Empty Leg Flights for Rose Bowl
165 flights available from $115 — Pasadena, CA
Available flights for Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl
The Rose Bowl runs on New Year's Day in Pasadena, California, pairing two top college football programs in one of the most storied bowl games in the sport. The game draws around 90,000 fans to the Rose Bowl stadium and generates one of the most concentrated private jet surges of any college football event.
New Year's Day timing is the defining variable. Private aviation demand around the Rose Bowl competes with general holiday travel across the country. Los Angeles is already a popular New Year's destination, and the combination of the holiday weekend and the game creates acute aircraft demand in Southern California from December 29 through January 2.
The two competing teams' home cities drive the biggest corridors. When Big Ten programs from the Midwest or Southeast programs from Texas appear in the game, private aviation from those regions surges. A Michigan vs. USC game draws aircraft from Chicago and Detroit; an Ohio State vs. Oregon game draws from Columbus and Portland.
The holiday timing also means many operators have pre-positioned aircraft for New Year's Eve events and redirect them for Rose Bowl game day. That creates a shorter planning window than most major sporting events and makes early booking more important than usual.
Where to land for Rose Bowl
Van Nuys (KVNY) is the busiest general aviation airport in the country and the primary private aviation hub for the LA area. It sits 20 miles from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena via the 101 and 134 freeways. Signature Flight Support, Clay Lacy Aviation, and Castle & Cooke all operate full-service FBOs. KVNY will be heavily booked around New Year's holiday weekend; ramp reservations are essential.
Hollywood Burbank Airport (KBUR) is 12 miles from the Rose Bowl -- the closest major GA airport to Pasadena. It handles all aircraft sizes and is sometimes less congested than Van Nuys during holiday weekends. The drive from Burbank to Pasadena takes 20-30 minutes without traffic.
Santa Monica Airport (KSMO) is on the west side of LA, 30 miles from Pasadena. It works for passengers staying in Beverly Hills or the Westside, less so for those heading directly to the stadium.
Long Beach Airport (KLGB) and Hawthorne (KHHR) are south LA options for passengers in the South Bay or those looking for more available ramp space when Van Nuys and Burbank are full.
When to book empty legs for Rose Bowl
New Year's Eve arrivals compete with the holiday party circuit. Aircraft that would normally be available for game-day positioning are already committed to New Year's Eve charters. Position before December 30 if possible, or expect significantly higher repositioning costs on December 31.
Game day departures are straightforward: most fans arriving January 1 head home January 2-3. Operators who held aircraft through the game need to reposition quickly, and those outbound legs from Van Nuys and Burbank appear at below-market rates January 2 heading to the Midwest, Southeast, and Texas.
The Rose Parade runs the morning of January 1 along Colorado Boulevard before the game. Some attendees fly in for the parade and depart before kickoff, creating a small mid-morning wave that opens ramp space at Burbank and Van Nuys by early afternoon on game day.
Empty legs toward Los Angeles around the Rose Bowl appear from the home cities of the competing teams in the two weeks before the game. Those positioning legs are the best opportunity for discounted inbound travel from the Midwest or South.
What it costs to fly private to Rose Bowl
Current empty legs arriving near Pasadena, CA range from $100 to $10,000, with an average around $6,066. By aircraft size: heavy jets at $100-$10,000, light jets at $4,000-$6,800, midsize jets at $5,000.
Among the routes with current inventory: from Las Vegas, NV at $3,500-$10,000; from Indianapolis, IN at $100; from Heber, UT at $6,800. These prices change as operators update their schedules, so the specific routes and rates shift from week to week.
Of the 171 active legs in our system heading toward this area, 15 have published prices. The rest require contacting the operator for a quote. Empty legs without a listed price are often negotiable, especially closer to the departure date.
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