Crystal Palace Away Days: Potential Europa League trips for Eagles fans

Crystal Palace could qualify for European football for the first time in their history this weekend, as they take on Manchester City in the FA Cup Final.

The winners of the FA Cup automatically qualify for the Europa League, meaning there is a double prize on offer for Palace as they are also seeking a first major honour in the club's history against City - comfortable favourites with online bookmakers - at Wembley.

To get Eagles fans in the mood for the game, Free Bets have had a look at potential away days they can look forward to if things go there way on Saturday.

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One of the main attractions of playing European football - aside from the glory, ability to attract better players and financial incentives - is the prospect of some glamorous away days for fans.

Palace have been in the Premier League for 11 consecutive seasons now, so it would be understandable that fans may be getting a little tired of trips to places like Manchester, the Midlands and Newcastle, but that could quickly come to an end.

Trips to places like Prague, Dortmund, Bilbao, Vienna, Porto and Budapest are all on the cards if things go there way, so we've had a look at some key things to consider from a fan perspective.

Cheapest Destinations

Let's not beat around the bush, the cost of living is on everyone's minds at the moment, so a couple of trips round Europe isn't going to come without extra cost.

Given it would be Palace's first campaign in any European competition however - they did previously compete in the Intertoto Cup - I think any football fan could understand the temptation to splash out on some of these glamour trips.

Having amassed a list of 44 teams who at the time of writing either occupy Europa League places in their domestic tables or would likely drop into the competition after the qualification stages (only 36 teams will compete in the league phase next season), we have calculated the average cost of a flight to each team.

Team	City	Average Flight Cost (£)
Anderlecht	Brussels	95
Feyenoord	Amsterdam	100
LOSC	Lille	120
Borussia Dortmund	Dortmund	125
Young Boys	Bern	130

Most Expensive Destinations

It is pretty easy these days to hop on a plane, find an affordable flight and land somewhere in Europe within a matter of hours and make it a pretty quick round trip.

Destinations such as the Netherlands, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain are popular holiday destinations for Brits, so it is understandable that they would be pretty affordable - at least in the scheme of things.

Of course places like Amsterdam, Dortmund, Vienna and Prague make for great destinations for a European away day, but at the other end of the spectrum are some of the more obscure places that would make for an equally exciting trip, for different reasons!

Let's take a look at the most expensive places on our list.

Team	City	Average Flight Cost (£)
Qarabag	Baku	280
Maccabi Tel-Aviv	Tel Aviv	250
Aris Limassol	Limassol	240
Sheriff Tiraspol	Tiraspol	230
Bodo/Glimt	Bodo	220

Cheapest Beer Prices

What makes a good away trip?

We've covered the glamorous places you can get to, but it's usually things like the weather, and the price of beer that sets places apart.

Football fans love nothing better than taking over a local square, enjoy a drink in the sunshine and going through a few of their favourite club chants in the build-up to a big European game, and that's what Palace fans will be dreaming of at Wembley.

Some of the best places to go travelling in Europe have remained relatively untouched for a long time, so things like beer prices are nowhere near what we have in the UK, so it's not surprising that people cash in when they get the opportunity - but where would be the cheapest places to drink?

Team	City	Average Beer Price (£)
Sheriff Tiraspol	Tiraspol	1.50
Slavia Prague	Prague	2
Rakow Czecstochowa	Czecstochowa	2
Ferencvaros	Budapest	2
Partizan Belgrade	Belgrade	2

Most Expensive Beer Prices

Looking through the list of the cheapest places, there aren't too many surprises.

In Belgrade, Budapest and Prague, we have three destinations you could easily be heading to a stag do on - basically, they all have a reputation for cheap and affordable beer.

But at the other end of the scale we have some countries where the cost of living is even higher than in the UK, and it's not that much of a surprise that we're talking about Scandinavia and Switzerland.

Of course, these are places that more than make up for expensive beer in the culture and heritage - so if you draw some of these clubs next year, don't despair, there's still plenty to enjoy!

Team	City	Average Beer Price (£)
Bodo/Glimt	Bodo	8
Young Boys	Bern	6.50
Ilves	Tempere	6.50
Nice	Nice	6
Malmo	Malmo	6

Cheapest Hotel Prices

Flights? Check.

Beer? Check.

Next on the list is accommodation, and as football fans, you usually take whatever you can get in order to facilitate the trip so the cheaper the better.

There are so many options now for travelling fans. We have decided to look at hotel prices, but with AirBnB and hostels readily available, there will be varying prices around so make sure you do your research before travelling.

It's not that much of a surprise that a lot of the same places show up for cheapest hotels as with cheapest beer prices, so we're going to have a look at the next five in the list.

But just to clarify, these are the cheapest places for hotels:

• Tiraspol
• Czecstochowa
• Belgrade

So here are the next cheapest destinations.

Team	City	Average Hotel Price (£)
RFS	Riga	80
Slovan Bratislava	Bratislava	85
Braga	Braga	85
FCSB	Bucharest	85
Viktoria Plzen	Plzen	90

Most Expensive Hotel Prices

Again, two of the cities with the most expensive beer prices pop up as the cities with the highest average hotel prices, so if you draw Young Boys and Nice - good luck, you'll need to save a lot of money!

But if we look beyond those places again, we're getting into territory of some of Europe's most popular tourist destinations, so it's really no wonder the prices are a little steeper.

But if you have the option of an away trip to Rome, I'm sure you wouldn't mind splashing a bit of extra cash to follow your club's first European adventure!

Cities not considered due to already appearing in the expensive beer list:

• Bern
• Nice
• Bodo

Team	City	Average Hotel Price (£)
Feyenoord	Amsterdam	150
Roma	Rome	150
Lille	Lille	140
Anderlecht	Brussels	130
Austria Wien	Vienna	130

So that's it then, a complete guide to potential away trips for Crystal Palace fans if they upset the football betting odds and beat Manchester City at Wembley on Saturday.

Full Data Set

Remember, this is not a comprehensive list of who has/has not qualified for the Europa League for next season, rather a mix of teams currently occupying qualification spots or still in contention to make it.

Team	City	Average Flight (£)	Average Beer (£)	Average Hotel (£)
AEK Larnaca	Larnaca	245	3.50	125
Anderlecht	Brussels	95	5	130
Aris Limassol	Limassol	240	3.50	130
Aston Villa	Birmingham	60	5	100
Athletic Club	Bilbao	140	3	120
Austria Wien	Vienna	135	4	130
AZ Alkmaar	Alkmaar	110	5	120
Bodo/Glimt	Bodo	220	8	140
Borussia Dortmund	Dortmund	125	4.50	120
Braga	Braga	150	2.50	85
Celta Vigo	Vigo	150	2.80	100
Dinamo Zagreb	Zagreb	155	2.80	95
Drogheda United	Drogheda	90	5.50	110
Dynamo Kyiv	Kyiv	200	1.50	60
Elfsborg	Boras	170	6	110
FCSB	Bucharest	170	2.50	85
Ferencvaros	Budapest	170	2	90
Feyenoord	Amsterdam	100	5.50	150
Hajduk Split	Split	160	3	110
Hoffenheim	Sinsheim	130	4.50	105
Ilves	Tampere	190	6.50	115
Roma	Rome	150	4.50	150
Lille	Lille	120	5.50	140
Maccabi Tel-Aviv	Tel Aviv	250	6	160
Malmo	Malmo	160	6	120
Midtjylland	Herning	145	5.50	115
Nice	Nice	140	6	160
Olimpija Ljubljana	Ljubljana	150	3	100
Olympiacos	Piraeus	180	3.50	100
PAOK	Thessaloniki	185	3.50	105
Partizan Belgrade	Belgrade	160	2	75
Porto	Porto	140	2.50	100
Qarabag	Baku	280	2	90
Rakow Czestochowa	Czestochowa	150	2	70
Rangers	Glasgow	80	5	95
Real Betis	Seville	160	3	110
RFS	Riga	165	2.50	90
Sheriff Tiraspol	Tiraspol	230	1.50	55
Slavia Praha	Prague	130	2	95
Slovan Bratislava	Bratislava	145	2.50	85
Sturm Graz	Graz	140	3.80	100
Twente	Enschede	115	4.80	110
Viktoria Plzen	Plzen	135	2	90
Young Boys	Bern	130	6.50	160

Will Jackson

Former sports journalist, formerly of PA Media, who spent years on the road specialising in football and cricket before moving behind a desk. More recently a PR manager before moving into the world of content and marketing with the Gambling.com group.

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