Super Bowl 2017 will be taking place at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on Sunday, February 5th. If you start your planning now, it's possible to save a little cash for the big game. Besides the tickets for the game, the big expenses will be your flight, hotel, and of course the food. While sites such as Hotels.com, Priceline.com and Trivago offer great deals on hotels in Houston, below we go into detail on how to find the cheapest flights to get from your city to Super Bowl City (Houston) with as little cost as possible so that you will have that extra cash to help you on food and perhaps a little sightseeing during your stay.
There are two airports that serve the Houston area. William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) is the closest to NRG Stadium, however George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) is much larger so you will have more flexibility and options by flying into IAH.
Your ability to find the cheapest fares to Houston will depend greatly on your degree of flexibility in departure and return dates, and amount of time ahead of the trip that you start looking. Why not consider making that Super Bowl Weekend a week long stay. If your original plan was to do a quick weekend jaunt down to Houston to watch the game, why not think about spending a whole week to properly explore the Southwest. Fares are often cheaper on weekdays so staying a few days longer can get you a cheaper flight on your return home. A round-trip fare for a 7 day stay can be considerably cheaper than a round-trip fare for a 2 or 3 day stay.
Do your Flight searches Incognito, Private Browsing Mode or Remove Cookies
This is a very important tip. Always search for flights in incognito or private browsing mode to see the lowest prices. Based on the cookies in your browser, flight prices do increase when a particular route is repeatedly searched, as the site wants to scare you into booking the flight quickly before prices get even higher.
Search Options:
Under the advanced flight options You can search by fare type. Typically the lowest price flight fares have many restrictions. These fares usually have penalties for refunds and changes. Most are non-refundable and do not allow changes after the ticket is purchased. However, with the refundable changeable only option, the system will only search for fares with no penalties. Keep in mind that you may notice higher prices with this search option selected.
Try to avoid booking on a Saturday or Sunday. Most airline sales end by Thursday or Friday only to offer them again by the middle of the following week.
Cheapest Day to Fly – Wednesday
For better savings consider departing on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday. Return on a Tuesday or Wednesday and Super Bowl flights are no exception. This is because Monday is a peak travel day when most people, including business travelers, need to fly. Tuesday is far less busy. Wednesdays and Saturdays are equally inexpensive; Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays are equally pricey. That's why it's advisable to schedule flights from Wednesday to Tuesday rather than Saturday to Sunday or Monday.
Avoid Afternoon Flights
Look for the earliest possible departure to avoid high fares and delays. Fares are highest on afternoon departures because that's when most people want to fly.
Add A Stop to your Flight
Although a connecting flight may add at least two more hours to your travel time you can save by choosing multiple stops over direct flights to your final destination.
If you do have some flexibility, many sites will allow you to select a flexible date option which will enable you to scan for the best prices up to 3 days before or after a specified date.
Some airfare search engines inflate airfare tickets much higher than others ("others" listed below). It pays to familiarize yourself with sites that offer the best prices and these sites include;
These are great sites where you can often find the cheapest flights to Houston. You may need to try a combination of these search engines to ensure you’re not missing any results. There doesn’t seem to be one that gets the cheapest flight 100% of the time, but more than likely it will be one of the sites listed above where you will find the least costly flight to Houston.
Check to see if any special deals are available for a group that you can be associated with. Seniors, students, single women, etc. often have websites that offer discounted fares.
Comparing fares:
Low cost fares are often quoted on a one-way basis. Taxes, handling fees and other surcharges are not always included in the initial price. Click through to the final page to effectively compare cost. Airfare may be quoted in the airline or consolidator's local currency only. Converting fares to a single currency will facilitate comparison.
Consider Departing from Alternative Airport / Arriving at an Alternative Airport
If there's an alternative airport relatively close to your city you should compare flights departing that airport as well. You may be surprised at how much you can save driving 50 or so miles to another city for a cheaper airfare. The same goes with your arrival city. Look for airports 50 or so miles from your destination city and compare the airfare. Often times you can take a bus to or from one of the alternative cities and still end up saving on your airfare. Of course time and convenience should also be weighed into that decision.
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