Warriors fans face NRL grand final travel scramble as Sydney flights sell out

If you are a New Zealand Warriors fan convinced they will make next month’s NRL grand final in Sydney, you might want to act now before it is too late.

Flights to Sydney in the days leading up to the decider are already selling out, with prices increasing as the finals draw closer.

According to Air New Zealand, there are no flights available from Auckland to Sydney on Friday, October 2, while only limited seats remain for fans wanting to make the trip the day before the grand final.

Return flights are also filling fast, with no availability on some services on the Monday or Tuesday following the final.

Air New Zealand chief customer and digital officer Jeremy O’Brien told the Herald that the airline had noticed an increase in bookings as the finals approach.

“We’ve already added around 2500 seats between New Zealand and Sydney around the NRL grand final to help get fans across the Tasman and home again,” O’Brien said in a statement.

“Flights around major events like the NRL grand final are always very popular. We always start with a range of fares available on each flight, but like all airlines, as flights fill up and it gets closer to the event, fares will be higher.

“We’ll be cheering the Warriors on from the sidelines over the next few weeks so if (when) they make the finals ... stay tuned.“

There are still options for those willing to fly with Qantas or Jetstar, although fans will have to pay a premium or take a less direct route.

All available Qantas flights on those dates are priced at more than $1000, while Jetstar has some options for less than $800. However, the cheaper Jetstar fares involve travelling via either Gold Coast or Melbourne before continuing on to Sydney.

Both airlines have been approached for comment.

For fans looking for an easier option, sporting travel packages are also proving increasingly difficult to secure.

Dejected Warriors players Lance Hohaia (from left), Feleti Mateo, Ben Matulino and Michael Luck after the 2011 NRL grand-final defeat to the Sea Eagles. Photo / Photosport

Boys Trip, a Dunedin-based company specialising in trips to sporting events in Australia, the United States and Singapore, has already sold out of its packages for this year’s grand final.

Boys Trip director David Diehl said the demand had been unprecedented.

When the Warriors reached the grand final in 2011, Boys Trip packages did not sell out until the week of the final. This time, its packages were gone before the finals series had even begun.

“It’s pretty unprecedented, to be honest,” Diehl said. “Previous years, a lot of people will wait until the finals series have started to see what teams might be in the grand final.

“We do always get an influx of bookings once the finals series have started and people have got a bit more of an idea about who might be playing in the grand final.“

Diehl said the sold-out sign went up on the company’s website last week, but inquiries had continued to pour in, with around 25 inquiries a day from groups wanting to travel to Sydney.

The crew behind Boys Trip, who specialise in sports trips across to Australia.

Boys Trip is hopeful of securing more flights if the Warriors qualify, but fans who have left their travel plans until late are already facing significantly higher prices.

Diehl said he was “hoping to get some packages” but with the way the flights are, the packages would cost close to $6500 and that package was probably $4500 “if you booked a month or two ago”.

The scramble for flights comes with the Warriors entering the final round in pole position to claim their second minor premiership.

It is a two-horse race between the Warriors and Penrith Panthers for the J.J. Giltinan Shield, with both sides locked on 40 competition points. Andrew Webster’s side currently sits on top by a single point in points differential, +309 to +308.

Essentially, the Warriors must beat the Manly Sea Eagles by at least the same margin as the Panthers beat the Wests Tigers to secure the minor premiership.

The lowest the Warriors can finish is second and that does bode well as history suggests their premiership hopes are very real. Since the current NRL finals format was introduced in 2012, no team from outside the top four has gone on to win the grand final.

Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.