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Two international soccer fans are going to extraordinary lengths — and unusual routes — to make it to Kansas City for the FIFA World Cup this summer.
Alejandro Solnicki, a die-hard Argentina supporter, is attending his fourth World Cup. But getting to Kansas City from Argentina is anything but straightforward. He is traveling from Argentina to Brazil, then to Aruba, then to Charlotte and finally to Kansas City — a journey that will take five days.
"To be able to cover the expenses, we started looking for cheap flights. It's the cheapest way to get there," Solnicki said.
He leaves June 9 and arrives June 14.
Solnicki said the sacrifices extend beyond travel. He is cutting back on everyday spending to fund the trip.
"I'm trying not to go out too much, trying not to travel, not to buy things," he said. "For example, I see a jacket or a parka I want to buy, but no. Everything is for the World Cup, everything for the World Cup."
For him, the experience goes far beyond watching a match.
"It's part of who we are, what identifies us, what we share," Solnicki said. "It's not just going to a soccer match, it's conversations, it's going to spend time together."
He also has a deeply personal reason for making the trip.
"I have to go. I can't miss Messi's last match," Solnicki said.
I interviewed Solnicki in his native Spanish.
When asked whether people might call him crazy for the journey, he did not hesitate.
"How can I explain it? When you're a fan of something, what you do doesn't really make sense, but you do it anyway," Solnicki said.
For Solnicki, the reward makes it worthwhile.
"I feel rewarded after everything soccer gives you," he said.
James Cornejo, a New York resident whose family is from Ecuador, is also finding creative ways to get to Kansas City. When he first looked up flights, the prices stopped him cold.
"It just felt like I was being robbed," Cornejo said.
He told me direct flights to Kansas City were running around $1,200 — and not even at convenient times.
"The flights were way too expensive," Cornejo said.
So Cornejo started looking at alternatives and found a solution about two hours away.
"I started looking around, and then I saw Omaha," Cornejo said.
Flights from New York to Omaha came in around $450, freeing up money he plans to spend once he arrives.
"I can spend money on barbecues," Cornejo said. "I can enjoy, you know, Kansas City. I can spend the money for Kansas instead of spending it on an air flight."
Cornejo said he is not alone in the search for workarounds.
"Everybody's looking for a cheaper option. Everybody's looking for another way to get there," Cornejo said.
Despite fans routing around Kansas City International Airport, MCI is still bracing for record-breaking traffic. Jackson Overstreet, public information officer for the KC Aviation Department, said the airport has never seen passenger numbers like those expected this summer.
"We've never broken 1.2 million passengers in a month before in the history of the airport," Overstreet said.
The airport is projecting around 1.37 million open seats in June and approximately 1.43 million in July. Overstreet said the airport feels prepared.
"We feel pretty good about that," he said. "We know there's a lot of interest in the games we have here. We have six games."
Overstreet said flight prices are driven by a combination of factors outside the airport's control.
"Combination of things like jet fuel rates, routes, that will all be what the airline uses to determine what the cost of a flight ticket is going to be," Overstreet said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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