Steep bill for first 2011 Rugby World Cup tickets

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Rugby fans have just days to wait until the first 2011 World Cup tickets go on sale – but they will need deep pockets.

House of Travel and Seasonz Travel, the two New Zealand travel agencies approved to sell tickets, will start selling all-inclusive package deals for the tournament on January 1.

While prices are under wraps for now, House of Travel says deals that include tickets to the semifinals or final will cost "in the thousands".

Packages bought through the agency to the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France cost $17,000 on average.

For now, travel and hospitality packages are the only way for fans to buy tickets. Venue and team pool packs, not including semifinals or the final, will go on sale in April and individual tickets will be available from September. Semifinal and final tickets will be balloted, with the draw date still unconfirmed.

Despite hefty price tags, House of Travel spokesman Brent Thomas said demand for travel packages was already greater than for the 2005 British Lions tour. "In the first three to four months we will have sold our allocation out."

Seasonz spokesman Vance Haywood said the agency had been allocated 1250 tickets to "key games". It had already received nearly 200 inquiries.

Consumer New Zealand chief executive Sue Chetwin said buying tournament packages was probably the best route for anyone wanting to be assured of tickets to the big matches. "If you want to get some guarantee that you're in, it might be worth buying some now."

House of Travel and Seasonz Travel had been vetted by the IRB, which offered ticket buyers an added safety net, she said. She warned rugby fans to be wary of anything that sounded too good to be true, particularly deals on internet sites.

For those choosing to try their luck and buy tickets themselves, accommodation could be the biggest hurdle. About 300 hotels have put 60 per cent of their bed inventory into a "bed bank", which will be split up among corporate and official package holders.

Wellington's Duxton Hotel spokesman James Cowan said it had guaranteed more than 80 per cent of its bed nights during the tournament to the bank, at a set rate. The hotel would be "totally" booked months out from the World Cup.

He would not say how much a bed would cost at the hotel during the tournament, but three and four-star hotels were likely to charge up to $500 a night for a standard room.

Up to 10,000 beds will also be available on five cruise ships that will berth in New Zealand during the tournament – two in Wellington, two in Auckland and one in Lyttelton. Campervans and motels are other options being offered through travel agencies.

Rugby Travel and Hospitality NZ allocates tickets to travel and hospitality agencies. Spokeswoman Sandra Parkinson said there would be plenty of tickets available for people who wanted to arrange their own accommodation and travel.

So far 120,000 tickets had been allocated to travel agencies and 75,000 more to hospitality agencies, from a total pool of 1.7 million.

"Fifty per cent of the tickets as a minimum will go through the general ballot system."

NUMBERS GAME

* 1.7 million tickets available

* 48 matches 20 teams

* Ticket prices range from $30 for a pool game to $1250 for a ticket to the Auckland final.

- © Fairfax NZ News