Superbowl XLV

Nice work Howie, I'll be in a Detroit Bar watching, not quite the same, but still surrounded by Yanks makes it a little better!!

congratulations howie hope u have great time, if the steelers get there can i have a ticket please pretty please [;)]

Congratulations Howie

The experience of a lifetime......enjoy it Howie.

You can only imagine how jealous we all are

i'd have given my small bollock for a ticket to superbowl 42

Couldn't be happier for anyone who sets their mind on something, works towards their target, and eventually achieves it.
Good luck, have a fantastic trip

9.5 years jeez thats dedication for you!Sounds like the trip of a lifetime hope you have a great time.

Cheers guys, it was a 10 year savings plan I took out when I was 30 to go to the Superbowl directly after my 40th Birthday, however that would have been Indianapolis next year in the snow, so Its been brought forward to this one. 

I'd recommend it to anyone, it was only £25 per month and I've been buying dollars every pay day for the past five years (2.16 to the pound about 4 years ago!!).

It's taken a lot of organising and it's not cheap to do anything whilst the Superbowl is on (car hire, hotels etc).  Fortunatley our hotel is next door to an Irish bar which is the self appointed Texas HQ  for the New Orleans Saints fans (I'm a Saints fan).  They have been very helpful and will provide a safe haven for my parents and babysitters of our son whilst we're at the game.

Nice one mate :) enjoy the Packers and Jets game

So who does a Saints fan support in this superbowl ?
Any AFC team I guess ?

delighted for you mate, how did you come about tickets ? and are they costly , been thinking of going for a few years now myself

enjoy every min of it , im sure it will be great

Nice work, fella.

Have a great time

as a saints fan im sure u think its come 1 year 2 late but when its 10 years in the making u cant choose who will be playing, me & 'er indoors are planning 2 do the same in 2 years time in new orleans shes got friends there & i want 2 go 2 the superbowl, anyway enjoy your trip & watch the steelers lift there 7th superbowl WD again enjoy.

Hami - It was a long term plan to use Sports Travel Tours from the UK and go on my own.  However my mate has a villa in Orlando so we've made it this years holiday (hence my parents getting in on the act). 
The price would have been £3200 with them but doing it myself we decided to do it cheaper and get my girlfriend a ticket too (a little wasted on her but she's been to all the wembley games and loved it, she had a great time in the Superdome when we went there 6 years ago). 

We have secured tickets through NFL on Location, they are hospitality, free beer and food for 3 hours before the game (I need to take it easy!).  Again this could have been done cheaper but we didn't want to risk no seats. 
I was told they are available for about $200 above face value on the day BUT i was warned a long time ago if Dallas got there, either of the New York teams or Green Bay, tickets would double/treble in value - I think I've made the right decision

looks like I could have a nice holiday in Dallas, sell the tickets and go back next year

Cheapest rates on the ticket websites I've been watching have gone up 20-30% already since last week

You're taking your lady to Super Bowl weekend? Oh man, Howie, rookie mistake

Howie - is that $3200 for a pair of hospitality tickets ?
How do you get them, is it a draw or just name down early enough and you're in ?

And I make Orioles right, bung her 500 bucks and send her shopping for the da, she'll have a better time and by christ so will you !

Congrats Howie, have a great time, and let us know how it goes

i hope you have some cheerleaders lol
imagine that, save for 10 years and end up at a sb with no cheerleaders

£3200 was in pounds sterling for Sports travel tours inc. Hotel and flights.  I have paid $2599 for hospitality ticket (approx. £1675 GBP), got a couple of internal flights from Orlando to Dallas and Best Western in Fort Worth - nothing special but within driving distance to the stadium. 

The Thomson sports Holiday company which sponsors the Sky NFL games have a similar package to the one we have.

Surely Dallas are providing their cheerleaders obviously not dressed in Blue and white

hope so

I need to do this soon.  Dont fancy indy next year though...jesus, what a boring town to put a superbowl in!  Should always be in new orleans, miami, dallas, california or new york imo.  Indianapolis...what were they smoking!

Dont fancy doing it on my own though, and nfl friends of mine are all skint/tight b**tards...i might email milham and see if he fancies going..

Now you say

count me in if you give it a few years to recover financially from this one

are those the cheapest tickets you can get howie or are there other ways of getting them cheaper, im looking at going to NO in 2 years time and have no idea how i would get tickets

actually dont mind what seats i would have , just to be there , any idea how soon and how cheap they go on sale pre superbowl

OK cheers Howie

Hami - there are cheaper tickets, you can go to NFL.com ticket exchange and pick up a ticket for around a thousand bucks, my guess is that Howie's ticket will be in a decent spot if he's in the stadium for 3 hours getting fed and watered, I would expect the hospitality boxes to be either be along the touchline or behind the endzone.
To be honest I'd climb up a 'fin ladder and sit on the roof if it meant seeing a superbowl.
£1675 sounds alot but think of it as an experience and the memories you get to keep forever.
Besides, I could do that in an hour at Cheltenham...

We're in section 416, if you do a search for Dallas Cowboys Interactive Seating chart to can see where we are.  We could have been lower down but I wanted to be sideline (I don't like NOT seeing how far the line of scrimmage is to make a first down). 

If you're doing New Orleans, you will have an amazing time, the stadium is walking distance from most hotels.  Ticket touts are everywhere and we're told to pay about $1000 each ($200 above face) so long as really popular teams don't make the Superbowl.  I've been in 2 sections of the Louisiana Superdome both we're fantastic views and the people are really friendly (let the locals hear your accent and you'll be welcomed). 

GET SAVING

Oh my god, B********STARD!

;)

cheap tickets now available......200$ to stand outside the ground. good old jerry, somebody has to pay for the new stadium [;)]

cowboys cheerleaders doing halftime show

wow just looking at your pics is making me jealous u lucky thing, cant wait 4 2 years tme definately doing new orleans now.

Go Howie......hope its a belter for you mate and in probably the best stadium in the world!

Prices of tickets have gone through the roof - our seats have almost doubled since last week - crazy.  Here's a cut & paste from stubhub

Price:   
$6,538.00 per ticket
Next
|
Back
Price set by the seller in U.S. dollars

how much did u pay?

$2,599 (£1,678)

have u seen a pic of where u will be sat and what the view will be like?

you happy with the 2 teams who made it?

Our tickets include entry to the Dallas Cowboys suite with free food & drink (3 hours before kick-off) + $50 voucher for merchandise and a program.  It's going to be mental in Texas with fans of those two teams, they are going to charge $200 to watch the game outside the stadium on HD Screens.
Hope I'm in the NFC side of the stadium, my GF loves the Steelers, I'll be cheering for the Cheeseheads

any chance of u leaving the misses at home howie & letting me have a ticket [;)] have been looking at flights about £500.

any chance of u leaving the misses at home & letting me have a tickrt howie [;)]

howie bring me back a cheesehead

been looking at flights about £500 might be worth going just 4 the crac.

Fair play Howie, im so jealous it was a good plan and fair play for sticking with it. Hope you have the holiday of a lifetime [;)]

i'd be seriously considering selling at that price and going to another in a few years

Pack v Steelers...you couldn't have wished for a bigger match up (if you're a neutral). Little wonder the prices have rocketed. So envious.

Why would u sell and go in a few years...perfect superbowl plus its in the best stadium

Great results there for ya howie , couldn have asked for a better final

all the best mate and have a great time

wouldn't mind a free trip to new orleans in 2 years

but then again with the tickets in my hand it would probably be too tough a decision to take.

also, there's every chance my fantasy winning by then would cover a trip there anyway

And you could save on the airfare by riding on the back of a flying pig!

I'm shooting for the stars this fantasy baseball season ... top half

Great game for you Howie, I was worried you might end up with Bears/Jets but I think the best outcome for you has materialised.
Have a great trip

Super stuff Howie going to be a great close game Packers for me will edge it - have such a balanced offence and defence.  Defence won it for them last night against Bears.  First poor game Rodgers had in the play-off.  Have a great time.

orioles
Date Joined: 26 Feb 03
Blogger: orioles's blog
Add contact | Send message
When: 24 Jan 11 20:58
And you could save on the airfare by riding on the back of a flying pig!

I'm shooting for the stars this fantasy baseball season ... top half Cool


cheeky sod,

now i know more than half a dozen baseball players and more importantly, the rules, there will be no stopping me

Thanks guys for your regards.  Certainly got a marquee match-up for the Superbowl, we've seen some epic finale's for the past 5 or 6 years, I was afraid we were overdue a dud, just glad the Bears didn't make it, I really didn't think they would have justified their place in the big game. 
I'm a fan of both teams and really looking forward to seeing Polamolu, Clay Matthews, Greg Jennings, Randle El and Big Ben just to name a few.  Although with a bit of luck we may get to see a possible new superstar QB in Rodgers.  I'll give you a trip report afterwards and perhaps I've inspired a few of you lot to save your Betfair profits to do your own Superbowl trip in the future.

Would love to do a Superbowl, but for me I have to make it to Lambeau first. It's my sporting must do above all others.

fair play my lad fair play

and least you doing it in styleeeeeeeee

i did the sports travel tour to washington and ny the other year and was well worth the trip (for any others wanting to use them)

noticed you did it through yourself in terms booking flights and superbowl tickets

when did you purchase these? as i'd also like to save up for either next year or the year after. but would like to know roughly when you booked up

ta

Ummm, don't bring the car eh Howie...

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/news/story?id=6060856

$900 for a parking spot? WTMF?

Tiny,
we booked in October, it was a bit daunting at first but the lady  I was in correspondence with in New York was very friendly and answered a lot of (dumb) questions I had via e-mail
eg.  Is the $2,599 the total amount, no taxes?
Also what is meant by "open bar"

We left it so late because I was considering going on my own using STT, then when my family decided to come with me I had to decide whether to leave it to buy tickets when we got there or buy on Stubhub / Ticketmaster Ticket Exchange (glad we didn't because the prices have gone mental).

Anton - I've heard about the inflated parking charges, however the tickets we have allow us to pre-purchase a parking pass at $85 (snip!!).  However we're not hiring a car and hopefully going to organise some transport from one of the hotels where we are situated.  The location of the stadium is the big downside to the whole trip, very poor transport links.

Tiny - you should wait for New Orleans, it's walking distance to the amazing atmospheric Superdome, the people and bars (& food) in New Orleans are brilliant.

howie, any chance you could give us the number or website you booked with just for future reference.

Im planning on seeing the saints this year no matter what , maybe they could help me with that ??

anyway again good luck pal

Go and see the jags instead, they need the help

www.nflonlocation.com

Saints tickets are easy to get hold of [;)]

have a great time howie you lucky sod!!
hopefully steelers will do the biz

Now that's great to hear : HowieTheRookie.  .. and the Way it should be, " Show women this knid of PASSION and your Bed will never be empty " [;)]

Should be a great game, with lot's here wishing they were You. ENJOY, ENJOY, ~ E N J O Y !
I showing a larger green on GB will I even out ?

have a great trip howie,big ben for a great win for me.

I showing a larger green on GB will I even out ?

Me too - I really fancied the Pack pre-season and would normally be at least £2k green on them by this stage, but I bailed some when their RB went out for the season and I haven't really managed to load back up.  +£720 Packers -£80 Steelers. 

I haven't fancied Pittsburgh at any stage this season but managed to get a -£450 to -£80

And thanks again for the best wishes guys, It's nervous excitement in our house today. Just been quoted $190 return trip to the stadium (19 miles away!!!).  I think I need to practice my american accent a bit more.

LOL Lifetaker..mentalist

do it yourself mate .it looks hard but it certainly wont be on superbowl weekend

Hope you have wrapped up well howie...its warmer here ffs

how was the game? everything run smoohtly for you?

Maybe he had such a good time he cashed in the return flight...

Come on Howie....you MUST have returned by now...surely!

come on....

you cant boast without telling us the story! im guessing he want pick this up until nfl activity starts again! but would love to here how awesome his trip was....(presuming everything went smoothly)

I'm back

It was absolutely fecking amazing, sorry about the late response we went to Orlando after Texas for a couple of weeks (did the Daytona 500 qualifying).  Thinking back the experience still fills me with butterflies it was just so good.  The whole time from landing on the Thursday afternoon to getting back to the hotel after the game was exciting.  My parents said it must have been what like VE day must have been like, they are not that old but it's just how the atmosphere was, both sets of fans respected each other and the camaraderie perhaps this was amplified because the Packers/Steelers fans had extra difficulties getting to North Texas because of the bad weather.

We stayed at Fort Worth which itself is a great interesting place but you lot want to know about the Superbowl.  For an NFL fan, it's simply heaven on earth, entertainment all week long, lovely fans who were extra friendly towards us Brits.  From the minute we landed the airport was decorated in XLV logo's and info, everywhere you look it's Superbowl, Superbowl, Superbowl.

Hope this is making sense and I will post more soon (bit drunk at the moment, been at a family do -  cos' my uncle passed away whilst we were in the States - talk about highs and lows).

Will sign off tonight by saying if anyone is seriously thinking about ever going to the game, it may take you years to plan, save up, no matter how long it takes (took me almost 10 years).  It's worth every penny and more, it was an experience I'll never forget, the best day of my life and I have no regrets about spending the cash.

Good on yer Howie.....good to hear you enjoyed it as much as you did and weren't one of the unlucky hundreds who didn't get a seat.

Sorry to hear of your families loss

Have you started saving up for next year yet [;)]

nice one howie...best team won as well