People are upset about $121 seats but not Allegiant charging $40 for carry-ons, the hotels charging $50/night for “resort fees,” and the mortgage payment or two you lose at the tables.
I know it is expensive but it is the price of a good time. Nobody ever had an epic weekend in Lawerence, Kansas or Morgantown, West Virginia unless it involved their cousin, a Joe Diffie cassette, and the back of an El Camino.
What do you consider ridiculous prices for flights, hotels and tickets? No one in our group said one word about ticket prices when I said tickets were $121 each.
Plus our group knew the Vegas game has been on the schedule and we kept up on everything like getting a Black Friday deal for Mandalay Bay, getting a contact for group tickets and putting down a deposit. Keeping an eye on flights. I mean we knew in advance we were going we just made it happen. We are also staying from Wed -Tuesday so we got cheaper flights.
This and this. A lot of you sound like you haven't been to Vegas in a looooong time. $10+ drinks and $100+ for dinner for two are the norm. Hell, even at these prices the football game is *still* the cheapest three hours of the trip. I know we all are optimistic for the CFP or another NY6 bowl, but sometimes it's good to take the destination weekend when you can get it.
It's a brand-new, state-of-the-art NFL stadium in a cool city with great weather, great restaurants, and great entertainment. And a very beatable opponent.
Nothing in the post-season is guaranteed in college football. This game is on the schedule. It's a given. And... uh... even if we make the CFP or NY6... those prices are eye-watering too. As are the flights around the holidays.
Sure, those games are more "important" (if we get to them) and I know we're all Cyclone Fanatics here, but the football game is still only three hours of the whole trip. The rest of the trip matters too. Dallas in December has nothing on Las Vegas in September. (Miami is another story.) Oh, and the CFP National Championship game is in Indianapolis. In January.
I'm treating this like the big football trip of the year. It sounds like CyState85 and cycloner29 have the same idea. If we go to New Orleans, Dallas, or Miami -- awesome -- I may just have to swing two trips. That's a great problem to have. But I'll treat those as lesser trips -- Vegas is my blowout.