Thousands of fans who bought official Rugby World Cup travel packages are likely to have paid more in hidden administration fees than they did for their seat in the stand.
Tickets for the sell-out Eden Park final sold for between $399 and $1279. But a a confidential "invitation to tender"
document reveals that an additional "administration fee" of up to $1200, plus GST, applied to each final ticket sold around the world as part of a travel package.
Last week, the Herald reported a man had effectively spent more on his coach fare to Eden Park than on the tickets to the final and semis by buying a guaranteed-ticket package from House of Travel.
Now, the Otago Daily Times has established that a range of administration fees is set out in a table contained in the document sent in 2009 to travel agents interested in buying match tickets to combine with travel and accommodation components.
Twenty international companies signed up as "official travel agents". They include Gullivers and Thomas Cook, of England, and House of Travel, of New Zealand.
