Saturday, December 10, 2005


Last night, the draw for the groups for the World Cup was drawn in Leipzig. While TV viewers were letching of the gorgeous Heidi Klum who was making the draw, England supporters planning to make the trip to Germany next summer didn't have time for all that. Due to the large numbers of supporters who follow England everywhere, we are seen as a cashcow for airlines and hotels who maximise their profits from the fact that demand always exceeds supply when England are involved. So I thought I'd share my evening of hard work with you.

We knew last Tuesday that England would be a top seed in the group and that the would also been Team 1. This was important as it meant that as soon as we knew which group we were in, we would also know our fixtures. So the travel plans were underway. Spreadsheets were drawn up listing all the dates locations for Team 1 in every group. Groups A and F had already been allocated to Germany and Brazil so our choices were narrowed down to 1 of 6 sets of fixtures.

The time between Tuesday and the draw was spent working out flight options and possible hotels. The theory was that once we knew which group we would be playing in, we would know exactly what we needed to book. Another factor in the equation is that many fans who meet up for games, don't live anywhere near each other so contact had to be kept with each other as well to see which hotels were being reserved. Thank god for Skype and MSN Messenger !!!!

So Friday night came around and I was set. I had my 3 credit cards in front of me, a list of fixtures and selected flights. I had 8 internet sessions open ready to search for flights and hotels. I was also online to friends. I was watching the draw on Sky Sports News and we were told things would start at 20 past the hour. The anticipation grew but still nothing. The FIFA officials were far too interested in the sounds of their own voices and it was another 20 minutes before the draw started.

The draw procedure dictated that the seeding teams would be allocated into their groups first. The draw started. The teams would go into the available pots in order B, C, D, E, G, H. First team out was.......ENGLAND. For a second, the world stopped. It was the calm before the storm. Then I got a message appear on my screen from one of my friends. It simply said "b1". Of course it should have been "B1" with a capital letter but this was no time to correct his English. All hell was unleashed via internet terminal all over the place. We would be playing in Frankfurt on 10th June, Nuremberg on 15th June and finally Cologne on 20th June. The opposition was irrelevant. We'd be there regardless. Immediately I went for Frankfurt hotels. The cheap prices seemed to be there but every one I chose showed no rooms left. How could this be happening? Could so many people be typing quicker than me?

I gave up on Hotels.com, nothing available and went onto another site. Eventually, I found a hotel with rooms but it was £125 a night. No matter, book it and move on. Nuremberg was next on the list and this was the first real nightmare. I couldn't find a hotel with rooms anywhere. 6 hotel websites turned up nothing. Meanwhile, the draw was still going on but my friends and I were oblivious. I was getting text messages from other friends telling me what was happening but I ignored them. There was no time. The Nuremberg situation was a concern. By now, I was on the phone to one of my friends. He was struggling with flights on the low budget airlines. I told him I couldn't find Nuremberg hotels, he in turn, told another friend who started looking. I moved onto Cologne hotels and this was better. Fairly quickly, I got rooms for €110 a night. I would btravelingng to Germany from Denmark so luckily for me, flights were easy. I quickly booked up Frankfurt and Cologne for £100 each.

Meanwhile, my friends were having their own problems. Some were booking on the low cost airlines and coming back from Germany at 4:15am the morning after the game. No hotels needed for that night, just stay out drinking all night and go straight to the airport. Not a bad idea but not my style. Another friend was watching prices for flights change in front of his eyes. Time was moving on and I took a few seconds to see who we would be playing. Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago....and Sweden. Got to be happy with that but Sweden. What is it about them. We play them all the time and just can't seem to beat them. It's been 37 years but maybe 2006 will be our year.

Sweden's position in the group meant we'd meet in the final game in Cologne. If all goes to plan, both teams will have qualified by then. Our opponents will be from Group A, Germany's group. The Group A games will be finished during the afternoon so when we play Sweden, we'll know our opponents based on finishing 1st or 2nd.

But back to hotels. I still hadn't got anything booked. Then I get a website and they have rooms. Soon, I've got rooms near the centre of Nuremberg for €90 a night. Outstanding and a quick visit to Opodo and the Nuremberg flight was soon confirmed. Job done - flights and hotels all booked, total cost £800

So I finally relaxed, feeling rather smug. I checked the time, it had been 4 hours since the draw was made. How could booking flights be such hard work !!! One of my friends said he was staying in Munich for the Last 16 match. Our game will be there or Stuttgart which is a short train ride. Another £100 for a flight to Munich and that's about as much as could be done.

Sound hard word ? Yes
Are we mad for going through all this ? Yes
Was it worth it ? Yes

Today, I looked the prices for Cologne where we will play Sweden. Flying from Copenhagen which is right next to Sweden, the price had double to £250. I guess that justified the night of booking madness.

Thank god I'm guaranteed match tickets.

// posted by Big Blue Marble @ 11:56 am
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