Fremantle and Brisbane fans hit by $6,000 flights to AFL Grand Final
Some return flights to Melbourne have hit $6,000 as Fremantle and Brisbane fans scramble to get to Saturday's AFL Grand Final, according to ABC News.
The decider — the one game that settles the premiership — pits Fremantle against the Brisbane Lions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday, 26 September at 2:30pm AEST, the AFL says. Tickets are one problem. Getting there is another.
Perth supporters are feeling it hardest. Fremantle fan John Cooke said he knows of supporters paying $1,900 for a one-way flight from Perth. Brisbane Lions fan Wendy Elson managed to book a one-way flight to Melbourne but was still without a ticket home.
Airlines have added extra capacity since the preliminary finals sorted the matchup. Qantas put on 13 extra flights between Perth and Melbourne after Fremantle's preliminary-final win, with one-way fares on those services advertised from $766.
Qantas and Jetstar also added seven extra flights between Brisbane and Melbourne for Grand Final demand. Virgin added 4,000 seats between Perth and Melbourne and another 1,000 seats from Brisbane.
Even with the extra seats, cheap options are thin. On Monday 21 September, one-way fares between Perth and Melbourne started at $1,211 with Qantas and $707 with Virgin, according to the Herald Sun. The cheapest Brisbane-Melbourne return fares by early Monday were listed at A$1,658 on Qantas and A$1,728 on Virgin.
An earlier snapshot had put the minimum cost for Fremantle fans travelling from Perth to Melbourne at $1,586. Flight Centre said bookings to Melbourne from Brisbane and Perth were up 126 per cent on the same time last year.
For fans, this means timing is everything. Book late after a prelim win and you pay for the rush.
Griffith University aviation expert Justin Wastnage said airlines use sophisticated dynamic pricing systems to maximise revenue from a limited number of seats. In plain terms, prices shift automatically as seats fill and demand spikes.
The squeeze has landed as the federal government announced nearly $40 million to fund an overhaul of aviation consumer rights, including a new watchdog and complaints system.
