Online Reporter
ARSENAL fans will have to break the bank if they want to watch the Champions League final in person.
The Gunners booked a spot in the final of Europe‘s elite club competition on Tuesday with a 2-1 aggregate semi-final win over Atletico Madrid.
Thousands of the Emirates faithful are now frantically scrambling to book flights and hotels for the final in Budapest.
But they’re being faced with extortionate prices to attend the club’s first Champions League final in 20 YEARS.
Convenient return flights to Budapest from London have soared overnight to nearly £1200.
The cheapest direct round tickets available are north of £900, although that figure will likely rise in the coming days.
Fans not keen on paying the steep flight prices can get a 42-HOUR return bus service to Budapest for £269.
Hotels are proving to be a major problem too, with popular website Booking.com having over 90 per cent of their available rooms snapped up.The cheapest beds available in the city are now in HOSTELS — and even that “budget option” will set Gunners fans back well over £250.
The scramble for hotels has been made worse by several establishments CANCELLING existing bookings.Tickets for the final itself are set to be the most expensive in Champions League history.
‘Fan first’ tickets will set punters back just over £60, while category three and two seats will cost £155 and £560 respectively.
Category one tickets will cost nearly the same as an adult SEASON TICKET at the Emirates at a whopping £819.
Restricted view tickets are available in each section and will cost £120, £448 and £655 respectively.
Excluding the exorbitant ticket prices, fans will have to pay nearly £2000 just to get to Budapest.
Arsenal supporters around the world will no doubt have been weighing up dipping into their overdrafts and taking out credit cards before yesterday’s 1-0 win over Atletico.
And they’ll be contemplating it even more following Declan Rice‘s call for them to descend on the Hungarian capital in their thousands.
He roared: “Bring it on, bring it on — I’ll be ready. Let’s see what happens.
“Budapest, I want every Arsenal fan out there. 200,000 of you, come out!
“Let’s try and do it because we’re going to need all the support, all the energy and let’s make it really special.”
He added: “I’ve not seen the Emirates like that, so a big thank you to the fans because we needed that.“And when we came in as well, you could feel the energy from everyone.
“Even if you’re tired, it just gives you that energy to keep going, and I think they played a massive part tonight in making us win.
“This era of Arsenal fans, I know people who have been there from the start have had a lot of ups and downs.
“But I’m sure this is really up there for them.
“So, I’m happy we’ve done it for the club and for this set of players and our manager because everyone deserves it, so, so happy.”—Reuters.
Mathew Masinge