The most efficient method seemed to be fans booking flights months ago taking them from Kazan to Moscow, approximately 800 kms west, and on to Samara (another 1000 kms south-east), totalling five hours, with the layover the longest leg and the cost around AU$150.

However, another independent traveller Mario Valentini got thrifty, although he didn't exactly get what he'd bargained for.

"I thought I’d booked a bus from back home in Australia but when I got to the meeting point it wasn’t a bus, it was just a car," Valentini told FourFourTwo.

"There were seven people who barely fit inside along with the luggage. That was an issue, because we couldn’t fit it all, so we eventually took the spare tyre out, left it behind, to fit everyone and everything in.

"I thought if we get a flat we’re stuffed!"

The Fan Fest in Samara is being overtaken by Australian fans

Valentini was alongside strangers, which included a few Australians, but mostly Russians.

He added: "The trip was interesting because the roads are really bad in some places.

"It was about five hours. It wasn’t that expensive. I thought it was 500 rubles (approximately AU$10) but when we got there it was 500 for us and 500 for our baggage.

"It ended up being 1000 (approximately AU$20) but that’s still not that much for us.”