And it all happened at Gate E3 of San Francisco International Airport.

“Everyone will miss their flight looking at the battery line!” a fan wearing a red 49ers shirt shouted over the noise.

Preparing to depart for their 10:50 a.m. flight to Los Angeles, where the 49ers will face the LA Rams in the NFC Championship Game, fans were greeted with a surprise rally hosted by United Airlines. They aimed to flood Ram’s SoFi Stadium with red and gold – especially after the Los Angeles team tried to stop 49er fans from buying tickets.

“I want to see the invasion!” said Jerrick Gonzales, a longtime Niners fan who grew up in Daly City and now lives in Emeryville with his wife Chrissy.

Jerrick, who grew up watching the Bay Area team with his dad, woke up at 5 a.m. every day after the 49ers’ decisive win over the Green Bay Packers last week to check ticket prices. , hoping to make the best deal possible. They were still expensive when he bought them a few days ago, he said, but he was determined to go to the game.

“He’s crazy about the team,” Chrissy said of her hubby, even though the two were both dressed in head-to-toe 49ers gear.

Fans waiting for the morning flight, one of several fully booked United flights to Los Angeles on Saturday according to United spokeswoman Maddie King, were excited – but a little nervous – to watch their team play for a chance to go to the Super Bowl after a tumultuous season. .

“I’m still shaking,” said Freddy Olmos, who lives in Wendell, Idaho, but has been a 49ers fan since he got into football in his Joe Montana days. He and his son Kolby flew to SFO from Idaho on Saturday morning to catch a connecting flight to LA

“I’m going to have to be checked for health conditions after this season,” Freddy joked.

Kolby, who took a photo with the iconic drum line, looked forward to 49ers fans taking over SoFi Stadium.

“That’s why we’re going there,” he said. “The Rams are still new to Los Angeles. We have to take advantage of that.”

This is the 49ers’ seventeenth appearance in the NFC Championship, but the rival teams have met only once before in the playoffs – in the 1989 Divisional Championship Game, in which the 49ers made a roaring comeback after a 17-point hole to win the Title.

San Francisco is also on a six-game winning streak against Los Angeles that fans were convinced they would maintain.

Adam Duvan, Sarah Wilson and son Alex King – a family of longtime Marin and East Bay fans who also decked out in their red and gold gear – watched the 49ers face off against the Rams earlier this season at Levi’s Stadium. “We thought this might be one of our last chances to see them play this season,” said Wilson, the family’s “football fan”, according to Duvan. They’ve been pleasantly surprised by the 49ers’ successful run so far in the playoffs.

“I was watching the last game with about ten of my friends,” said 12-year-old Alex. “When the 49ers won, we all went crazy. Everyone was screaming.

After snapping a photo with Sourdough Sam, the family – eager to play tomorrow – joined their fellow 49er enthusiasts in the queue to board the plane, scanning their boarding passes with employees of the also wearing 49ers jerseys.

They clapped the hands of the team mascot one last time as they boarded the plane, the drum line playing and continuing the chants until all the last fans had boarded.

Danielle Echeverria is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected]: @DanielleEchev