Warriors fans
flock to Las VegasFootball enthusiasts are
quickly filling flights to see
the UNLV game
University of Hawaii football fans are quickly filling flights to Las Vegas for Friday's game with the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
"There's gonna be more people at the stadium rooting for Hawaii than for us," said Casey Evans, a UNLV ticket agent, adding that more than half the crowd is expected to root for Hawaii.
UNLV's horseshoe Sam Boyd Stadium seats 36,800 people, and Hawaii's side is almost sold out for the 6 p.m. Friday game, Evans said. The stadium had about 6,000 tickets left as of late Thursday, he said.
Fans who have procrastinated can also still make flight reservations, airline officials and travel agents said.
"We've got some seats available if Warrior fans want to get to Vegas right before the game," said Aloha Airlines spokesman Stu Glauberman.
He said only one of Aloha's six flights to Las Vegas between Wednesday and Thursday is sold out.
Aloha Airlines flies to Las Vegas twice a day from Honolulu and once a day from Maui.
Jackie's, a new travel agency with charter flights to Las Vegas, still has "ample space" in its upcoming football package flight, which leaves Wednesday and returns Sunday. The package includes airfare, hotel, bus transportation, tailgate tickets and game tickets.
Hawaiian Airlines spokesman Keoni Wagner could not pinpoint the number of people flying to Las Vegas for the football game, but said "flights to Las Vegas have been booking up much earlier than they usually do, and we're sure it's because of the UH game."
He said the flights to Las Vegas on Wednesday through Friday are "very full."
More than 1,300 people are scheduled to leave this week through a Vacations Hawaii football package that includes airfare, hotel, meals, tailgate tickets and game tickets.
The packages have been available since January, and 90 percent sold out by June, said Russell Gouveia, operations and marketing manager. He said people can still take advantage of canceled seats.
"Seats are popping up here and there from cancellations," he said. "Fans can still call to pick up those canceled spots, but there's no telling what they'll get. The sooner (they call), the better."
Royal Adventure Travel is sold out on flights to Las Vegas next week. A travel agent said "last-minute people keep calling for tickets, but the best we could do is maybe a one-way ticket there." The agency finds tickets on Hawaiian, Delta and United airlines.
The last time UH played in Las Vegas was in 1997. That game drew 27,117 people compared with the average UNLV home game crowd that year of 20,315, according to the UH Sports Information Office.
Don Murphy, owner of Murphy's Bar & Grill, attended the 1997 game in Las Vegas. He said Friday's game will be probably be just like the 1997 game.
"You really get a feeling that you're at a home game. You meet people that know people that you know," he said. "More than 70 percent of the crowd seems like it's cheering for UH. It's like the island is in Vegas."
