Priceline Says Notre Dame Fans Shelling Out A Lot To Travel To Sun Bowl

Priceline.com reported today that, based on current airfares and hotel rates, college football fans will spend an average of $583 per person on travel to watch their teams compete in 2010 bowl games. To make its calculation, priceline.com averaged the prices from a sampling of currently available 2- and 3-day air & hotel packages to the 23 largest college bowl games.

Which fans will pay the most to see their alma mater in a bowl? That honor goes to Orange Bowl-bound Stanford. Priceline has $904 packages that include round-trip airfare from San Francisco to Miami and three nights at the Courtyard By Marriott Miami Lakes. Runners-up include Notre Dame ($858 for a 3-night air & hotel package from Chicago to El Paso), Boise State ($855 for a 3-night air & hotel package from Boise to Las Vegas), TCU ($847 for a 2-night air & hotel package from Dallas to Los Angeles), Penn State ($781 for a 3-night air/hotel package from State College to Tampa) and Oklahoma ($718 for a 3-night air/hotel package from Oklahoma City to Glendale, AZ).

“There is still airline ticket and hotel room availability for all of the bowl games, but availability typically closes out fairly quickly for the bowls bringing the bigger out-of-town fan bases,” said Priceline’s Senior Vice President, Vacation Packages, Tom Trotta.

Special air & hotel packages (excluding game tickets) to college bowl games are available on Priceline’s last-minute deals service, PriceBreakers:

http://pcln.com/BCSGames

http://pcln.com/BowlGames

Customized packages can be created using Priceline’s vacation packages service, often at prices well below other major online travel agencies http://www.priceline.com/packages/. Priceline also has airline tickets http://www.priceline.com/flights/ and hotels http://www.priceline.com/hotels/ available separately for the big games.

Here’s a sampling of the packages currently available on priceline.com (packages do not include game tickets):

BCS Bowl Title Game, Auburn vs. Oregon, $509 per person, 1/8-1/11, includes round-trip airfare from Atlanta and 3 nights at the Comfort Inn North Phoenix.

Rose Bowl, TCU vs. Wisconsin, $847 per person, 12/30-1/2, includes round-trip airfare from Dallas and 2 nights at the Radisson Hotel Los Angeles Westside.

Fiesta Bowl, Oklahoma vs. Connecticut, $718 per person, 12/30-1/2, includes round-trip airfare from Oklahoma City and 3 nights at the Extended Stay Deluxe Phoenix-Biltmore.

Sugar Bowl, Ohio State vs. Arkansas, $583 per person, 1/1-1/4, includes round-trip airfare from Columbus and 3 nights at the Holiday Inn New Orleans French Quarter.

Orange Bowl, Virginia Tech vs. Stanford, $496 per person, 1/1-1/4, includes round-trip airfare from Roanoke, VA and 3 nights at the Courtyard by Marriott Miami Lakes.

Gator Bowl, Michigan vs. Mississippi State, $605 per person, 12/30-1/2, includes round-trip airfare from Detroit and 3 nights at the Holiday Inn Jacksonville Baymeadows.

Capital One Bowl, Michigan State vs. Alabama, $590 per person, 12/30-1/2, includes round-trip airfare from Grand Rapids and 3 nights at the Radisson Hotel Orlando-International Drive.

Insight Bowl, Iowa vs. Missouri, $678 per person, 12/26-12/29, includes round-trip airfare from St. Louis and 3 nights at the Best Western of Tempe.

Holiday Bowl, Nebraska vs. Washington, $681 per person, 12/28-12/31, includes round-trip airfare from Omaha and 2 nights at the Solamar, A Klimpton Hotel.

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, Boston College vs. Nevada, $351 per person, 1/7-1/10, includes round-trip airfare from Boston and 3 nights at the Holiday Inn Fisherman’s Wharf.

Cotton Bowl, Texas A&M vs. LSU, $337 per person, 1/5-1/8, includes round-trip airfare from New Orleans and 3 nights at the Howard Johnson Express Inn-Arlington At Ballpark/Six Flags.

Maaco Las Vegas Bowl, Utah vs. Boise State, $409 per person, 12/20-12/23, includes round-trip airfare from Salt Lake City and 3 nights at The Venetian.

Sun Bowl, Notre Dame vs. Miami, $858 per person, 12/29-1/1, includes round-trip airfare from Chicago and 3 nights at the Wyngate By Wyndham El Paso.

Little Caesars Bowl, Florida International vs. Toledo, $431 per person, 12/24-12/27, includes round-trip airfare from Miami and 3 nights at the Hilton Garden Inn Detroit/Downtown.

Champs Sports Bowl, North Carolina State vs. West Virginia, $532 per person, 12/26-12/29, includes round-trip airfare from Raleigh, NC and 3 nights at the Rosen Centre Hotel.

Texas Bowl, Illinois vs. Baylor, $577 per person, 12/27-12/30, includes round-trip airfare from Chicago and 3 nights at the Doubletree Houston Downtown.

Alamo Bowl, Oklahoma vs. Arizona, $589 per person, 12/27-12/30, includes round-trip airfare from Tucson and 3 nights at the Marriott San Antonio Downtown Riverwalk.

Pinstripe Bowl, Kansas State vs. Syracuse, $584 per person, 12/28-12/31, includes round-trip airfare from Kansas City and 2 nights at the Comfort Inn New York.

Meineke Car Care Bowl, Clemson vs. South Florida, $293 per person, 12/29-1/1, includes round-trip airfare from Tampa and 3 nights at the Best Western Charlotte Matthews Hotel.

Liberty Bowl, Central Florida vs. Georgia, $388 per person, 12/29-1/1, includes round-trip airfare from Orlando and 3 nights at the Best Western Gen X Inn.

TicketCity Bowl, Northwestern vs. Texas Tech, $523 per person, 12/30-1/2, includes round-trip airfare from Chicago and 3 nights at the Hyatt Regency Dallas.

Outback Bowl, Penn State vs. Florida, $781 per person, 12/30-1/2, includes round-trip airfare from State College, PA and 3 nights at the Doubletree Guest Suites Tampa Bay.

BBVA Compass Bowl, Kentucky vs. Pittsburgh, $357 per person, 1/6-1/9, includes round-trip airfare from Pittsburgh and 3 nights at the Hilton Garden Inn Birmingham Se/Liberty Parkway.

About The Priceline Group of Companies

The Priceline Group of Companies (Nasdaq: PCLN) is a leader in global online hotel reservations, with approximately 61 million room nights booked in 2009. The Group is composed of four primary brands ? Booking.com, priceline.com, Agoda.com and TravelJigsaw. The Priceline Group provides online travel services in 38 languages in 100 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Based in Amsterdam, Booking.com is a leading international online hotel reservation service operating in 92 countries in 38 languages. Booking.com offers its customers access to over 105,000 participating hotels worldwide. In the U.S., priceline.com gives leisure travelers multiple ways to save on their airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises.

In addition to getting compelling published prices, travelers can take advantage of priceline.com’s famous Name Your Own Price® service, which can deliver the lowest prices available. Priceline.com also operates the following travel websites: Travelweb.com, Lowestfare.com, RentalCars.com and BreezeNet.com.

Singapore-based Agoda.com is an Asian online hotel reservation service that offers hotel rooms around the world and is available in 32 languages. With headquarters in Manchester, UK, TravelJigsaw is a multinational car hire service, offering its reservation services in more than 4,000 locations in 80 countries. Customer support is provided in 20 languages.

SOURCE Priceline.com