Taylor Swift kicks off the Australian leg of her Eras tour in a matter of days and excitement is building among her dedicated Swifties.
But with the prices of flights and accommodation options soaring in Sydney and Melbourne ahead of her shows, fans are making drastic decisions so they can have the best experience.
Fans who don’t live in Sydney or Melbourne are considering commuting to the cities via private jets.
Flight Centre have revealed commercial flights from Brisbane to Melbourne cost approximately $569 for the February 16 show.
The following week, the same route drops dramatically to $118.
Taylor Swift kicks off the Australian leg of her Eras tour in a matter of days and excitement is building for her dedicated Swifties
‘Commercial flights and accommodation are at a premium and we’ve even seen some travellers opting for a private charter flight to get to the concert as a result,’ Flight Centre Travel Group global leisure CEO James Kavanagh told news.com.au.
‘While it may seem extreme, we’re not surprised to see people opting for private flights through our charter aircraft company AVMIN and we’ve had bookings for both Taylor’s Sydney and Melbourne shows.’
Estimated to seat 86,000 people a night, tens of thousands of fans will be moving through the MCG in Melbourne across February 16 to February 18.
Taylor will then jet to Sydney for four sold-out shows at Accor stadium from February 24 to February 26.
Meanwhile, fans have been coming up with bizarre ‘hacks’ to maximise their experience at the concerts, including one very gross suggestion.
But with the prices of flights and accommodation options soaring in Sydney and Melbourne ahead of her shows, fans are making drastic decisions in order to have the best experience
‘Commercial flights and accommodation are at a premium and we’ve even seen some travellers opting for a private charter flight to get to the concert as a result,’ Flight Centre Travel Group global leisure CEO James Kavanagh told news.com.au
One Melbourne ticket holder posted to a fan forum suggesting ‘adult diapers’ might be a good idea to ensure they don’t miss any songs while waiting in line for the restroom.
‘A bit of a silly question, going to Melbourne N1. Is anyone considering waring an adult diaper? I just REALLY don’t want to miss a second of it,’ the anonymous post asked.
Organisers of the tour are also concerned about the 15,000 fans who are estimated to arrive despite not having tickets to see the pop star’s sold out shows.
Venues NSW have warned ticketless fanatics to stay away from the stadium to prevent crowd management issues, reported The Daily Telegraph on Sunday.
A spokesperson said that fans who missed out on tickets should not try to ‘soak up the atmosphere’ outside, as they likely won’t hear any songs anyway.
Meanwhile, Transport NSW coordinator-general Howard Collins said the city will be ‘preparing for the inevitable’.
Estimated to seat 86,000 people a night, tens of thousands of fans will be moving through Melbourne during three days across February 16 to February 18
‘What we found with other popular music venues where people can’t get tickets, people do just turn up to sort of soak up the atmosphere, and you can’t stop them other than to manage crowds,’ he said.
‘We are not encouraging ticketless fans to attend, but part of our contingency plan is allowing for extra people who may be travelling who haven’t got tickets.’
But despite warnings from the NSW government, businesses are said to be rolling out the welcome mat for all of Taylor’s fans regardless of whether they have tickets.
Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou said: ‘Irrespective of their ticket status, Sydney must put up the welcome sign for the Swifties because they will all make a contribution to our city in some way.’
