SAN ANTONIO — As Southwest Airlines cancels flights across the country, football fans are scrambling to find new transportation to San Antonio for the Valero Alamo Bowl.
The Washington Huskies will play the Texas Longhorns in the bowl's 30th iteration. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday.
Bronwyn Wyrsch, whose son plays for the Huskies, learned at the airport Southwest Airlines cancelled her Monday flight to San Antonio. She spent six hours on the phone with the carrier and never spoke to another human, she said.
"We'd planned to go down, explore San Antonio, and do all the fun events they had planned out for the fans and parents," Wyrsch said in a Tuesday interview with KENS 5. "We're super frustrated. Really sad."
Bowl game attendees enjoyed reduced prices at SeaWorld Monday and a river parade Tuesday night. The bowl will also host a kickoff luncheon and pub crawl Wednesday.
"It just seemed like super fun and it looked really pretty," Wyrsch said.
Travel woes could dent the event's economic benefit, since visitors from Washington are likely to spend more time in the Alamo City than Longhorn fans.
The Valero Alamo Bowl generated $45.4 million for San Antonio's economy last year, organizers say.
Lee Miller is a Husky fan who lives in Maine. Southwest Airlines cancelled his flight Sunday night.
"We wanted to see that river parade," he said. "I've never been there before."
Travel planners found Miller a replacement flight to San Antonio from Boston, via JetBlue. He expects cancellations will prevent other Huskies from attending the game.
The University of Texas's Austin campus is 80 miles from the Alamodome. Wyrsch and Miller each joked that travel delays will further bolster the Longhorns' homefield advantage.
"Washington travels well," Miller said. "It sounded like there was going to be a pretty big contingent. Now, maybe not quite as many."
"We've been in chats with some of the parents who are... going to make it down there," Wyrsch said. "I'm like, 'Please cheer for me!'"