Westoe Travel has taken more than 2,000 bookings for organised trips to Wembley Stadium to see Newcastle United play in the Carabao Cup final.
Staff from the South Shields travel agency have been working around the clock to keep up with demand from football fans for its London rail and coach packages to the game on March 16.
The agency initially took 300 pre-registrations for packages, both day trips and overnight hotel stays through its Rail Adventures tour operation.
All six staff worked from 10pm until 2am at the agency immediately after Newcastle got through to the final to confirm bookings, and came in at 7am the next morning to keep up with demand.
Since then, Liverpool have been confirmed as their opponents, intensifying pressure on hotel rooms in the capital on the weekend of the cup final.
Westoe Travel owner Graeme Brett said calls had been “non-stop” with more bookings expected from as customers get tickets for the game, which comes two years after Newcastle last made it to the final, losing to Manchester United 2-0.
He said: “We’re taking 10 times the amount of calls we’d get on a normal day. We’ve had bookings from fans who have tickets but others are not sure if they will get a ticket and are having to wait. The number of bookings just keeps going up; in the end it will come down to hotel availability.
“We have a good relationship with hotels in London thanks to our Rail Adventures tour operation and have taken allocations, and we are working in partnership with coach companies like Caledonian Travel, and we have our own coach day trips.”
Engineering works mean only half the number of trains will be running between Newcastle and London on the day before the match, but Brett said: “It’s not as stressful as two years ago when there was the possibility of rail strikes and at least we know in advance.”
Brett, who is also going to the game with son-in-law Christian Vogel and will be on hand if clients have any issues with their bookings, said there was a real sense of excitement among fans.
“Everyone is so happy to be going to Wembley; they are all so positive. Newcastle last won at Wembley in 1955 and a lot of supporters would not have been born then. We need to win it this time!” he said.
The agency prints out rail and coach tickets with hotel vouchers which are then posted out to fans. Day trips start from £70 and coach and overnight hotel stays from £169. Brett is pictured taking tickets to the post office to send to fans.