Frozen Four travel plans

Submitted by genericmichiganfan on

Hotels, cheap flights, etc. Let's hear what you find. I want to go (forget class), but I don't want to break the bank obviously. 

bklein09

March 26th, 2011 at 11:46 PM ^

Are you in Ann Arbor? 

If so find some buds and hop in the car.

Stay a ways outside Minny for a cheap hotel or sleep in the car. Or don't sleep at all.

Pack a cooler with a loaf of bread and some peanut butter (and jelly time!) and you're all set!

Wolverine318

March 27th, 2011 at 12:56 AM ^

I am in. My sister lives in minny so I have a place to crash. A lot o us from section 17 are planning on going.

edit: I don't think I can make it. I have to teach my section of chem 130 discussion from 11 am to noon. The only way I can make it to St. Paul for the game is to fly or to find someone to cover my section. Unfortunately, a lot of the other GSI's that teach 130 have class at that time, so it will be hard to find a substitue GSI. Balls

Brewcityitalian

March 26th, 2011 at 11:51 PM ^

From Milwaukee

 

tickets are gonna be hard to come by i think !

 

200 plus just on ticketmaster alone !

scalpers gonna have a field day with minnesota duluth in the frozen four !

Blazefire

March 26th, 2011 at 11:57 PM ^

The drive from AA to the twin cities area rads as a hair under 12 hours, but I did it from Toledo, a shade closer, pretty much non stop and it took about 14. It's a pain in the ass drive, seriously.

Advice: do NOT take the turnpike through Chicago. Go AROUND. It doesn't matter when you go, there's a 10 mile stretch that is ALWAYS a parking lot. You'll save yourself at least an hour.

kmd

March 27th, 2011 at 4:28 AM ^

I almost always make the drive in 10 hours or less, going 75-80mph the whole way.

I've found the best route around Chicago is to go I-94 to I-294 to I-290 to I-90. There's more toll stops than taking the Skyway, but you more than make that up in avoided traffic. And if there's enough time to get an IPass, you don't even have to stop at the tolls.

Also, make sure you don't have to stop for gas in Chicago. There's a few good stops just before the Indiana/Illinois border that usually have cheap gas (Ripley St, whatever exit 22B is, and there's a few others). If your car gets good mileage, you can just fill up at the Baker Rd exit on I-94 (which is also usually pretty cheap) and make it past Chicago on that.

genericmichiganfan

March 27th, 2011 at 12:07 AM ^

If you can't road trip, here's a suggestion: take the Mega Bus to Chicago and fly to Minneapolis from there. Total roundtrip would be about $230 or so.

EDIT: Take that back. Those flights were from MKE, not a Chicago airport.

EDIT II: If you don't want to personally make the drive you could take the Mega Bus all the way to Minneapolis for less than $100.

Bob Probert Owns You

March 27th, 2011 at 12:38 AM ^

1.  I make the drive from Minneapolis to Port Huron at least once a year.  I agree with the poster saying to skip Chicago.  It makes sense.

2.  Cheaper flights can be found from Grand Rapids or Kzoo to MSP through Midwest Airlines. There will be a stop in Milwaukee, but they are usually pretty competitively priced.  Also, not sure if Sun Country Airlines serves Michigan yet, but if you are looking at traveling from another locale, it may be worth checking the Sun Country website out.  They are based in MN and have great fares, for sure to FL, where I go visit my folks.

3.  There are plenty of affordabe hotel options outside of the downtowns.  A good place to look is in Bloomington by the Mall of America.

4.  I've taken greyhound before... I would not recommend it.

5.  Scalping is legal in MN, so there will be tickets on the street for sale.

SFBlue

March 27th, 2011 at 12:43 AM ^

Let's play hockey... clap clap clap clap clap...

I think I am making my east coast travel plans come back to the left coast via MSP.  I like this team.  Good mix of talented underclassmen and hungry seniors. 

 

Trebor

March 27th, 2011 at 9:24 AM ^

I just flew to Sweden, and had to hack my way onto a wireless network at the Stockholm airport to check the score when we landed. Did a fist pump and let out a "WOOT!" in front of many confused Europeans. Also, weirdly enough, Carl Hagelin is not well known in Sweden yet.

I wish I could go to MSP for the game, but hopefully they make it next year (or 2013 since I live in Pittsburgh)!

The team the t…

March 27th, 2011 at 9:33 AM ^

Drive from my home in Minneapolis and buy a ticket on the street.

It is legal here.   I grew up in Plymouth, MI, and I would say that HS and college hockey is much more important to the locals here than in Michigan.  I would expect a bigger demand for tix here than last year at Ford Field.

The Excel, by the way is a great place to see a hockey game.  Not a bad seat in the house. 

Drinking is also a big past time here...helps survive the arctic winter here.  Let me know if anyone needs watering hole recommendations.

Go Blue!

 

Wolverine318

March 27th, 2011 at 1:16 PM ^

to be fair there was a glut of tix for the frozen four last season due to Ford Field having twice the capacity of the X and PR issues dogging the series since it was concepted. Once Michigan was eliminated by Miami that sealed the fait for the Ford Field Frozen Four. There would have been a huge contigent of Michigan fans at Ford Field if Michigan would have made it. I went to the games last year, but a lot of my hockey friends were too depressed to go and let their tickets go unused.

kmd

March 27th, 2011 at 4:47 PM ^

Having the better team win big in all three games should eliminate most reasonable concerns about the quality of ice at events like this. Slow crappy ice generally negates the speed and skill of the better team, and leads to close, low-scoring games, and that was most definitely not the case.

goblueram

March 27th, 2011 at 1:01 PM ^

Is there going to be a bus or anything leaving from Ann Arbor?  Definitely want to drive, but if there is already a trip planned that would be way easier.