I came cross this offer from the British and Irish Lions official tour travel partner. One return flight between London and Auckland plus a category ‘C’  ticket for each of the three test matches for £2,999 per person. Accommodation not included. Wow that’s some price. 

A return economy flight with Emirates on the dates offered in this package is £800. The packages also includes a ‘Lions merchandising pack’ – let’s say this is worth £200. This leaves £1,999 of ‘value’ left to account for.

Now a Category ‘C’ test match ticket (which is the ticket category offered in this package) has a face value of £144 (NZ$249), a price point much higher than usual in New Zealand.

Purchasing tickets independently of a package was never possible for supporters with a UK or Irish address.  For supporters based in New Zealand, a ballot system operated with those lucky enough to be drawn from the ballot able to buy a ticket at face value. This allocation has been exhausted.

The total face value cost for one ticket for each of the three test matches is ‘only’ £432. This leaves an apparent profit of over £1500 for each package sold.

Or, another way of looking at it, Lions supporters travelling the 11,500 miles from the UK and Ireland to New Zealand are effectively being asked to pay over £660 for a category ‘C’ ticket for each test match. At more than four times the face value, this is severe price gouging by anyone’s standards.