Australian Open: What it costs to buy tickets, flights from London, hotel and visa
So you like two people hitting balls at each other and fancy spending a day in the air to see it happen? Here’s how you can get to the Australian Open finals weekend.
Visa
As Novak Djokovic learned the hard way last year, you cannot simply hop on a plane and expect to be welcomed somewhere else without controversy.
There are no Covid-19 restrictions in Australia at the moment, however, and travel to the country is not dependent on vaccination status.
To travel Down Under for the pleasure of tennis you will need a holiday visa. The visas are free and with applications decided in a short amount of time.
The Australian government website to find out more.
Flights
We’ve provided you with two travel options to get to the Australian Open: one will see you arrive on Saturday morning in time for the women’s final and leave on Monday afternoon following the men’s final, and the other sees you arrive in Australia on the Friday and leave straight after the men’s final.
For option one: leave at 8:05am from Stansted on Ryanair to Lisbon before enjoying a six-hour layover in the Portuguese capital. Thereafter Turkish Airways will take you first to Istanbul, then Melbourne, to see you arrive in Australia early on the Saturday morning. The afternoon after the men’s final, you’ll take a flight to Abu Dhabi and then Heathrow with Etihad. Option one, in economy, will cost £1,586 per person.
Option two sees you leave Heathrow on Wednesday night for a 13-hour flight with Malaysia Airways to Kuala Lumpur. From there you’ll do eight hours to Melbourne with, after a five-hour layover, to land on Friday. You will leave Melbourne as the clock passes midnight on Sunday with Qatar Airways. The route is the same in reverse and sees you landing at London’s main airport at 3:25pm on Monday. Option two, in economy, will cost £1,761.
Hotels
Hotels in Melbourne are generally available for £230-plus per night on the weekend of the Australian Open. The lowest-priced available would cost you around £150 but if you’re flying all the way Down Under, you may as well do it in style. A number of four star hotels will set you back over £350 but with that price comes a good location and easier access and flexibility surrounding check-in and out.
Tickets
Tickets remain available for the finals weekend in Melbourne. If you want to catch some live music at the Australian Open, there are also a number of free tickets for the accompanying festival, but you’ll need to have booked the tennis too.
Weekend ground passes can be purchased for a touch over £30 with access being granted to the venue but not the arenas.
A ticket, while available on Ticketmaster, can be bought for £182 for the women’s final on 28 January while a ticket to the men’s final a day later will set you back at least £538 – according to the ticketing platform’s website.
So that’s that, your guide to getting to the Australian Open finals weekend. Let us know if you take the plunge Down Under.