AIRLINES and hotels are cashing in on World Cup fever with dramatic price hikes for Germany next summer.
Following last week’s tournament draw, flights to cities hosting England games have leapt dramatically.
EasyJet is charging £180 for a single ticket to Cologne for England’s game against Sweden. The day after the match, the same flight drops in price by two-thirds to £60.
Ryanair has single fares up to £200 to Frankfurt for England’s opener against Paraguay.
EasyJet said fares may go up further nearer the time. A spokesman said: “Compared to British Airways or Lufthansa, charging somewhere around £600-£700 return, we are still massively cheaper.”
Hotels rooms in Frankfurt and Cologne, two of England’s venues, have gone up by 134% and 38.5% respectively, while Hamburg and Berlin rates have risen by 127% and 55%.
A Hotels.com spokeswoman said: “It is likely prices will fall back nearer to the event as hotels seek to fill capacity with lower rates.”
Despite 100,000 England fans planning to travel to Germany, agents may be the tournament’s biggest losers.
European Tour Operators’ Association executive director Tom Jenkins said: “It will be good for specialist operators, but it will scare off normal punters and operators will not be able to get access to stock. People will not go to their travel agent to go to the World Cup.”
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