My partner and I have made the big decision to go to this year's Grand Final... we figure that him being a Crows Supporter and myself being an Eagles supporter, at least one of our teams should be playing in it. It's also his 21st birthday two days after the game so I thought a stay in Melbourne - even if neither of our teams are in the grand final - would be fun.
Basically I wanted to make a thread where we can all exchage advice on the best places to stay, cheapest ways to travel, best method of getting hold of tickets etc.
Here's some stuff that I've found that may be of value:
For those wanting to take the train, it seems like the Indian Pacific is the way to go... I have done the Adelaide-Perth journey on the Indian Pacific and it wasn't great (gotta love having gastro on a 2.5 day train trip!).
The Indian Pacific leaves every Sunday at 11. 55am from Perth, and arrives in Melbourne on the Wednesday (early evening). I wouldn't recommend going back on the train, it only leaves Melbourne for Perth on Saturday mornings, and that would mean spending at extra week in Melbourne.
The cost of a student trip (just in the seats, not in the cabins) is $220. Adults are a fair bit more $410. There are also concession prices (these are all one-way tickets btw). If you want a cabin, this will pretty much cost you big-bucks - the cheapest cabin is $636 student price, or over a grand adult price.
I'm taking the Overland train as I live in Adelaide, only costs us $49 ea as we're students.
As for flying, there are still quite a few flights available it seems... Adelaide to Perth (the crappy red-eye flights) are going for about $168 at the cheapest (one-way) which isn't too bad, although I'd recommend booking quickly...
Perth - Melbourne flights: expect to pay around 400 bucks one-way minimum. If you leave on the Monday or Tuesday of the week before the grand final, there are still tickets left for $333, however, closer to the day (eg Thurs, Fri) they're between $500-700 one-way. Ironic that Perth-Melbourne flights suddenly get a lot cheaper ($270) after the 30th Sept
Of course there's always the bus - if you want to go through days and days of hell.
As for accommodation, you could either find a Melbourne buddy from Bigfooty and stay with them (absolutely not recommended). However, most of us have some sense about us and will prefer to fork out a few hundred quid rather than live with some of the queer folk that reside on this site.
I haven't really looked much at accommodation yet, I think the MCG is pretty much in the heart of Melbourne so I'll definately be choosing a hotel/motel in the CBD. www.wotif.com is pretty good at finding the best-priced hotels but it can only tell you the prices and availability of them if you're planning to go there in 28 days or under time. I'm a bit scared at leaving it till the last minute, so I'm going to keep looking around on the net.
I'd also recommend booking on the net as it tends to be a fair bit cheaper.
As for purchasing tickets - I'm still working on that one. Every club is allocated a certain number of tickets for it's members, regardless of who's playing, so one idea is that if you know a (eg.) western bulldogs member, they may be able to get you some tickets without too much hassle.
Basically I wanted to make a thread where we can all exchage advice on the best places to stay, cheapest ways to travel, best method of getting hold of tickets etc.
Here's some stuff that I've found that may be of value:
For those wanting to take the train, it seems like the Indian Pacific is the way to go... I have done the Adelaide-Perth journey on the Indian Pacific and it wasn't great (gotta love having gastro on a 2.5 day train trip!).
The Indian Pacific leaves every Sunday at 11. 55am from Perth, and arrives in Melbourne on the Wednesday (early evening). I wouldn't recommend going back on the train, it only leaves Melbourne for Perth on Saturday mornings, and that would mean spending at extra week in Melbourne.
The cost of a student trip (just in the seats, not in the cabins) is $220. Adults are a fair bit more $410. There are also concession prices (these are all one-way tickets btw). If you want a cabin, this will pretty much cost you big-bucks - the cheapest cabin is $636 student price, or over a grand adult price.
I'm taking the Overland train as I live in Adelaide, only costs us $49 ea as we're students.
As for flying, there are still quite a few flights available it seems... Adelaide to Perth (the crappy red-eye flights) are going for about $168 at the cheapest (one-way) which isn't too bad, although I'd recommend booking quickly...
Perth - Melbourne flights: expect to pay around 400 bucks one-way minimum. If you leave on the Monday or Tuesday of the week before the grand final, there are still tickets left for $333, however, closer to the day (eg Thurs, Fri) they're between $500-700 one-way. Ironic that Perth-Melbourne flights suddenly get a lot cheaper ($270) after the 30th Sept
Of course there's always the bus - if you want to go through days and days of hell.
As for accommodation, you could either find a Melbourne buddy from Bigfooty and stay with them (absolutely not recommended). However, most of us have some sense about us and will prefer to fork out a few hundred quid rather than live with some of the queer folk that reside on this site.
I haven't really looked much at accommodation yet, I think the MCG is pretty much in the heart of Melbourne so I'll definately be choosing a hotel/motel in the CBD. www.wotif.com is pretty good at finding the best-priced hotels but it can only tell you the prices and availability of them if you're planning to go there in 28 days or under time. I'm a bit scared at leaving it till the last minute, so I'm going to keep looking around on the net.
I'd also recommend booking on the net as it tends to be a fair bit cheaper.
As for purchasing tickets - I'm still working on that one. Every club is allocated a certain number of tickets for it's members, regardless of who's playing, so one idea is that if you know a (eg.) western bulldogs member, they may be able to get you some tickets without too much hassle.
