👥 Group Travel
Traveling with a supporters group or organizing a large trip? Here's how to coordinate tickets, hotels, and transport for groups in the Bay Area.
Supporters
Hotel Blocks
Group Tickets
Planning Your Group
Group Travel Essentials
Groups of 10+ require more advance planning than individual travel. Ticket distribution, accommodation coordination, and group transport all need to be locked in months before the tournament. The Bay Area's geography (SF + Peninsula + South Bay) means transport coordination is the biggest challenge — pick one base and stick to it.
Group Ticket Strategy
Supporters Club Allocations
National team supporters clubs often receive dedicated ticket allocations before general sale. Contact your national team's official supporters association immediately — many require membership and early registration. This is the most reliable route for groups from overseas.
FIFA Travel Packages
FIFA's official travel partner (match hospitality packages) bundles tickets with accommodation and transport. Expensive, but the easiest way to guarantee seating together for large groups. Check FIFA.com for official hospitality partners.
Individual Purchase + Coordination
Have each group member purchase their own tickets during the same FIFA sales phase to maximize the chance of getting adjacent seats. Coordinate on a group chat to buy simultaneously when tickets go on sale. Request adjacent seats when buying.
Resale for Late Groups
Groups assembling late can use StubHub or the FIFA official resale platform. Adjacent seats are harder to find — buy as blocks where possible. Check StubHub's "Together" feature which groups adjacent seats.
Group Accommodation
For groups, the choice is between a hotel room block or a large rental. SF hotel rates run high — large rentals in Oakland, Mountain View, or Sunnyvale often beat hotel blocks for value while keeping you on the Caltrain or BART line.
2–4 people
Standard hotel rooms work well. Request adjoining rooms. SoMa, Union Square, and Santa Clara have the best transit access to Levi's Stadium.
Hotel
5–8 people
VRBO whole apartment or house. Mission, Hayes Valley, Oakland's Temescal, Mountain View, or San Jose's Willow Glen have 3–4 bedroom rentals with kitchens — significant savings vs. four SF hotel rooms.
VRBO Recommended
10–20 people
Hotel room block: call the hotel's group sales department directly. Request a group rate for 5+ rooms booked together. Marriott Marquis SF, Hilton Union Square, Hyatt Regency Embarcadero, Marriott Santa Clara (next to Levi's), and Hilton San Jose all handle large group blocks regularly.
Hotel Block
20+ people
Work with a Bay Area DMC (destination management company) or use FIFA's official hospitality partner. Large groups need a dedicated coordinator. Start planning 12+ months in advance.
DMC / Hospitality
Pre-Match Meetups
Gathering Before Kickoff
The Bay Area's two FIFA Fan Festival sites (Embarcadero Plaza in SF and Plaza de César Chávez in San Jose) make natural pre-match HQs depending on which side of the bay your group is based.
01Embarcadero Plaza (FIFA Fan Festival, SF): The official downtown SF Fan Festival — open plaza on the waterfront, giant LED screens, food and drink, Ferry Building Marketplace next door for pre-match meals. From here, the group walks two blocks to BART Embarcadero, transfers to Caltrain at Millbrae or 4th & King, then VTA to the stadium. The natural HQ for groups based in SoMa, Mission, or Union Square.
02Plaza de César Chávez (FIFA Fan Festival, San Jose): The South Bay Fan Festival — easier base if your group is in San Jose or Santa Clara. Walk to San Pedro Square Market (food hall, big group seating) for pre-match meals, then VTA Orange Line to the stadium. About 25 minutes door-to-gate. The smarter pick for South-Bay-based groups.
03The Mission (Latin American supporters): Match-day central for Latin American supporter groups — La Taqueria, El Farolito, Taqueria Cancun on Mission Street, plus Mission Bowling Club and dozens of bars on Valencia. Reserve a back room at any of the larger Valencia Street restaurants for groups of 10+. BART 24th Street or 16th Street to Embarcadero, transfer to Caltrain.
04San Pedro Square Market (San Jose): Open-air food hall in downtown San Jose with bars, multiple restaurants, big communal seating — handles a 10–20 person group walk-in easily. From here it's a 10-minute walk to the VTA Convention Center station, 25 minutes to the stadium. The pragmatic South Bay group meetup.
05North Beach / Hayes Valley (downtown SF): For groups based near Union Square, North Beach's Italian restaurants (Tony's Pizza, Original Joe's, Sotto Mare) handle big groups; Hayes Valley's bars (Smuggler's Cove, Two Sisters) are walking distance from BART Civic Center. Allow 90+ min total transit to Levi's.
06Designate a backup meeting point: With 70,909 fans at Levi's Stadium, groups easily split up post-match. Designate a specific meeting point (a landmark entrance, specific section, or the Faithful Plaza statue) before you enter — don't rely on cell signal inside the stadium. Caltrain station after the match will be packed; agree on which train you're catching back.