A savvy Sunderland fan has found a cheaper way to travel down to London to cheer on his team after being shocked by 'ridiculously priced' train tickets.
James Jelly, 33, will also get to enjoy a bonus night in sunny Spain on his way to Wembley to watch the Black Cats' League One play-off finals. And he'll have to fork out less than a third of what he'd pay to fly direct to London.
James has paid a total of £51 for plane tickets and an overnight stay in Menorca ahead of the club's big game, after discovering a flight from Newcastle straight to the capital would have cost him £161.99.
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The plane journey from Newcastle International Airport set him back just £12.50, with a return price to Stansted of just £10.50.
The avid Black Cats fan, from Sunderland, said: "It's cheaper than getting the train.
"There's some out there that have been ridiculously priced. I looked up flights from Newcastle to Heathrow and it was £161.99 return and I thought 'I'm not paying that'.
"I looked further down the page and there was a return flight for £23 to Menorca with Ryanair so I thought why not.
"My mates were saying they had paid £200-£300 for their trip. The coach was £40.
"My fights were half the price and I get a nice little morning in Spain. It's the perfect weekend."
Purchasing manager James will hop on a flight from Newcastle to Menorca on at 4pm on Thursday and land back in the nation's capital at 6pm the next day for the total price of £23.
On top of that, he'll pay £28 for his hostel room and has bagged himself a lift from London Standsted airport to Trafalgar Square from another fan, as well as a ride home after the match.
The football fan's ticket to the highly anticipated game, where his team will face Wycombe in the final, was only £55, meaning the whole weekend has cost him under £100.
He added: "I'm really excited for it. They stand a good chance of winning, the feeling this time is that we will go up.
"Sunderland have been allocated more tickets so we'll have by far the biggest backing and we're favourites. But, it won't be a wasted trip down even if we do lose, I'll have a day in Spain either way."
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