American, Delta, and United Release Fall Routes to College Towns Around the U.S.

U.S. airlines are getting ready for fall with a flight special schedule to college towns — especially with big game days in mind.

American Airlines announced 26 new routes connecting sports fans, families, alumni and more to the biggest college football games with flights to Alabama, Florida State (FSU), Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, LSU, Michigan, and Ohio State. The new routes also include a significant number of flights to South Bend, Indiana (SBN) which is home to the University of Notre Dame.

These routes will operate point to point, so passengers won’t have a layover. 

As a benefit to loyalty customers, American is only selling tickets on their new college routes to members of the American AAdvantage program, using frequent flier miles, and not cash through June 17. After that stretch ends, tickets will be released publicly. 

“This means that being an AAdvantage member is even more special, as you can use your miles to book early access on popular flights to cheer on your favorite teams this fall,” American shared in a statement to Travel + Leisure. 

Travelers can also find new routes for college football games on Delta Air Lines where the airline is operating special flights to many top games including LSU vs. USC in Las Vegas on Sept. 1. and Florida at Texas on Nov. 9. 

United Airlines has also released new routes including Auburn at LSU on Oct. 14, and Penn State at Ohio State on Oct. 21.

According to ESPN, Interest in college football games has been on the rise, with over 25 million viewers tuning in to the College Football National Championship this year, the most-watched since 2019.