When Troy Parrott prodded in his last-minute winner against Hungary back in November, there was a sense of elation and excitement across the country that we haven’t seen arguably since Euro 2016 – the Republic of Ireland’s last major tournament appearance.
The conversation quickly turned to what our route to the World Cup now was, when only weeks before a dismal defeat against Armenia had made it seem as though we now occupied a footballing purgatory reserved for countries with no hope of achieving anything.
Following the playoff draw a few days after the win in Hungary, our path became clear, first a trip to Prague to face Czechia on March 26, and then, should that go well, a home tie against Denmark or North Macedonia the following Sunday.
For many, attention turned to how to get to Prague for the eagerly anticipated clash and witness the potential further heroics. One man whose eyes must have lit up at the prospect of an away trip to central Europe was Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary.
Prices for direct flights from Prague instantly increased massively, with some flights the day before the game now costing over €400. Currently, the cheapest direct flight gets you into Prague just after 3pm local time the day of the game, costing just under €150. In total the cheapest round trip is around €330, a price some fans simply can’t afford.
For context, to fly to Prague the day after the game will only cost you €28, and a flight home the following week sets you back between €90 and €110 – under half the price of the days around the Ireland game.
However, defending the price hikes on Newstalk shortly after the draw, Mr O’Leary said that they had added an extra 15 flights to Prague that week, and that if they really wanted to “price gouge people,” they would only have added “one or two extra flights.” He explained that empty legs were to blame for the inflated prices:
“We had an extra 15 flights going out to Prague and returning from Prague that week. The extra flights that we have from Dublin going to Prague in the three days before the match will all come back empty. And it’s a two-and-a-half-hour flight.”
“The extra return flights on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday that we have to bring fans back from Prague, those outbound flights to Prague will be empty. So, yes, the fares are higher, but people have to understand that it is cutting the cost of what is basically empty legs.”
Legitimate or not, these price hikes have priced some people out of travelling to Prague for the match. However, one benefit of being in central Europe is that Prague is accessible through many different airports. With that in mind, here are three cheaper options for getting to Prague this March than flying direct.
The first route is to fly into Vienna from Dublin, with a return flight costing just over €230.54. You would arrive in Vienna the day before the game and fly home after. There is a four-hour bus journey to Prague to contend with, but a return journey will only set you back €32. That leaves this route as the cheapest, coming in at €262.54 in total.
The next route I looked at was through the Slovak capital of Bratislava. Return flights cost about €184, and combined with a mix of a train to Prague and a bus back to the airport, the total cost comes in slightly dearer than the Vienna route at €265.72.
However, there are other drawbacks to this route. Because of the flight arriving at 11:25 in Bratislava, you would have to wait five hours for the train which then takes another four hours. And there is a similarly early morning needed to make that 10:10 flight home.
And finally, the last route to look at is through the city of Wrocław, in Poland. You would fly in on 24 March, two days before the game, landing at about 21:05 local time. There is a long wait for a bus to Prague, as there are none until 2:00 and the journey is about five hours, but the bus is only €23 with FlixBus.
The flight home is at 16:00, so the bus times are not as awkward on the way back, and the flights are a lot cheaper than flying direct to Prague at €202.38 return. Including the bus price this route is marginally more expensive than the other two, coming in at €271.07.
Accommodation in Prague will also be quite expensive, but by saving almost a hundred euro or more on travel costs it does reduce the expense of the trip quite significantly. Hopefully plenty of fans will make the journey to help get the team over the line, and take one more step towards World Cup qualification. Similarly, let’s hope Michael O’Leary doesn’t read SIN.
