AFL Grand Final: Fans face paying triple for flights as ticket prices surge, trains, buses sell out

Georgina Noack

The Nightly

5 Min Read

25 Sep 2024

Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions fans are running out of options to get to the MCG as trains and buses sell out and airfares soar. Credit: Cameron Spencer / Morgan Hancock/Getty Images

Fans of the Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions are facing astronomical costs for flights to Melbourne to see their beloved teams battle it out in the all-interstate AFL Grand Final this weekend.

Many of the faithful are being forced to consider driving to Melbourne ahead of Saturday’s clash as interstate trains and buses from the Swans and Lions heartlands sell out, too.

According to Skyscanner, as of Wednesday, flights leaving Brisbane or Sydney on Friday and returning on the Sunday of the grand final weekend were at least double — some almost three times — the cost of the same trips the following week.

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Ex-Brisbane Lions midfielder Mitch Robinson blasted the airlines for “price gouging” in an episode of his Rip Through It podcast.

His co-host and fellow ex-Lion Rhys Mathieson said when he looked to book flights to the grand final after the Lions’ game on Sunday, tickets “were going up by $500 a second”, prompting Robinson to lash the airline “scumbags”.

“How dare you, by the way,” Robinson said. “You guys are scumbags, you don’t need any more money.”

Mathieson said when he and his partner went to book flights to Melbourne, prices jumped by $250 just by clicking through the website to change their departure time. He said five minutes later, return flights “went up another $500”.

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After the Swans and Lions confirmed their places in the big dance, Qantas added 17 extra flights on flying kangaroo and Jetstar routes between Brisbane and Sydney and Melbourne — totalling more than 5500 additional seats across both carriers— in preparation for the weekend.

In a statement, Qantas said it expects close to 100,000 people to fly to Melbourne for the grand final.

“As of Wednesday afternoon, there are still more than 3000 seats available across Qantas and Jetstar for flights on Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning,” its statement read.

On Monday, the national carrier said one of those flights sold out within 40 minutes of going on sale on Saturday and that all direct return flights to Brisbane on Sunday after the grand final sold out within 24 hours of the Lions’ win over Geelong last week.

Virgin Australia said it added 5000 seats across the finals season and said fares close to departure times tended to be higher.

Both airlines have said they will continue to assess the need for additional flights.

Brisbane Lions fans. — Lions fans travelling to the grand final from the club’s heartland face eyewatering airfares. Credit: Joel Carrett/AAP

Lions fans travelling to the grand final from the club’s heartland face airfares up to and more than three times the cost of travelling the following weekend.

A round-trip on low-cost carrier Jetstar starts at $1450 for the grand final weekend, and $479 for travelling the next, according to Skyscanner.

A round-trip from Brisbane with Qantas will cost at least $1242 this weekend, $833 the next; while a Virgin Australia flight — which is a partner of the AFL — for the grand final costs $680 and $402 the next weekend.

One man shared a screenshot of a $3391 Qantas fare from Melbourne to Brisbane (via Sydney) to leave after the grand final.

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Meanwhile, the starting price for a round-trip from Sydney is $1012 with Qantas, but $492 the next weekend — an almost three-fold difference.

Flights with Virgin Australia cost $801 this weekend, compared with $448 the next, while flights with Jetstar start at $721 for the grand final and just $343 a week later.

Qantas said there were “limited seats” left on flights to Melbourne from Sydney to Brisbane; however return flights to Brisbane on Sunday — including those with extra capacity — had “sold out in economy with a handful of business seats remaining”. There are also options to travel to the game via Canberra.

“Seats may become available on these services if existing customers opt to change their flight,” the statement read.

“As footy tickets have been on sale for a number of days, we expect the majority of fans have already booked their flights.”

Skyscanner Australia travel expert Jarrod Kris said the site saw an 81 per cent spike in flight searches from Brisbane to Melbourne after the Lions’ preliminary final win, while searches from Sydney to Melbourne only jumped 21 per cent after the Swans’ victory on Friday night.

“Even though prices are rising due to the high demand for flights in the lead-up to the AFL Grand Final this Saturday, not all flight prices are rising, and not all at the same time,” Mr Kris said.

His best advice for footy faithful hoping to fly to the game was to be flexible with their dates, whether that means leaving for Melbourne on Thursday or leaving after the weekend. Return flights on Thursday and Monday start from $414 to Sydney and $792 to Brisbane, Skyscanner data shows.

Options are running out to get there before the first bounce

For fans who are unwilling or unable to fork out such eye-watering airfares to get to Melbourne, it’s not looking good.

Train tickets and interstate buses from Sydney and Brisbane have sold out; despite Transport for NSW ramping up its XPT services from Sydney to Melbourne in anticipation of the weekend.

NSW TrainLink said it added a sixth car to its twice-daily Sydney to Melbourne XPT service, instead of the usual five cars, to accommodate increased demand.

More than 3600 train tickets were bought to get to the grand final via the XPT service between the Swans’ preliminary final victory on Friday, September 20, and the end of September 24. The two XPT services running on Grand Final eve sold out the night of the preliminary final.

It is understood there were tickets available up until the 7.44 am service departed Sydney’s Central Station on Wednesday.

Any Lions fans hoping to get to to MCG on a NSW TrainLink service before the first bounce would need to leave Queensland by Thursday. The quickest trip with NSW TrainLink would still take 28 hours, and the longest would take 41 hours.

While no more tickets remain to get to the game, TrainLink chief executive Roger Weeks said that seats are available to return to Sydney after the final siren. He said other XPT services also have seats available next week.

It leaves fans with one final option: driving to the ‘G — which, depending on the car’s fuel efficiency, petrol prices, and parking availability (and when you leave) may be the cheapest bet.