The Gunners will face the winners of tonight’s other semi-final between Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain in the final in Budapest on May 30 – but fans will pay a hefty fee to attend
Arsenal fans face huge costs to travel to this year’s Champions League final in Budapest.
Direct flights from London to the Hungarian capital are already priced at more than £1,100 return for fans who want to travel the day before and day after the showpiece match – double the price they were being offered at just hours before the Gunners semi-final victory over Spanish giants Atlético Madrid on Tuesday night.
Hotels in the city are being touted at more than £1,000-a-night close to the Puskas Arena, where Mikel Arteta’s side will play the winner of tonight’s other semi-final between Bayern Munich and holders Paris St-Germain. That is up to four times more than the cost on an average weekend.
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As of Wednesday morning, the cheapest available three-star hotel room on Booking.com for the Friday and Saturday night of the final was reportedly priced at £1,426. For five-star hotels, the starting price was £11,879.
The soaring cost is on top of match tickets, which will go on sale on Thursday, costing from £60 up to £820 each for category 1 passes. Tickets with restricted views will be sold for £656 face value to Arsenal fans, who have been allocated just 16,824 tickets inside the 67,215 capacity stadium.
Fans have been left shocked by the cost of attending the match on May 30. On social media website X, @Harry58724696 messaged Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is an Arsenal fan, asking him to intervene. He wrote: “Can you have a word with airlines vile profiteering flights to Budapest for champions league final – £1300 easyJet flight from Gatwick.”
Arsenal fan @AdamKaminski98 asked fellow supporters: “Anyone got tips on how to get to Budapest with a reasonable price – may need a bank loan with these hotel prices” and @patr8797 wrote: “HOW MUCH IS A HOTEL IN BUDAPEST. I NEED A KIDNEY BUYER NOW.”
The prices are causing some fans to make plans to fly via other countries, including Slovakia, in order to save money. Others are plotting to take the train from London, which takes almost a full day travelling through France, Germany and Austria, with regular trains to Budapest from Vienna and Bratislava.
On X, @PaulPaulpenhey wrote: “Booked flights after the game but prices were shooting up. Managed to get flights to Bratislava for £220pp (would have been £110 had I taken the risk pre game). Managed to get a flight back from Budapest for £580, would have been about £360 had I done it pre game.
“Hotel in Bratislava was only £36pp, and somehow managed to find a place in Budapest a few weeks ago for £370 (£185pp). Was only one of about 2 places not completely taking the p***! I thought I’d paid a lot out but reading some of the horror stories think I got lucky.”
Arsenal are also planning to charter a flight for supporters, costing £859, from London Luton Airport to Budapest. A spokesperson said: “To recognise the commitment and passion from our supporters across all our matches, and to assist our supporters travelling to this historic final, we are excited to offer a dedicated charter flight, exclusively for those who have secured a Champions League Final ticket through Arsenal.
“The outbound flight will depart from London Luton early on Saturday morning, 30 May, and return to London Luton in the early hours of Sunday 31 May, following the conclusion of the match. Supporters travelling to Budapest on the dedicated charter flight will be provided with complimentary bus transfers to and from Budapest Airport and the Fan Meeting Point, organised by local authorities.”
Announcing ticket details on Wednesday night, Arsenal, who are also putting on a screening of the match at the Emirates stadium, said: “We thank all our supporters for their interest in travelling to Budapest to support the team. We are working with UEFA and our travel partners to ensure as many supporters as possible can attend the game.
“Price categories will be sold on a first come, first served basis and are subject to availability via the UEFA Ticket Portal. There will be some restricted view seating within the allocation that may have partial views blocked by safety rails, pillars, or crowd barriers.
“Disability Access Members are eligible to receive a complimentary Personal Assistant ticket, where required and subject to eligibility criteria. Please refer to the specific disability access article for more ticket information. Ticket holders under the age of 18 may only enter the stadium when accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over. The accompanying adult must hold a valid ticket and will be responsible for them. ID checks may apply at the stadium upon entry.”
