How much does a 3-night trip to Charlotte to watch a football game cost? Most people are going to say $2,000, $3,000, or even $4,000. But we flew to CLT, had a great time, and spent only $884!
Zuzu and I headed to Charlotte from Nashville to watch our Tennessee Vols play the NC State Wolfpack and we had an absolute blast.
Whether you’re in town for a Carolina Panthers game or the Duke’s Mayo Classic, the downtown Charlotte area is perfect for a long weekend of football.
But the real win?
We spent less than $1,000 on everything. In this post, we’re going to break down how we saved money on this trip and share some tips you can use for your own budget-friendly weekend getaway to Charlotte.
Why We Budget for Travel
The average household vacation budget in the U.S. is about $4,000 a year. For a lot of us, it’s just not realistic to drop $3-4k on a weekend to watch our favorite team play, especially if we’re traveling overnight.
Honestly, I used to be someone who couldn’t afford to go to away games. But in 2021, I started learning some tactics that helped me cut travel costs dramatically. These strategies might seem unusual to some, but they’re exactly how we get to support our football team at road games.
For Zuzu and me, we don’t have any special connections for free tickets. We just approach travel a little differently. My job title has included the word “Optimization” since 1997, and I’ve even taught Optimization at three colleges. It’s all about getting the most out of what you have.
In the past three years, we’ve figured out how to ‘optimize’ travel, and now I love sharing those strategies for fun. After all, we’d rather take seven trips on $4,220 (our 2023 total) than blow it all on one.
Let’s dive into the specifics of how we saved money on our Charlotte trip.
5 Tips to Save Money on a Trip to Charlotte
Here are the strategies we used to keep our budget under $1,000. These tips can help you save on your next trip too:
- Use points and miles for free flights.
- Use points and miles for free hotel stays.
- Book as early as possible to get the best prices and availability.
- Take advantage of Charlotte’s great public transportation.
- Don’t splurge on every meal. Limit drinks, too!
These simple strategies saved us big, so let’s break down how they worked in detail.
Our Total Budget: $884
Our actual out-of-pocket cost for this 3-night Charlotte trip was only $884. That included 2 roundtrip flights, 3 nights at a nice Uptown hotel, 2 tickets to the game, local transportation, plus all of our food and drinks.
- Hotel: $0 (3 nights at Hyatt House Uptown)
- Airfare: $22 (2 roundtrip flights BNA-CLT)
- Game Tickets: $396* (2 tickets)
- Actually $417 but our credit card had a $20.86 rebate on SeatGeek purchases
- Local Transportation: $72 (3 Lyft rides & public transport)
- Food: $394
- Total: $884
For most people, airfare and hotels are the biggest costs, but here’s how we managed to make those expenses almost nothing.
Free Flights
We used Southwest points and a Southwest Companion Pass to get our two roundtrip flights for almost free. The only cost we paid was the taxes and fees, which came to $22 for both flights combined.
The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the best tools to save money when we get to travel. With the Companion Pass, Zuzu flies free on Southwest every time I fly. Just gotta pay $5.60 taxes and fees on domestic flights. When we had the Companion Pass for 11 months in 2022, it saved us $4,363!
We’ve got it again for 23 months & have been racking up the free flights!
Normally, those same flights from Nashville to Charlotte would’ve cost $476. Using points and the Companion Pass saved us $454 right off the bat!
Free Hotel Stay
We booked three nights at the Hyatt House Charlotte City Center using Hyatt points.
Uptown Charlotte, where the hotel is located, is home to the Spectrum Center (where the Charlotte Hornets play) and lots of events. Plus, the Hyatt House is just one mile from Bank of America Stadium, where our Vols absolutely crushed NC State, 51-10.
The cash price for three nights at the Hyatt House? A whopping $1,261. We paid $ZERO.
Local Transportation: Lyft, Public Transit & Bus
While we sometimes rent cars through the Chase portal, we didn’t need one for this trip. Instead, we spent $72 total for three Lyft rides plus some public transportation. To top it off, we even took the bus from our hotel to the airport, which was super convenient and saved us even more money.
Charlotte’s public transit system (called CAT) is fantastic. We took the Blue Line train and the Gold Line trolley to get around easily, especially since our free hotel was right next to the main Charlotte Transportation Center.
Food & Drinks: Keeping It Reasonable
Food and drinks can easily blow your budget, but we’re pretty strategic about it. We’re not shy about treating ourselves, but we also don’t feel the need to drop $300 on every dinner.
For example, we had an amazing fondue dinner in Zurich recently, with wine, for just $97. Could we have spent $300 in Zurich? Sure. But what’s the point? The experience wouldn’t have been three times better just because we spent 3 timers as much.
In Charlotte, we enjoyed some great meals without overspending. Here’s a breakdown of our food costs and some thoughts on each place we tried:
- Thursday:
- Wooden Robot Brewery: $17.60 – We had a couple of beers outside. It was a pretty good spot, and we earned 53 credit card points.
- Tana Empanada: $13.74 – Pretty good snack from a food truck at Wooden Robot. Earned 41 points.
- Billy Jack’s: $28.69 – We enjoyed a beer and dinner here. The food was okay, but the best part was sitting outside and people-watching. We earned 86 points.
- Reigning Doughnuts: $16.85 – Fantastic! This literal hole-in-the-wall walk-up doughnut place was a real treat. We earned 51 points.
- Friday:
- Had a late (free) breakfast at the hotel and explored the city.
- Trolley Barn Brewery: $36.94 – We had a good lunch and some beer outside here. Started to see alot of Vol fans a day before the game! Earned 111 points.
- Town Brewing Company: $54.88 – Food and drinks at the Vol tailgate were fun. We earned 165 points.
- Saturday (Game Day!):
- French Quarter Restaurant: $78.84 – The food and drinks were decent, but what made it fantastic was the outdoor seating in Brevard Ct, which was jam-packed with Vol fans pre-gaming! Earned 237 points.
- HopFly Brewing: $24.37 – We had great time over beer and cocktail at the Vol Club tailgate. Earned 73 points.
- Stadium: $68 – Nachos, beer, a Truly and a bag o’ peanuts at the game. Earned 68 points.
- Sunday:
- Midnight Diner: $36.34 – This diner looked cool from the outside, and while Zuzu had a very good country ham biscuit, I wasn’t impressed with my food. Nothing was bad, but nothing was particularly good either. On top of that, they got part of our order wrong and didn’t replace it until after we had finished everything else. We earned 109 points.
- Free food and drinks at the CLT airport lounge thanks to our favorite credit card.
Could We Have Spent Less?
Sure! The biggest savings would have been buying cheaper game tickets. We liked our seats, but we could’ve spent $100 less and still had a great time.
And while we enjoyed soaking in the pre-game atmosphere at Brevard Court, we probably didn’t need to order more food after we were already full—we should’ve just gone with another drink to keep enjoying the location!
Midnight Diner on Sunday was a bit of a mixed bag—Zuzu enjoyed her country ham biscuit, but I wasn’t impressed with my food, and the service left a bit to be desired. Still, it wasn’t a terrible meal, but we could’ve saved a little by sticking with the free hotel breakfast.
In hindsight, we could have spent around $750 instead of $884 without missing out on any fun.
Final Thoughts: Our Charlotte Football Trip
Looking back, our trip to Charlotte on a budget was a perfect mix of enjoying a great football game, exploring the city, and not breaking the bank.
We managed to save on flights, hotels, and even food, all while having an unforgettable experience watching the Vols dominate NC State. With a few tweaks, we could’ve saved even more, but at under $900, it was a fantastic weekend trip on what some people think is an impossibly small budget.
If you’re planning a football weekend or just a getaway to Charlotte, remember these tips to maximize your fun without overspending. And, of course, keep an eye on our blog for more tips on how you can travel for less!
Learn How We Get To Travel
If you’re interested in how we save on travel or want more ideas for your next trip, check out these posts:
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