‘Price gouging at its finest’: Port Adelaide fans react to hefty cost of airfare tickets to Sydney for prelim final

Fans say the cost of flying to Sydney for Friday night’s prelim at the SCG is out of reach after airlines dramatically increase their airfares.

Port fans hoping to cheer the team on at the SCG on Friday have expressed their outrage at “ridiculous” flight costs.

With one-way flights from Adelaide to Sydney, which land before the first siren on Friday, currently priced between $399 to $1723, many said the cost was simply out of reach.

Die-hard supporter Daniel Hayward drove to Adelaide from Victoria for both the qualifier and semi-final games and said the eye-watering cost was “price gouging at its finest.”

“Cost is a massive barrier and the reason I drive,” he said.

“Even from Melbourne the cost would be so far out.”

He said the AFL needed to work better with their partners in the flight industry to ensure fans could get to games.

“You don’t get to play finals every year, so for me it’s about being there and being part of it and supporting the boys,” he said.

“So when these moments happen, you want to be there because it could be a once in a lifetime experience.”

Daniel Hayward said more needed to be done to stop “ridiculous” price gouging. Picture: Ben Clark

Craigmore couple Greg and Gail Lowe said they “would have loved to be there” but they couldn’t justify the price of flights.

“If we won the lotto tonight we would be,” Mrs Lowe said.

“It’s probably cheaper to drive, [with the cost of living] people just aren’t going to be able to do it.

“I don’t think many would be able to afford the trip, especially families,” Mr Lowe added. Peter Moschos, 65, won’t be travelling to Sydney for the match so he can save for a trip to Melbourne for the grand final – if Port win.

“We’re not going, we just can’t afford it, it’s too much,” he said.

“Times are hard, food, electricity, gas, fuel everything’s gone up.

“We could probably go to Sydney but then we wouldn’t be able to afford to go to the grand final.”

Greg and Gaile Lowe said they’d fly over if they won the lotto on Saturday night. Picture: Ben Clark

Lifelong Port supporter David Shelley, 60, took a leap of faith and bought plane tickets for him and his son, Jason, 33, during the final quarter on Friday night to avoid the price rise.

“If you leave it to afterwards the flight prices just go through the roof,” he said.

The Seaton local had his iPad “ready to go” during the match and managed to snag two return flights leaving on Friday and returning Saturday morning for $1,000.

“We kicked in the goal, and I looked and we were 18 points up and I looked at my wife Nat and went, 10 minutes to go [until the siren] and clicked pay,” he said.

“I was actually crying at the end, it was amazing.”

Mike and Monique Brown and son Angus (1) will be driving to Sydney while David Shelley will be flying. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Still riding the high of Port’s nail biting three-point semi-final win, the Giglio family from Findon wasted no time buying tickets “as soon as we got home” at 1am on Saturday.

The family of five paid $800 each way per person for flights and will stay with family to save money on accommodation.

“We got tickets for Thursday night which was a lot cheaper than flying out the Friday night,” mum Sara Giglio said.

“It was $800 return, we’ve got family that we’re going to stay with which was another plus.”

The family are “born and bred’ Port supporters and put away money each year for the finals, she said.

“These games don’t come around very often so we save for when the big ones do.”

The Giglio family bought their tickets hours after Port’s incredible win. Picture: Ben Clark

A spokeswoman for Port Adelaide said the club is currently working on arranging transport options to Sydney for fans.

Port Adelaide members and supporters will be updated if this option becomes available in coming days, she said.

The club will be hosting a live site at Alberton Oval for fans to catch all the action on Friday, starting with the AFLW clash against North Melbourne, followed by Port’s blockbuster final against Sydney.

“On the Friday we almost have a double header, we have our AFLW team playing the Kangaroos at 5pm so that will be broadcast live into the preliminary final,”

Port Adelaide Chief Executive Matthew Richardson said.

“So to those Port fans who can’t get across to Sydney I say get your deckchairs and rugs here to Alberton and it will be a fantastic vibe.”

Tickets for the do-or-die match at the SCG are expected to go on sale on Monday morning at 9:30am.