, then reinstated in March 2025 with World Boxing running the sport en.wikipedia.org. Preliminaries are at the Peacock Theater and finals at DTLA Arena la28.org.

The five sports added tell a different story. Flag football, cricket, squash, lacrosse, and baseball/softball all join the schedule in Los Angeles la28.org.

Cricket is the headline addition.

The sport last appeared at the Olympics in 1900, a 128-year absence la28.org. The format will be T20, a fast-paced version of the game where each team faces a maximum of 20 overs, with six-team men's and women's tournaments at Fairgrounds Cricket Stadium in Pomona. Australia has never played Olympic cricket: the only match, in 1900, was Great Britain against France en.wikipedia.org. A place in one of those six-team fields would change that.

Flag football makes its Olympic debut at LA28. LA28 says flag football, softball, lacrosse and squash were among the first sports to sell out their share of the first ticket drop la28.org.

Softball also returns alongside baseball, but it's played in Oklahoma City, not Los Angeles la28.org. Australia won a softball medal at every Olympics from 1996 to 2008 en.wikipedia.org, so Australians who want to see it should plan a US domestic flight to Oklahoma City.

Planning Your LA28 Olympics Trip: Australian Action Checklist

Seven steps cover everything from booking your place at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to landing at LAX with data already running. Work through them in order, and use our travel checklist for Australian travellers for the packing and paperwork basics.

Step 1: Create an LA28 ID for the 2027 ticket sale Get this sorted now. The 2027 sale is the next path to face-value tickets, and you'll need an LA28 ID to buy. If you miss out, hospitality packages from On Location are the structured fallback.

Step 2: Apply for your ESTA before you book flights As of October 2026, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says the Visa Waiver Program covers business or tourism stays of up to 90 days without a visa cbp.gov. Unless you hold a US visa, Australian passport holders travelling this way need an approved ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) and an e-Passport before they fly. CBP recommends applying as soon as you start planning, before you buy airline tickets cbp.gov. The application checks whether you qualify, and an approved ESTA doesn't guarantee entry: CBP officers decide that when you arrive. Check CBP's ESTA page before you book, as the rules can change.

Step 3: Book a flexible fare early Set fare alerts now for flights from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, and book a refundable or changeable fare so you can adjust once your tickets are confirmed.

Step 4: Book refundable accommodation until tickets are confirmed Don't commit to non-refundable hotels until you know you have tickets. Options across Westside, Hollywood, and Downtown give flexibility. Refundable means you can cancel cleanly if you miss out on tickets.

Step 5: Check On Location for hospitality packages If you'd rather lock in a session now than wait for the 2027 sale, compare On Location's packages before you book anything non-refundable.

Step 6: Organise travel insurance with event cancellation cover Confirm the policy covers non-refundable tickets if the event is cancelled or you can't travel. Read the policy wording before you buy, not after.

Step 7: Set up a US eSIM before departure Install the eSIM at home and your phone picks up data once you land at LAX. No fiddly SIM card swap after a long-haul flight.