Road Trip to Root for Black and Gold?

Pittsburgh sports fans bleed black and gold, whether at home or on the road with their beloved teams. As such, they are a well-traveled bunch.

In September, Allegiant Air added special flights between Pittsburgh and Las Vegas for Steelers fans attending the team’s away game against the Raiders earlier this season. Fans were also able to use daily flights on Southwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines to attend the game, turning Allegiant Stadium into a sea of Terrible Towels.

The Steelers won that game, 23-18.

Weeks later, Steelers fans traveled thousands of miles to watch their heroes take on the Rams at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Fans traveling to the game had the option of flying to Los Angeles nonstop on Breeze Airways or Spirit. (And the Steelers won 24-17.)

As the NFL season nears the halfway mark, there are still some road games left for die-hard Steelers fans to attend and brave enemy territory for a fun weekend trip.

The Steelers face the Seattle Seahawks Dec. 31 at Lumen Field. A long way from Pittsburgh, fans fortunately can easily get to the Emerald City via Alaska Airlines’ daily nonstop service between PIT and Seattle.

And to close out the regular season, the Steelers travel to face their division archrival Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Jan. 7. Fans can take a short nonstop flight to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport—the airport closest to the stadium—from PIT via Southwest, which offers multiple daily flights on the route.

Follow the puck

Meanwhile, the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins recently began their season, with many opportunities for fans to see them play on the road.

Three of those away games will be in Florida against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Tampa (Nov. 30 and Dec. 6) and the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Fla. (Dec. 8). The idea of escaping to Florida during a chilly December sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Fans traveling to either game in Tampa can fly into Tampa International Airport nonstop from PIT on Breeze, Southwest and Spirit. Additionally, fans can also take nonstops to nearby St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport on Allegiant.

Fans going to watch the Penguins against the Panthers Dec. 8 can fly into either Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport or Miami International Airport. Southwest and Spirit offer daily flights between PIT and FLL while American Airlines and Spirit serve Miami nonstop each daily.

Even West Coast games this season are accessible to Penguins fans via nonstop flights from PIT:

• Fans can fly daily nonstops on United to nearby San Francisco International Airport to see the Pens take on the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 4.
• Breeze and Spirit offer nonstop flights between PIT and Los Angeles for games against. the Anaheim Ducks (Nov. 7) and Los Angeles Kings (Nov. 9).
• For games at the Vegas Golden Knights (Jan. 20) in Las Vegas and Arizona Coyotes (Jan. 22) in Tempe, Penguins fans have plenty of nonstop options. Southwest and Spirit serve Las Vegas with daily flights, while American and Southwest serve nearby Phoenix daily from PIT.
• The Penguins travel to Seattle Feb. 29 to play the NHL’s Kraken, just a flight away via the aforementioned Alaska Airlines service.

Diehard fans can even travel internationally when the team plays at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 16 and April 8, via Air Canada’s daily flights between PIT and Toronto. In addition, Toronto is host to this season’s NHL All Star game on Feb. 3—and home of the Hockey Hall of Fame, a must-visit attraction for any hockey fan.

To help map out your travel plans to attend a Penguins or Steelers away game, a list of PIT’s nonstop flights can be found on FlyPittsburgh’s interactive route map. Travelers can also visit PIT’s new and resumed flights page to book flights with airlines.