Utah football fans spending big money getting to Rose Bowl

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — There's a good reason most University of Utah football fans who are going to the 2023 Rose Bowl are driving: the price of flying to the big game is sky high.

"The willingness of people to do this is a little crazy," said travel agent Suzy Gustafson.

Gustafson said the holidays are always a very expensive time to fly, but the cost of tickets to this year's Rose Bowl game are about double what they were last year.

A week after the Utah Utes won the PAC 12 championship and secured a return to the Rose Bowl, Gustafson said the most expensive ticket she saw was $2,000 (per person) for a direct flight to Burbank airport, which is the closest to Pasadena, home of the Rose Bowl.

"If you are willing to change planes and fly different carriers, you can save and probably do it for about $500 or $600 if there are any seats left," she said.

Shellie Jensen and her family are huge Utah fans and went to the Rose Bowl a year ago. They're excited to go again and willing to pay for the experience.

"it's a big expense but worth it, " she said.

When they initially looked for direct flights to Burbank the cheapest they found was $1700 per person.

She searched further and found cheaper tickets, but her family of three is still paying over $4,000 total for flights.

As members of the Crimson (fan) Club, they purchased tickets in a package that included other activities and a hotel.

They are going to make a vacation out of the trip seeing sights in Los Angeles and attending the Rose Parade.