Ticket brokers, travel agents share advice for likely most expensive Super Bowl ever

JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. (KCTV) – If you have your heart set on going to the Super Bowl, get ready to pay more than ever.

If you were to buy a pair of game and plane tickets and two nights on the Las Vegas Strip, experts say you can bank on $23,000-$25,000 for starters.

Experts speculate the main factor for the soaring cost is the location.  Las Vegas is a city known for entertainment. That, and the stadium’s proximity to “the Strip,” make it especially appealing to football fans looking for “an experience.”

KCTV5 looked at the costs and cost-saving tips.

AIRFARE

Five airlines have added non-stop flights for the four-day weekend of Friday through Monday: American, Delta, United, Southwest and Spirit.

In all, more than 30 additional non-stop flights have been added to and from KCI. That inventory helps keep prices from soaring, but don’t expect bargains from the added flights.

Joe Curtis, the senior vice president of Acendas Travel checked the non-discount carriers Monday afternoon.

“You’re looking at roughly around $1,300 per flight,” Curtis said.

You might find better with less direct routes, but even those will be harder to come by the longer you wait.

“There could be some out there, Curtis said, “but you’re going to Las Vegas and everyone’s trying to get there right now.”

KCTV5 checked fares Monday night for a Friday departure and Monday arrival.

Spirit had non-stop round-trip flights for $700 per person. Add $104 for a carry-on or $116 for a checked bag.

The non-stop flights on Delta, American and United all ranged from $1,300 to $1,600 per ticket. One exception was an $814 fare with an overnight flight arriving in Kansas City at 5 a.m.

Southwest has few nonstops still available and none at their lower price points. A non-stop leaving Friday and returning Monday costs $1,1719.

The cheapest option KCTV5 could find was on Frontier for $400  but that involves 8-hour layovers in the middle of the night.

HOTELS

Curtis said hotel prices range significantly based on where in Las Vegas you choose to stay.

“We’re seeing some volume still out there,” he said. “But I will tell you they’re ranging from $400 a night to $1,000 a night plus.”

Short-term rentals on platforms like Airbnb are not likely to be less expensive, because property owners have known this is coming and have been pricing to match hotel rates.

TRAVEL SAVINGS

It’s a time when the word “savings” is relative, but he did have some suggestions to cut costs a bit.

• Check your frequent flyer miles. You might be able to select an airline with whom you can redeem miles.
• Get a hotel room off the strip.
• Skip the rental car and plan to use taxis or ride shares. He advised that rental cars will be unusually expensive just like the rest.

READ MORE: Las Vegas’ first Super Bowl is driving record prices on the secondary ticket market

GAME TICKETS

When the Chiefs battled the 49ers four years ago, tickets hit a then-record high of $6,000 on average. This year, it could be twice that or more.

Jason Durbin, the senior vice president of ticket operations at ticket retailer Tickets For Less pulled their numbers from previous Super Bowls in which the Chiefs were playing.

He selected a single day: the Monday after the NFC and AFC Championship Games.

For Super Bowl LIV in 2020, the average ticket price that day was $4,800. For Super Bowl LVII in 2023, that one-day average rose to $5,900. The average for that day this year won’t be available until Tuesday, but the lowest-priced ticket, known as the get-in price, on Monday afternoon was nearly $10,000.

Even the “face value” of tickets is high, Durbin said, at $1,000 each, but most people in this case have to rely on the secondary market.

“The majority of the stadium has kind of already been designated to sponsors and other NFL teams and things like that,” he said of where the tickets are coming from.

Durbin doesn’t expect much fluctuation until the teams allot their designated tickets. After that, the prices tend to go up and down. He is curious to see if the Vegas factor changes the typical trends, that is if more people than usual will head there for related experiences without game tickets.

“I think you’re going to have a lot more people there on-site, you know, kind of available to go if the prices get to the right point for them,” Durbin predicted.

BUYER BEWARE

For flights and hotels, Curtis said, prices will only go up the longer you wait.

Some team fan clubs are working on package deals. Whether you do that or go it alone, he suggests travel insurance for a trip this costly.

When it comes to tickets, there are two things to consider: fees and scams.

Ticket Fees

Tickets For Less does not tack on fees at the end of the transaction. It doesn’t mean they are always the cheapest, but it means the price you see on the listing is the same as what you will see at check-out. For other vendors, you’ll need to go all the way to your cart to see the total after being promoted to enter your name and email address. Some providers, like Ticketmaster, have a spot in the filters section where you can change the price shown to include fees.

On Monday afternoon, KCTV5 looked at tickets in section 325 on Ticketmaster, StubHub and Tickets For Less. The list price differed by as much as $2,700. But when you get to the total, the maximum difference was $180.

Ticket Scams

Legitimate tickets will always be sent to you through the Ticketmaster app. They are the official partner of the NFL. Legitimate brokers, Ticketmaster or not, will get your tickets to you that way. Don’t trust offers for paper tickets or screenshots or PDFs of QR codes.

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