The home leg is first up on 16th July as far as I'm aware with the away leg following on the 23rd.

Me too. I phoned the club on Monday and yesterday to enquire about them arranging a charter deal.  I was told both times that the club is actively looking to something like this and it'll be announced on the website - probably tomorrow, Thursday.  Hope it's gonna be good because I've held back from booking independently - and the costs are mounting every day.  So much so that it's getting cost prohibitive to travel via Aberdeen/Glasgow/stansted/schiphol/Frankfurt for a day out in Romania. Fingers crossed. 

If anyone is there by Tuesday they could take in the Steaua Bucharest Champions League game. If all games kick off at 7:45pm UK that would be 9:45pm in Bucharest.

Game will probably be in the National Stadium as there are no other stadiums in Romania that meet CL guidelines.

I went to a 2nd round game a few years ago and I think it was £8!

I was at their qualifying game against Stromgodset last season. Nice shiny new stadium and their ultras are pretty mental but a lot of turmoil at the club at the moment. The army have taken away their badge! http://www.espnfc.com/blog/espn-fc-united/68/post/2497187/dinamo-steaua-bucharest-derby-nick-ames

Interesting. Do you think Marius Niculae will be at the game or did the transfer dispute leave bad feelings?

 

I havent checked ... but using lateral thinking try one way segments to Bristol, Birmingham, Dublin or anywhere else that Flybe or EasyJet goes to from Inverness .... then a separate return booking to Romania and single leg back to Inverness. There are still low fares to be found but as more people book they start shooting up.

The non-traditional routes are how I tend to get a good deal when i fly from Canada/USA to Europe (last time we went from Buffalo to Inverness via New York, Paris and Bristol and saved £1000 on the total costs for the three of us for a direct flight from Toronto to Inverness via Manchester or Gatwick). Funnily enough, it would actually be cheaper for me to fly from Toronto to Bucharest for this one than my usual sojourn to Buffalo to save on the ridiculous airport taxes and fuel surcharges at YYZ. Its about $1300 via Warsaw on LOT, Amsterdam on KLM or Frankfurt on Lufthansa but $1600 from the USA. Unfortunately its a non-starter though as I am going to be in Savannah, Georgia until a couple of days before the home game so no chance of additional time off.  

 

Edited June 24, 201510 yr by Scotty

I havent checked ... but using lateral thinking try one way segments to Bristol, Birmingham, Dublin or anywhere else that Flybe or EasyJet goes to from Inverness .... then a separate return booking to Romania and single leg back to Inverness. There are still low fares to be found but as more people book they start shooting up.

The non-traditional routes are how I tend to get a good deal when i fly from Canada/USA to Europe (last time we went from Buffalo to Inverness via New York, Paris and Bristol and saved £1000 on the total costs for the three of us for a direct flight from Toronto to Inverness via Manchester or Gatwick). Funnily enough, it would actually be cheaper for me to fly from Toronto to Bucharest for this one than my usual sojourn to Buffalo to save on the ridiculous airport taxes and fuel surcharges at YYZ. Its about $1300 via Warsaw on LOT, Amsterdam on KLM or Frankfurt on Lufthansa but $1600 from the USA. Unfortunately its a non-starter though as I am going to be in Savannah, Georgia until a couple of days before the home game so no chance of additional time off.  

 

you mean you're honouring us with an appearance on the 16th?

If anyone is there by Tuesday they could take in the Steaua Bucharest Champions League game. If all games kick off at 7:45pm UK that would be 9:45pm in Bucharest.

Game will probably be in the National Stadium as there are no other stadiums in Romania that meet CL guidelines.

I went to a 2nd round game a few years ago and I think it was £8!

I was at their qualifying game against Stromgodset last season. Nice shiny new stadium and their ultras are pretty mental but a lot of turmoil at the club at the moment. The army have taken away their badge! http://www.espnfc.com/blog/espn-fc-united/68/post/2497187/dinamo-steaua-bucharest-derby-nick-ames

Interesting. Do you think Marius Niculae will be at the game or did the transfer dispute leave bad feelings?

 

His old agent is an Inverness lad who lives out there with his Romanian wife. I was in touch with him about this trip. He says Marius is on holiday at the moment so he wasn't sure if he was aware of the European tie. He did say that he was absolutely buzzing when we won the cup so I guess there are no hard feelings. Marius is a really highly respected player in Romania. My girlfriend is Romanian and when I was telling her family that Marius played in Inverness they thought that we must be a big club. Romanian media might be less naieve but they probably think we're decent. I'll get the lowdown on what they're saying closer to the time.

Edited June 24, 201510 yr by Trickyleftwinger

you mean you're honouring us with an appearance on the 16th?

fraid not ... will be in Savannah until 14th then back to work on 15th. I'll maybe try to make it over for one of the group stage games !!! 

Still no word on club charter?

Even the days they were thinking of being out there would be handy just now.

This is the Gellions deal. http://www.sportoptions.com/75543120a5/index.asp

The flight back appears to be at 23:45 on the night of the match. If the kick off is anything after 21:00 (Romania two hours ahead so Champs Lge matches normally kick off at 21:45) they'll not see the match!!

Very disappointing that there has been no official announcement from the club yet about arrangements for the away leg, not that I can find anyway. Those of us who are keen to go have in the course of the last few days relied on the (helpful) experiences of past/existing ex-pats in Romania, our own on line bookings, a link to guidance given to Celtic fans last year, Google street view and various travel guides you can download.

 

At least we got an extra 2 weeks notice than if it had not been a straight draw. However, it is coming up to the summer holiday period and getting time off from work and booking flights and accommodation becomes more difficult and expensive for all. It would have been helpful if we had more information about ticket availability and any potential travel restrictions. If, as was said above there should be plenty tickets then fair enough.  I had also hoped to book a place on the club charter flight ,which might have taken some of the hassle out of making arrangements, but what the hell, I couldn't wait any longer and just went for it yesterday. 

 

Apologies for the above moan if I am missing some information appearing elsewhere.  

 

2 x 49 seater coaches now booked for return transfer from Bucharest to Giurgiu. Waiting for confirmation of kick-off time before confirming cost but looks like it will only be about £10 per person. The above Event link currently takes care of about 50 of these 98 seats - add your details to the list if you want in. Coaches will leave from central Bucharest in plenty time for kick off and return to central Bucharest after the match.  

 

Brilliant about the coaches, good work!

Fantastic and thanks for organising at such a good price too. 

Just to echo above, great work guys, and thanks.

Many thanks for organising this, DalgetyBayJaggy.  Have pm'd you to introduce myself - and will do so publicly when I get a chance!

Anyone flying from Aberdeen 6am on the Tuesday? 

This is the Gellions deal. http://www.sportoptions.com/75543120a5/index.asp

The flight back appears to be at 23:45 on the night of the match. If the kick off is anything after 21:00 (Romania two hours ahead so Champs Lge matches normally kick off at 21:45) they'll not see the match!!

Seems very pricey compared to deals you could put together yourself ... as many have already shown on here ! Some folk are staying for 2 or 3 days for way less than this !

This is the Gellions deal. http://www.sportoptions.com/75543120a5/index.asp

The flight back appears to be at 23:45 on the night of the match. If the kick off is anything after 21:00 (Romania two hours ahead so Champs Lge matches normally kick off at 21:45) they'll not see the match!!

Seems very pricey compared to deals you could put together yourself ... as many have already shown on here ! Some folk are staying for 2 or 3 days for way less than this !

I presume this is a chartered plane

Can I be added to the bus list +5 - thanks 

Myself +2 on the Tues 6am flight out if Aberdeen.

 

 

Don't really understand the tears about the club not releasing anything about a charter. Get online and book it if your worried. Simple. Great work on the bus. 

 

2 x 49 seater coaches now booked for return transfer from Bucharest to Giurgiu. Waiting for confirmation of kick-off time before confirming cost but looks like it will only be about £10 per person. The above Event link currently takes care of about 50 of these 98 seats - add your details to the list if you want in. Coaches will leave from central Bucharest in plenty time for kick off and return to central Bucharest after the match.  

 

Superb. Cheers

Edited June 25, 201510 yr by Harry Chibber

for those asking to be booked on the transfer bus, please leave a comment on the event thread. please do not leave it in here as it may be missed or we may confuse it with people saying they are flying out with a +1 or +2 etc ..... Jamie - I have added you (+5), as i noticed this but if you are not listed in the event thread as noted below then your place has not been reserved (yet)

 

Were all going on a Caley Holiday Bus - can I drive it ?

Really good of you to organise this. Have put my name down on the link and it'll be myself plus 3. Thanks again.

Don't really understand the tears about the club not releasing anything about a charter. Get online and book it if your worried. Simple. Great work on the bus. 

Not tears, just annoyance as we were given the impression the club were going to look at a larger charter that would accommodate some fans too. As I said above I couldn't be bothered waiting and got on line. Sounds like things are moving for the official party though as Yogi was on tv earlier saying the players are changing in Bucharest and travelling in their kit to Giurgiu. Worried they might get their valuables nicked by the locals then?

 

Hope to meet Dalgety Bay Jaggy in Bucharest to buy him a drink for organising the buses.