Ticket sales staggered over two days to prevent ticketing sites crashing

The race to snap up tickets to the first week of the AFL finals is on. This is all you need to know about the ticketing process.

Passionate and paid-up footy fans will on Tuesday have first crack at tickets to see their teams play in next week’s AFL finals as the race to September glory gathers pace.

Members of clubs competing in qualifying finals will have priority from Tuesday morning, before any leftover tickets go on sale to the public.

Fans of the four Victorian clubs left standing – Carlton, Geelong, Hawthorn and Western Bulldogs – will race to secure seats, with sales staggered over two days to prevent ticket sites crashing.

Carlton fans counting their lucky stars after scraping into September when final-round results fell their way will clamour for tickets on Wednesday.

Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn fans will be eager to snap up tickets. Picture: Michael Klein

They will then try to find a way to Brisbane to see their team face off against the Lions next Saturday night.

Geelong members can score tickets to their Adelaide Oval second qualifying final against Port Adelaide from 10am Tuesday, with flights between Victoria and South Australia selling fast.

Bulldogs and Hawks members have priority access to tickets on Wednesday.

Lifelong Carlton fan Natalie Beck and daughter Kristen will join a long line of supporters on the Blues bandwagon making the way to Brisbane from Officer for the match.

“I’m lucky because I’m old enough to have seen quite a few grand finals in my time but my daughter has seen nothing so to be able to experience this with her just means everything,” she said.

“We really do love the club.”

Carlton fans Ebony Anderson with mum Julie Anderson and Kristen Beck with mum Natalie Beck. Picture: Josie Hayden

Ms Beck, who has already booked flights to Brisbane next Friday and home via Sydney to avoid $700 one-way fares to Melbourne and match function tickets through Carlton, signed her daughter up as a member at three weeks old.

“I’m tipping I won’t have a voice after this game,” she said.

Before the Blues booked their passage to the finals via Fremantle’s loss to Port Adelaide on Sunday, the cheapest Qantas flights from Melbourne to Brisbane for next Saturday were $180. By Monday afternoon, that price had leapt to $236.

Some airlines were showing no availability for flights between Melbourne and Adelaide next Thursday.

It comes as footy fans pouring through the gates at AFL venues smashed a home and away season record this year.

A record of more than 7.75 million fans attended matches during the regular season, which also set a new average crowd mark of 323,178 nationally – 12,602 more than ever before.

With Melbourne to host just one final in week one, Bulldogs supporter Mason Sacco, 12, said: “They are going to smash Hawthorn by about 100 points.

“Jamarra Ugle-Hagan will kick three.”

But James Birkett, 12, hoped the Hawks would win.

And Geelong fan Chuck Schiller, 12, predicted Jeremy Cameron would be best player on ground against the Power.