SOCCER FANS WILL have to pay big money or show some creativity to get to Germany for Ireland's rearranged World Cup qualifier against Georgia next Saturday.
Fifa announced on Thursday that in the wake of the conflict in Georgia, the tie would be moved from the Georgian capital of Tbilisi to the German city of Mainz, near Frankfurt.
Given the short notice, all the indications yesterday were that operators would not be putting together new packages for the game and it is highly unlikely at this late stage that special charters will be laid on.
However, supporters who bought packages to travel to the game in Georgia have been assured by operators that they will still be catered for, despite the late change of venue.
Ray Treacy Travel, 747 Travel and Sportsbreaks.ie are all rearranging their packages to include direct flights to Frankfurt and are arranging accommodation in Frankfurt or Mainz for customers who have booked with them.
Flights
Aer Lingus has direct flights to Frankfurt airport, 25 minutes from Mainz. Ryanair flies from Dublin and Kerry to Frankfurt Hahn airport, about one hour from the city.
A check on Ryanair's and Aer Lingus's websites yesterday showed that the cost of their flights to Frankfurt had soared since the announcement of the game venue.
Flights to Frankfurt one-way for next Friday start at €150 with both airlines, rising to €274. This compares with one-way flights to Frankfurt for the following weekend with Aer Lingus and Ryanair for as little as €23 one way.
It is worth noting that Lufthansa also flies from Dublin to Frankfurt. Return prices for next weekend were from €397 return.
Some supporters had booked flights earlier this week when Karlsruhe, an hour and a half from Mainz, was initially mentioned as a possible venue for the game. Ryanair flights to Karlsruhe-Baden are now extremely expensive.
Alternative routes
Mainz, the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate, is well served by trains, so it is worth checking out flying to other cities and going by rail.
Mainz is under two hours from Cologne and two to three hours from Strasbourg in France. It is just over four hours by train from Bremen, Zurich, Eindhoven and Amsterdam and about five hours from Berlin.
It is also possible to take the Eurostar from London to Frankfurt via Brussels, which would take around eight hours. See www.bahn.ie for details of Deutsche Bahn train timetables and prices.
If accommodation in Frankfurt or Mainz is hard to come by, then Wiesbaden, about 15km from Mainz and 28km from Frankfurt airport, is a good alternative. Contact the German National Tourist Office on 1800-484480 or see www.germany-tourism.ie for information on the area and an online accommodation search.
Tickets
Some 1,000 soccer fans have expressed an interest in getting tickets for the game. The stadium holds 10,400. An FAI team was in Mainz yesterday to discuss ticket allocations and it is thought it will be pushing for tickets to be made available on the day of the game. This would be good news to Irish fans hoping to travel there.