BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — For Western New York Native and lifelong Buffalo Bills fan Kyle Ciminelli, the decision to travel to South Florida for Sunday's critical game was a no-brainer.
"Didn't think that much about it, kind of came natural," said Ciminelli. "They are going down to Miami for a must-win game, I'm going with them."
Ciminelli tells 7 News that he booked his flights from Buffalo to Miami two weeks ago but solidified his travel plans only hours after the Bills win over New England.
"I'm actually flying in Sunday morning, and out Monday morning," said Ciminelli.
And Ciminelli isn't the only Bills fan making plans to be at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Sunday night.
"It's become a right of passage for Bills fans to cheer on the team on the road," said Elizabeth Carey, Director of Public Relations with AAA of Western New York.
Carey says it's been a busy 24 hours for Bills fans booking last-minute travel.
"The post-pandemic travel that we are seeing, people are saying we want to be there for this, we want to be a part of this, Bills Mafia wants to be in Miami to cheer them on," said Carey.
So how much would a trip to Sunday's game in South Florida cost you?
Tickets for the game
As of Monday afternoon, StubHub had tickets for the Bills - Dolphins showdown at Hard Rock Stadium starting at just under $300. The lowest-priced tickets were for corner seats in the upper levels of Section 309.
If you were hoping to get a bit closer to the action lower level tickets in Section 103 were running around $500 a piece.
But first, you have to get there.
Flights to Miami
Flights to the Sunshine State were already at a premium as of Monday afternoon.
"You started seeing this blowing up on social media, and also blowing up on different websites," said Carey, "Southwest Airlines, people started to scoop up those flights, so a lot of flights are sold out."
That means whatever was left, was going to come with a pretty hefty price tag.
If you wanted to fly from Buffalo to Miami on Friday and return the day after the game the cheapest refundable flight on Southwest as of Monday afternoon would cost you more than $1,300.
Cheaper options were available, but very limited, using other airlines on Expedia with perhaps the most cost-effective flight getting you into South Florida Sunday afternoon just hours before the game.
Hotel options in the Miami area
Hotel prices for the weekend in and around Miami may be a tad easier to stomach.
"Hotels are the best bet right now because it's going to be very expensive to fly," said Carey, "the hotels are pretty reasonable, starting at $175 and up depending on what you are looking for, and what location you are looking for."
And once you get settled into South Florida Bills fans should have plenty to do.
"I'm expecting thousands of fans Saturday at the parties," said Jonathan Holler, a Western New York native, and President of Bills Backers Miami. "We have a good following already here in Florida, we have a party set up on Saturday Bills Backers at the Beach, currently we have about 600 for that, for the tailgate we go together with Fans of Buffalo, and we capped ourselves at 800 for that and we have more people reaching out," said Holler.
It's a tailgate that Ciminelli says he plans to attend, as he now gets ready to travel south for the biggest Bills game of the year.
"It's essentially a playoff game against our arch-rivals," said Ciminelli. "I think the team is going to need our support and need as many of us as possible."
