Football - Travel Deals

Women’s World Cup Travel Deals

Just because the 2010 World Cup is in the rear-view mirror doesn’t mean that soccer is off the world stage for another four years. In fact, this summer is when the best women’s teams in the world get their own showcase with the 2011 Women’s World Cup in Germany.

American fans may recall that it’s the US women’s team who brought home a World Cup trophy on two separate occasions, and they’re always among the teams in contention for the title – for many Americans it was the women’s national team rather than the men’s team that introduced them to the sport. This year, the US women are again in contention, along with a host of other really talented teams. The host-country, Germany, have won the past two Women’s World Cups, and other teams to watch include Brazil, Canada, Norway, and Sweden.

If you’re planning to go to Germany for the 2011 Women’s World Cup, here are some travel tips to help you get there on a budget.

>> The 2011 Women’s World Cup runs from June 26 through July 17, and all the games are in Germany.

Best Airports to Use for the Women’s World Cup

One of the good things for budget travelers trying to get to Germany for the Women’s World Cup in 2011 is that there are several airports to choose from. The more airport options you can consider for your flights, the better your chances are of finding good deals.

Although not every host city for the Women’s World Cup has a big international airport, a few of them do – and several other host cities are close to major airports, giving you lots of choices when it comes to where you’ll fly into.

Here are the main airports you can consider for a trip to the Women’s World Cup.

>> The Women’s World Cup in 2011 runs from June 26 through July 17. To figure out which games will be played in which cities, consult the official tournament site.

How to Find Cheap Airfare to the Women’s World Cup

The first order of business with just about any trip is finding a good price on airfare – and if you’re planning a trip for a big event, that task can be even harder. Add the complication of said event being during the high season and you’ve really got to do your homework to find cheap flights.

This is the perfect storm we find ourselves in for the 2011 Women’s World Cup. It may not be as big on the world stage as the Men’s World Cup, but it’s still a very big deal – made even more special because it only takes place every four years. It’s in Germany this year, and in the summer – which is Europe’s high season already. In other words, if you’re planning to go to any of the games and you don’t already have your plane tickets, you should probably get on that to-do item ASAP.

Here are some tips to help you find cheap airfare to Germany for the 2011 Women’s World Cup.

>> The Women’s World Cup runs from June 26-July 17, 2011.

Super Bowl 2012 Travel Deals

superbowl3You don’t have to be a hard-core budget travel guru to know that this is one vacation where you’ll want to be extra-diligent when hunting for deals. Why? Because tickets to the Super Bowl are always extraordinarily expensive, and since you can’t get around paying for tickets to the game you’ll need to find ways to save money on other aspects of your trip.

And that’s where we come in.

We’ve written a series of articles designed to help you save money on a trip to Indianapolis for the Super Bowl, and rather than risk you missing out on all the helpful information we’ve compiled we thought we’d put together a list of all the articles in one place. Which is right here. Well, by “here” I mean below. Oh, you know what I mean.

Here are all the tips we dispensed about finding Super Bowl travel deals.

>> The 2012 Super Bowl – Super Bowl XLVI –  is February 5, 2012 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana

>> The 2013 Super Bowl will be held February 3, 2013 in New Orleans

Are Super Bowl vacation packages travel deals or not?

miamistadiumOne of the things you learn when you start researching the subject is that as maligned as the “vacation package” can be among people who consider themselves hard-core budget travelers, a package deal can often mean huge savings over booking each element separately. Of course, this isn’t always true, but it’s true often enough that it’s always worth looking for vacation package deals to the places you’re planning to visit as you’re looking up airfare and hotel prices.

But let’s take the Super Bowl as an example of a big event for which there are plenty of vacation packages being offered. Are they a better deal than booking a la carte? Will you save money with Super Bowl vacation packages?

The short answer is – sometimes. But there are enough cases where a vacation package is so much more costly than booking your flight, hotel, and car rental separately that it’s critical you do your homework in this case instead of just assuming the package “deal” is really a deal. Here are some of the things to keep in mind when you’re looking at Super Bowl vacation packages vs. booking your Super Bowl trip piece by piece.

>> The 2012 Super Bowl – Super Bowl XLVI –  is February 5, 2012 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana

How to Find Cheap Airfare to the Super Bowl

superbowl1If you’re a hard-core football fan, then you’ve probably got “go to the Super Bowl” on your lifetime to-do list – whether or not it’s your team in the big game. Luckily, organizers typically give the Super Bowl to cities in the lower half of the United States – so even though the game’s in the winter, fans will get the added bonus of warm weather to go along with the championship game.

The 2012 Super Bowl is in Indianapolis, so you’ll definitely get a break from winter weather right when you need it. And, if we can help you find cheap airfare for the Super Bowl, why not make an extended vacation out of it? That way, no matter what team wins, you’ll still come out with a victory in the vacation department.

Many of the tips for finding cheap airfare to the Super Bowl are the same as we’d give you for finding cheap airfare no matter what time of year it is. But since more people will be descending upon Indianapolis for the big event, you do need to plan ahead a bit more than normal and may need to do a bit more research before you find the best prices on things like airfare and hotels.

Here are our top tips for getting cheap tickets to Indianapolis for the Super Bowl.

>> The 2012 Super Bowl – Super Bowl XLVI –  is February 5, 2012 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana

Dallas Travel Tips for the Super Bowl

Super Bowl XLV – that’s Super Bowl 45 to us non-Romans – is coming up on February 6, 2011. The Super Bowl planners often cleverly schedule the sport’s biggest game in a sunny location, partly because it just makes for fewer game-related hassles and partly because who doesn’t like the idea of a sun-filled trip at the start of February in the United States? And that goes for the fans, too.

Perhaps you’re a die-hard football fan who dreams of attending the Super Bowl every year. Perhaps you’re married to one. In either case, you can appreciate the merits of a trip to Dallas for the 2011 Super Bowl.

Now, assuming you’re going to make more of a trip out of it than just going to the game and hopping on the next flight home, you’re going to need some Dallas travel tips. This way you can enjoy the big game, not spend a fortune, and maybe even squeeze in a little vacation. And then whether your team wins or not, you still have something to smile about.

>> The 2011 Super Bowl is in Dallas, Texas on February 6.

College Bowl Games Travel Deals

Football lovers like just about any excuse to go see a game live and in person, but when you’re talking about a bowl game in the BCS then it’s even better. Sure, it’s always more fun if your school’s team is in one of the bowl games, but even if you’re technically a neutral it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the game anyway.

If seeing one of the BCS bowl games is on your agenda this year, then here are some articles designed to help you save money on your trip. Visiting any of the four cities that regularly host college bowl games doesn’t have to cost a fortune, although it can easily cost more than it should.

Do a little bit of research before it’s time to book your trip and you’ll be more prepared to scope out the good deals and know when to say no.

>> The dates for the BCS games for the 2011 – 2012 season are – Jan 2 (Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl), Jan 4 (Orange Bowl), Jan 3 (Sugar Bowl) and Jan 9 (National Championship Game, New Orleans)

College Bowl Game Vacation Packages: Do the Math

Traveling for major sporting events has become big business with some tour operators. Booking a package trip used to mean you’d be traveling to somewhere with a beach and staying at a resort, or maybe taking some kind of adventure trip. But with so many people interested in traveling to see their favorite sports teams play in big tournaments, it was only a matter of time before sports vacation packages were more prevalent.

It’s easy to find package trips for any of the college bowl games in the BCS, if that’s the kind of trip you want to take. Vacation packages of any kind certainly help to take some of the stress out of trip planning, since it’s often a “one click and you’re done” situation, but you can’t take a tour provider’s word for it that theirs is the best deal out there.

If you can afford to book whatever vacation package looks good to you, then go for it. If you’re more interested in getting the best value or saving money on your trip, then you’ve got to do a little bit of work before you click that “buy” button. It’s only a two-step process, but it does involve math. (Sorry.)

>> 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)

Travel Deals to BCS Bowl Games

Whatever you might think about the BCS system, there’s no denying the appeal of seeing a college bowl game if you’re a football fan or an alum of one of the schools playing. And when you combine either of those two things with the fact that the games are played in warm places during a very cold part of the year, you have the makings of a fine excuse for a trip.

As mentioned in an earlier post, there are various things you can do to find cheap airfare to college bowl games, no matter which one you want to go to. But these are four relatively popular destinations we’re talking about, so don’t be surprised if travel deals aren’t exactly coming out of the woodwork for you.

If one of the BCS bowl games is on your list this season, then it’s not a bad idea to start paying attention to the prices on trips months before the games themselves. The bad news is that you won’t necessarily know which bowl game your favorite team will be playing in until the best prices are gone. The good news is that there are only four cities you need to keep an eye on for travel deals to begin with – and if you’re as interested in a warm-weather vacation as you are a football game, you might consider just picking whichever place you want to visit most and going to the game no matter who’s playing.

>> 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)