How to Find Cheap Airfare to Bowl Games

There are plenty of college football fans who remain confused about various elements of the Bowl Championship Series, or the BCS as it’s commonly known. It seems like new bowl games are added each year to satisfy new sponsors, and there’s always criticism about how teams are chosen for each game. But one thing that’s not confusing is where the BCS games are held – because it’s always in the same four cities.

The four BCS bowl games and their locations each year are:

• Fiesta Bowl – Glendale, Arizona
• Orange Bowl – Miami, Florida
• Rose Bowl – Pasadena, California
• Sugar Bowl – New Orleans, Louisiana

The dates and order of these four bowls change each year, and the location of the National Championship Game – although it’s always in one of these four cities – also changes each year. But at the very least, searching for cheap flights to BCS games is easy because you always know the four locations to look for.

>> The BCS bowl games schedule for the 2011-2012 season is: Jan 2 (Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl), Jan 4 (Orange Bowl), Jan 3 (Sugar Bowl) and Jan 9 (National Championship Game, New Orleans)

How to Find Cheap Airfare to BCS Bowl Games

• Be Flexible – This is the top tip for finding cheap flights whenever you’re looking and wherever you’re going, and it’s even more important when you’re traveling to a place for a special event. Airlines know that more people than normal will be headed in the same direction, so it’s only logical that they’d raise prices for the peak travel times before and after the event in question. How can you avoid those higher fares? One easy way is to make a longer trip out of it – go early, stay late – so you’re outside the peak fare windows. Finding cheaper fares is sometimes as simple as using an airfare search site that lets you click a box for “my dates are flexible” as you’re searching – then you’ll see the lowest prices in a given date range, and can choose the cheaper flights accordingly.

• Know When Flights are Cheaper – In addition to avoiding the peak travel times for special events, another good way to save money on your flight is to know the days of the week and times of the day when fares tend to be cheaper overall. This can give you a head-start when you’re checking on flights in your favorite airfare booking site. Keep in mind that these are days and times when flights are usually cheaper – it’s not set in stone, and special events can throw this off. But, generally speaking, Wednesday is the cheapest day to fly, followed by Tuesday and Saturday. The earliest flights of the day are typically the cheapest, followed by the late night departures (including red-eye flights).

• Look for Budget Airlines – There are some big airlines that everyone knows, and lots of smaller ones that tend to be more regional and therefore off the radar of anyone who doesn’t live in the area. Airlines that fall into this category might be Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Frontier Airlines, or Horizon Air. If you’ll need to change planes between your home and the BCS game you’re headed for, it’s a good idea to see if you can get a great deal on one of the budget carriers that flies into that city’s airport. And, if you’re lucky enough to be within a direct flight of the city you’re visiting, check for budget airlines that make the trip. You may have to visit their official websites individually to find the lowest fares, as soem of the budget carriers reserve their best deals for customers on their sites as opposed to the big booking sites, but a quick scan of the airlines serving a given airport will give you which sites to check.

• Consider Alternate Airports – Just as there are smaller airlines that sometimes have cheaper fares, there are smaller airports in some cities that may offer better deals on tickets. Not every city is lucky enough to have multiple airports that are within a reasonable distance, but it’s always worth checking. Of the cities that regularly host BCS games, Los Angeles (Pasadena) and Miami both have a few airport alternatives – you can read more about each one in this article about alternate airports to big US hubs.

• Do the Math on Vacation Packages Before You Buy – There are plenty of options when it comes to BCS vacation packages, and they absolutely offer one-stop-shopping convenience for those of us who are too busy to do all the travel planning or comparison shopping that can be required. But there is one bit of comparing that you really ought to do before you hit the “buy” button on a vacation package. You can’t be sure a vacation package is really a good deal until you break down its individual components and find out whether buying them individually would cost you less than booking through a tour company. Could you get a cheaper flight if you booked your ticket on a budget airline or flew into a smaller airport? Could you get a better deal on a hotel room if you stayed in a 2-star hotel instead of a 4-star hotel? Really look at what the package is offering you – and how much each piece costs – before you automatically assume it’s a good deal.

photo by cbowns