The Big Game is here and we’re stocking up on all the buffalo chicken dip that money can buy. With football’s finest ready to battle it out this weekend, we wondered: exactly how much does it cost to attend the championship game in Minneapolis? And, for that cost, how far in the world could we go instead? Thankfully, we have the data to find out.
Cost of a Big Game Trip*
Average cost of a Big Game ticket: $4742
Average cost of round-trip flight: $430
Average cost of hotel room for night of Big Game: $438
Total cost: $5,610
That’s a lot of dough to cough up for one day. And we’re not saying it’s not worth it, but we are saying that with a budget like that, a whole world of travel possibilities opens up. Whether you’re headed to the game, watching it at home or couldn’t give a flying football about the sport, here are 7 trips you can take for the cost of one night at the Big Game.
Go-All-Out Options
Visit Our 10 Most Popular Cities
You could spend 1 day and 1 night in each city on our 2018 Travel Hacker Guide’s 10 Most Popular Destinations list. You can hop all over the US (with a jaunt across the pond to London), and still have money to spend. (We’d recommend an extra day in the UK, but that’s just us.)
Median Airfare to travel to all 10 cities: $2666**
Median Hotel for 1 night in all 10 cities: $1594**
Total: $4260
Spend 12 days in Maui
Our #1 Trending Destination, Maui, is up 51% in searches for 2018 travel making it the year’s hottest destination. You could spend just under two weeks in this island paradise for about the same amount of money you’d spend on one day of football. Sun, surf, sand… we’ll take it.
Median Airfare: $667**
Median Hotel Rate: $407/night**
Total: $5551
Continent Hop
Want to stretch your flight legs? Spend two weeks each in Calgary, Curacao, Crete and Bali less than what it would cost you to see the Big Game.
Median Airfare to the 5 cities: $2840**
Hotel Rates for two weeks in each of the 5 cities: $1148****
Total: $3988
Totally Possible Options
See the Winter Games
Love sports? For the cost of just one day of the Big Game, you can spend 2 days and see 3 events at the winter games in Pyeongchang. Plus, you’ll get to explore a new country while you cheer yours on. And there’ll be plenty left in your budget for a day-trip to Seoul.
Average Cost Men’s Championship Ice Hockey Game Tickets: $558
Average Cost Men’s Tournament Gold Medal Game – Curling Tickets: $141
Average Cost Ladies’/Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom Final – Snowboard Ticket: $122
Median Airfare: $896**
Median Hotel: $97/night**
Total: $1911
4 Days in Vegas
Our #1 Most Popular Destination will leave the (neon) lights on for you. Spend 4 days in Sin City — visit museums, play a few games, even check out their new hockey team. You can indulge in 5-star dinners, spa treatments, get in some designer shopping — and still manage to spend less than you would at the game.
Median Airfare: $218**
Median Hotel: $147/night**
Total: $806
7 Days in the Canary Islands
Spain’s slice of paradise is the Canary Islands. Go art-spotting on Tenerife, walk the cliffs of Lanzarote and shop on Las Palmas in Gran Canaria. With budget left over for some Canarian pottery and rum to take home with you.
Median Airfare: $813**
Median Hotel: $125/night**
Total: $1688
10 Days in Guadalajara
Take some well-deserved PTO and spend over a week in our #1 Wallet-Friendly Trip Destination. Indulge in Mexico’s finest tequila, shop at Mercado San Juan de Dios or experience a traditional Lucha Libre wrestling match. You’ll return home with plenty of souvenirs — and memories — and likely spend less than half you would for the Game.
Median Airfare: $299**
Median Hotel: $63/night**
Total: $929
Still have your heart set on seeing that pigskin get tossed around? We have some insights for you, too:***
- Those that booked their flight before the playoffs on January 20th may have scored the best deals. Median flight prices from Philadelphia hovered around $407 and from Boston they were at $373. Unfortunately, those that waited until after the playoff games when their team was locked in saw flight prices spike by 44% from Philly and 28% from Boston.
- Still on the fence (really? This late in the game?)? Every day we’re seeing prices continuing to spike as game day nears. As of January 29th, median airfare to Minneapolis was $740 ($823 from Boston and $733 from Philly).
- If team loyalty can be measured in flight searches, our pick would be fans from Philadelphia as searches spiked more than 2,916% the day after clinching their spot in the Big Game. This is compared to flight searches from Boston, which spiked 539%.
Whether you’ve got a team in the game or are keeping your hopes high for next year, we can help you start planning your travel for the 2018-19 season.
Methodology
*For the cost of a Big Game trip: Average cost for game day tickets based on lowest prices found on three aggregate ticket sites. Average flight rate to Minneapolis based on round-trip flights from all US cities, all flight types, search dates 12/24/17-1/22/18 and travel dates 2/1/18-2/5/18. Average hotel rate for Minneapolis based on all hotel room types, search dates 12/24/17-1/22/18 and travel dates 2/4/18-2/5/18.
**For Median Airfare and Median Hotel rates in the 7 trips: Numbers taken from the 2018 Travel Hacker Guide. See here for methodology.
***For stats on teams headed to the Big Game: We considered all coach, round-trip flight searches conducted on the US KAYAK site from January 21, 2018 through January 29, 2018 for travel to Minneapolis during February 2, 2018 through February 5, 2018. For the city-specific data, we considered all coach, round-trip flight searches conducted on the US KAYAK with searches from Boston and/or Philadelphia with search dates of January 21, 2018 through January 29, 2018 for travel to Minneapolis during February 2, 2018 through February 5, 2018. Prices may vary.
