An Aussie football fan currently on a once-in-a-lifetime trip across the US and Canada has revealed the eye-watering price for a can of beer while watching Australia’s Socceroos play at the FIFA World Cup.
Lachy O’Reilly and his girlfriend Beth Carlino are nearing the end of an eight-week North American adventure that has taken them through California, New York, Texas and Canada, where they watched the Socceroos make history in Vancouver last Sunday.
The 24-year-old from Perth told Yahoo News that he paid a whopping $40.30 ($40 CAD) for two Bud Light cans at BC Place.
“The beer at the Vancouver stadium was insanely expensive,” he said.
“We got two beers for like 40 bucks.”
Prices will be even worse on Saturday when Australia takes on host country, the USA, at Seattle’s Lumen Field. A single beer is expected to cost a whopping $27 (US$19).
On normal match days, beer prices range from a more reasonable $11 (US$8) to $17 (US$12).
Couple spend $30,000 spent for eight-week trip
The eye-watering purchase was one of the biggest surprises during his trip, but it was only a small part of a journey he expects will cost the couple around $30,000 AUD by the time they return to Western Australia.
Lachy, with a mate, witnessed Australia’s historic win against Turkiye. Source: Supplied
“All up, we expect to spend around $30,000 AUD, possibly a little more, between the two of us,” he said.
“That covers roughly eight weeks across the US and Canada, so all things considered, we don’t think that’s too bad.”
Lachy knew booking early was essential to save thousands on flights and tickets.
“Because we booked so far ahead, we were able to combine sale fares with Qantas points, which made an enormous difference,” he said.
“In the end we paid around $1,700 AUD return for both of us, which was almost unbelievable for that route.”
The same strategy helped them avoid soaring World Cup ticket prices.
“We paid $900 AUD each for Category 1 seats,” he said.
“Once Turkiye was confirmed and the game drew closer, resale prices skyrocketed to around $2,500-$3,000 per seat.”
US was relaxing and expensive, Lachy says
The trip was Lachy’s first to the United States, and he admitted he was far more relaxed than expected, though some places were quite expensive.
“Everyone was incredibly kind, although almost everything felt expensive, particularly in LA and some of the pricier states.”
“The conversion caught us out too, you’d see something advertised for what looked like a few dollars, and it would end up closer to ten once everything was factored in.”
Lachy said the Socceroos’ win will go down as one of his fondest memories of the trip. Source: Dale MacMillan/Soccrates/Getty Images
(Soccrates Images via Getty Images)
Despite the costs, the young Aussie said he never planned on travelling cheaply.
“We’re not travelling on a strict budget. This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, so we’d accepted it would be relatively expensive,” he said.
“We both work good jobs and had planned this well in advance, so we knew what we were in for and were comfortable spending to make the most of it.”
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Although Australia could still progress into later stages at the tournament, Lachy’s journey is coming to an end.
“Honestly, if Australia makes a deep run, I’ll be thrilled, but I’ll be watching from home,” he said.
“Witnessing the 2-0 win over Turkiye in person was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and easily one of my fondest memories.”
How can Aussies watch Australia take on USA?
Australia’s next match is against host nation the USA, this Saturday at 5am AEST.
For Aussies not at the game, every match of the FIFA World Cup is live and free on SBS, with all Socceroos games broadcast on SBS and SBS Viceland, and streamed on SBS On Demand.
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