KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The full NFL schedule is released Thursday, but we already know two opponents for the Kansas City Chiefs: the Cincinnati Bengals on New Year's Eve, and the Miami Dolphins in Frankfurt, Germany, in November.
KC to Frankfurt is 4,716 miles away, and unfortunately, this is not a game you can carpool to. You must be prepared to shell out some cash if you're going to make the trip overseas.
"As things fill up, the demand grows and the price goes up," said JoAnne Weeks, the Director of the Vacation Division with Acendas Travel in Kansas City. "So the early bird is definitely going to make out a lot better."
Looking at Google Flights, right now round-trip, economy seats are around $800. That's if you want to get there a few days before the game, say Wednesday, November 1, and stay for about a week. The closer to get to game day, the pricier the seats will get, well over $1,000. Weeks said it's important to be flexible.
"If you look at Tuesday, Wednesday, you know, coming home, or maybe even Thursday, you’re going to really save some money," she said. "Same thing going."
Her biggest tip: plan, plan, plan ahead! And that doesn't mean just buying your flights soon.
"Passports right now, they are already behind, so when you factor in things like this that are going to require people either renewing passports or getting them for the first time, um, we’re not talking six weeks, we’re talking 12 weeks, four months," Weeks said.
If you're going over there, why not make a vacation out of it? Weeks said it's a great time too, not only because of the game, but because it's considered "off-season", so hotels will be cheaper.
"Going around in Europe is very easy, catch a train or, you know, inter-country flights, so they’re going to see this as an advantage to see the game and experience that and also, you know, throw in some vacation as well," Weeks said.
While Acendas Travel hasn't received a ton of calls about the Germany game, Weeks said they expect to see this one explode compared to the previous international games Kansas City played in.
"One, we just came off of winning the Super Bowl," Weeks said. "The other is pent up demand for traveling internationally, so people are going to see this as, you know, several different boxes to check off."
She also recommends booking the trip separately and not as a package. She said you end up paying more service fees than for the actual trip.
