What Super Bowl-bound Birds fans should know about Phoenix flights, hotels, and Airbnbs

Eagles fans making the trip to Phoenix next weekend are likely taking a massive financial hit on Super Bowl tickets, with the cheapest seats currently going for nearly $5,000.

Lodging and flight options, however, are already dwindling, so traveling fans may want to book soon.

Some hotels have been sold out since the summer, and standard rooms at Hilton, Holiday Inn, and Marriott hotels near the stadium or downtown were going for $1,000 to $1,500 a night as of Thursday.

Given the high demand, vacation rentals could be a better value, particularly for groups. As of Thursday, hundreds of multi-bedroom apartments, condos, and homes in the area were available for $400 to $15,000 (for seven-bedroom, mountain-view mansions in neighboring Scottsdale) on Airbnb and VRBO. A handful of cheaper options were available, too, for those who want a smaller space or are OK with staying in a private room in someone’s home for the weekend.

“There are quite a few affordable, safe options for Eagles fans,” said Ben Breit, director of trust and safety communications at Airbnb. “It’s not like the old days when you have to stay three or four hours away” if you were booking last-minute.

Anticipating a jump in bookings this week by Eagles and Chiefs fans, Airbnb is once again rolling out a Big Game Community Support team, which will exclusively answer questions and concerns of those staying in the Phoenix area.

As for flights, the average cost of flying from Philly to Phoenix during Super Bowl week was $566 round-trip as of Wednesday, said Hayley Berg, lead economist at Hopper, the popular airfare-tracking and travel-booking app. But for those who want to fly direct, flights are closer to $900 round-trip.

Berg and Breit have some money-saving, experience-enhancing tips for Philly fans who are heading to the big game.

If you can swing it, arrive on Saturday, Feb. 11, and come home on Tuesday, Feb. 14. That’ll likely save you about $165 per plane ticket, Berg said, citing Hopper data. If you’re staying in a hotel, that’ll also save you more than $300, according to Hopper.

“Prices are expected to continue surging as we get closer to the event,” Berg said.

Many flights remain available, even if they require one or two layovers. But that may not be the case as it gets closer. Flights are likely to sell out, Berg said, or surge to “extraordinary” levels when only a few seats remain.

If you’re opting for a vacation rental, it’s harder to say which way prices will go as the game approaches, Airbnb’s Breit said.

“It tends to be a little different for us because people set their own prices,” he said. “Some hosts may have raised their prices significantly.”

On the contrary, at a recent host safety forum in Arizona, “I was speaking with a few hosts who didn’t raise their prices at all,” Breit said. “For them, it was more important about just landing a really great guest.”

Judging by past years’ trends, Airbnbs are unlikely to sell out for Super Bowl weekend, he said, because the supply of rentals is so much higher than usual.

A lot of Phoenix-area residents are posting their homes on sites like Airbnb for the first time, he said, with plans to stay with friends or family for the weekend and make some extra money off the Super Bowl demand.

Reach out to rental hosts for several properties that would work for your group, Breit recommends.

“If I were a Philly fan trying to figure out what I want to do, I would be initiating conversations with four or five hosts of properties I’m strongly considering and making sure expectations are aligned on both sides,” Breit said. This includes confirming things like whether the listing is for a private or shared space, how many people it can comfortably sleep, and what the surrounding area is like.

Read the reviews for potential hosts, too.

If one of the properties you’re eyeing is owned by a new host, see if their profile has any reviews of them as a past Airbnb guest. (On the site, the review process is two-way: Guests can review hosts, and hosts can review guests.)

It’s not only ticket scams you have to watch out for. Airbnb has seen an increase in reports of scams around big events like the Super Bowl, Breit said.

So be cautious when booking stays, particularly if you are someone who is used to calling hotels and has never made a reservation online before.

Most of the scams come in the form of third-party websites, examples of which were given in a 2021 AARP advisory, that are designed to look like Airbnb but are really attempts to steal from users, sometimes via wire transfer.

“If you’re ever asked to wire money, stop and think, ‘Wait, am I really on Airbnb right now?’” Breit said. “That shouldn’t be happening on Airbnb. We handle the payments.”