Alternative Airports to Use for the Super Bowl in Miami

There are few things that are as satisfying as combining two things you love. For instance, if you’re a football fan who also likes to travel, what’s better than taking a trip to see the Super Bowl? It’s even better when you consider that the Super Bowl is almost always in a city that’s relatively warm in the winter, so that if you stay more than a day or two you’ll get the added benefit of a warm weather vacation in addition to a football game.

But if you also love saving money, then you’ll want to know all the tricks you could use to get a good deal on a trip to the Super Bowl in Miami, right? Well, one of them is to fly into a different city than Miami.

Wait, what?

You heard me. Yes, the 2010 Super Bowl is in Miami - but that doesn’t mean you only have one choice for airports in Miami to fly into. Yes, there’s a big airport located right in Miami - but there are also a couple other airports within a reasonable distance that are worth checking for cheap airfares, too.

Here are the alternate airports for Miami that you should look at if you’re hunting for cheap airfare to the Super Bowl (and a little bit about Miami International Airport, too, because we’re nice).

Miami International Airport (airport code MIA)

Miami’s big international airport is the country’s primary gateway to and from Latin America, so it makes sense that it’s also one of the busiest in the U.S. It’s a hub for airline giant American Airlines, as well as American subsidiary American Eagle, Executive Airlines, and Gulfstream International Airlines. Discount airlines Sun Country, AirTran and US Airways also have flights in and out of Miami, but this airport isn’t particularly popular with the budget airline set.

The airport itself is about 8 miles from Miami, and offers several ways of getting into the city from the airport - including free shuttles to certain specified locations, the Metrobus, and plain old rental cars and taxis.

Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport (airport code FLL)

If you’re looking for the best ways to find cheap airfare into the Miami area, then you might want to expand your horizons a bit and check out the nearby Fort Lauderdale airport as well. It’s notably more popular with budget airlines than Miami’s main airport is, and at only 21 miles from Miami’s city center it’s absolutely close enough to be a great option for a trip to Miami.

Some of the budget airlines that fly in and out of Fort Lauderdale are Southwest, Spirit, jetBlue, AirTran, and US Airways. Spirit has its biggest hub in Fort Lauderdale, as well. It’s fairly easy to get into Miami from the Fort Lauderdale airport even if you aren’t renting a car by using the commuter trains or county buses.

Palm Beach International Airport (airport code PBI)

The Palm Beach airport shouldn’t be your first choice for a trip to Miami, but if you’re striking out elsewhere then it’s worth checking. There’s nothing wrong with the airport, per se, it’s just that it’s about 1.5 hours away from Miami - so it’ll need to be a really good deal on a flight to make the extra time spent getting to and from (not to mention the cost of transport) worth it.

Spirit, US Airways, AirTran and jetBlue fly in and out of Palm Beach, so there are a few budget airline options here that may be able to save you money. And luckily there’s a commuter train that connects the airport directly with Miami so you don’t necessarily even need to rent a car to get back and forth.

photo by JohnSeb