Husky fans irate over cost of Sugar Bowl flights

SEATAC, Wash. — University of Washington football fans were riding the high from the Huskies’ win against the Oregon Ducks in the Pac-12 Championship.

Then came the announcement for the bowl game.

Fans were really hoping for a game close to home, but once it was announced that the Dawgs are heading to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl, some were surprised to see Alaska Airlines seemingly price-gouging and even pricing out fans from flying out.

“I didn’t even bother researching it. In the past when I’ve gone to New Orleans, there’s no give and take in any of the tickets or the airfares or the hotels,” said UW football fan Doug Emsley.

Emsley just made it back to Seattle after supporting UW in Vegas this week. He told us sadly, he will not be attending the Sugar Bowl game on Jan. 1.

“Availability, hotels, it’s just the logistics to economize, just became somewhat inconvenient,” said Emsley.

On the Alaska Airlines website Monday morning, flights from Seattle to New Orleans cost anywhere between $490 to $639 from Dec. 28 to 30. The flights back to Seattle from New Orleans show nothing for Jan. 2, a whopping $1,156 on Jan. 3 with significant reductions starting on the 4th.

Recognizing the demand for more flights, Alaska Airlines told us it will be adding six additional flights to New Orleans from Dec. 29 to 31 and four more flights from New Orleans to Seattle on Jan. 2 and 3.

And that’s just airfare. The price of tickets for the game itself ranges from $500 in the nosebleed seats, with tickets on the higher end pushing $2,000.

We did some research to see if perhaps flying into another nearby airport could lighten the financial burden and found round-trip tickets from Seattle to Houston for $971 and a 5.5-hour drive.

“There are definitely people who will pay it but it’s pretty expensive. I wish it was more of a neutral location and I wish it was definitely closer to home, but I wish it was a lot more affordable for the fans,” said UW student and football fan Christopher Bishop.

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