Questions for anyone who's done a London game or used Fans of Buffalo

[Virgil]

The family is looking to head to the Bills game this upcoming fall, but have never done anything like this.  I see a site called "Fans of Buffalo" that is promoting a full package with a $250.

 

My questions are:

 

1 - Has anyone used the Fans of Buffalo to book an away game?  I'm nervous to give out money to a site that I've never heard of

2 - Did the Buffalo Bills offer any kind of fan package for the last game?

3 - For anyone who went last time, any lessons learned you can share?

 

Thank you and hopefully will see some of you in England

[Mr. WEO]

Make your own way!  Why pay some company for travel? It can’t be cheaper than booking everything yourself—as you like it. 
 

it’s London you’re headed to, not Jacksonville.  Fly economy, get an Airbnb with your crew. Enjoy! 

[BarleyNY]

I have no advice to give, but I hope that you and your family have a blast! Please tell us all about it. 

[Just Jack]

I went through this company back in 2015, they offered a hotel and game ticket package, plus a few extras.   

 

Gullivers Sports Travel | Rugby, Cricket, Motorsport, Golf, Hockey, Supporter Packages, Tours, Travel & Sports Hospitality with tickets (gulliverstravel.co.uk)

 

The NFL also offers package deals.

 

NFL International Tickets | Official NFL London, Mexico, and Germany Ticket Packages (onlocationexp.com)

 

As for advice, decide on how much time you want to spend there.  We flew over Thursday night, did sightseeing Friday and Saturday, game Sunday, flew back Monday.  It was enough to get to see some sights, but not everything.  

[MiltonWaddams]

I’ve been to London 5 times and cannot recommend it enough as a city. Truth be told, the UK as a whole is worth multiple visits. History, culture, physical beauty and cuisine. The Cotswolds, Lake District, Devon, Cornwall, Wales… the list goes on. If you have the time, spend a week. I just buy tickets from the NFL site and would recommend booking accommodation in an area you want to visit and take the tube (subway) to the stadium. Get an Oyster card and use the tube to get all around the city. I stay in Notting Hill, but Kensington has a multitude of accommodation options and is extremely central to get most anywhere. Two of the best museums on the planet are there. Look forward to seeing everyone there!

Edited March 5, 2023 by MiltonWaddams

[Herc11]

3 hours ago, Virgil said:

The family is looking to head to the Bills game this upcoming fall, but have never done anything like this.  I see a site called "Fans of Buffalo" that is promoting a full package with a $250.

 

My questions are:

 

1 - Has anyone used the Fans of Buffalo to book an away game?  I'm nervous to give out money to a site that I've never heard of

2 - Did the Buffalo Bills offer any kind of fan package for the last game?

3 - For anyone who went last time, any lessons learned you can share?

 

Thank you and hopefully will see some of you in England

 

They've gained a pretty big following. I almost went to their tailgate at the Rams game this last year, but timing of my arrival did line up. I did have some friends go and they had a great time.

[sullim4]

Book on your own directly with the airline and hotel.  You can get exactly what you want, and you will not have to go through a third party to make any changes to your reservation.

 

I was sort of hoping to be able to double dip if the schedule aligns and there is a home game the week before the London game.  Fly from Seattle to Buffalo, see the game on Sunday, and then fly from Toronto to somewhere in Europe... then on to London for the game on Sunday, and back home.

 

London is great if you've never been, but we've already been there and want to explore something else.  Maybe Spain or Portugal.

[K-No]

Anyone here have access to the game date before NFL official announcement?

[BillsPride12]

8 hours ago, Herc11 said:

 

They've gained a pretty big following. I almost went to their tailgate at the Rams game this last year, but timing of my arrival did line up. I did have some friends go and they had a great time.

I've never booked one of their travel packages but I have done the Fans of Buffalo tailgate a couple times(Nashville,New Orleans) and was pretty impressed by the job they did.  I've also heard some pretty positive feedback from people who have booked their trips through them.  

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

I went to London to see the Bills vs Jacksonville.  There were six of us. We got our tickets through the NFL. The tickets cost was a little higher but we had our tickets before we left the US. We booked our own hotels and flights.  We stayed there for a week.  We did encounter a number of people that bought their tickets through some resale sites and got scammed.  There were also scalpers selling tickets outside the stadium (I don't recommend using them).

 

If you're going to spend the money to travel to the UK, don't cut corners on the tickets.  Picking your own hotel lets you locate conveniently to the things you want to do when you are there.  We made sure that we were located near the subway to make travel easy.  That turned out to be a good strategy.

[Kirby Jackson]

12 hours ago, Virgil said:

The family is looking to head to the Bills game this upcoming fall, but have never done anything like this.  I see a site called "Fans of Buffalo" that is promoting a full package with a $250.

 

My questions are:

 

1 - Has anyone used the Fans of Buffalo to book an away game?  I'm nervous to give out money to a site that I've never heard of

2 - Did the Buffalo Bills offer any kind of fan package for the last game?

3 - For anyone who went last time, any lessons learned you can share?

 

Thank you and hopefully will see some of you in England

I’ve never used them but they host EVERY road game. I’ve attended some of the events. My friends have used them. I can attest to their legitimacy but not to the quality of the trip. 

Edited March 5, 2023 by Kirby Jackson

[Luvbills]

Check out Teal Travel. They are in the Amherst area. Chuck Teal does many road trips for the Bills and Sabres. Not sure if he will do one to London but he is great to go through. www.tealtravel.com  I have done many Bills road trips with him.

[Nextmanup]

I don't understand the point of making it to London only to watch a Bills football game while there! 

 

London is one of the world's great cities and I've been there several times, but if you are going to go to London, do London things--don't watch a frigging American football game! 

 

Take in the Premiership at Wembley!  Catch an Arsenal game!  Do a cruise down the Thames.  

 

Leave the Bills for more normal times back in Orchard Park, or wherever you live in USA.

 

 

[Clark Rotary]

I've been to London many times and my daughter lives there.  Here are a few thoughts (in no particular order) - some relating to booking on your own:  We usually book an airbnb because it gives us a kitchen and a place to just hang out and rest between activities.  But many people prefer a hotel because it's more predictable.  The tube is a great way to get around but if you take a taxi it's worth asking about their training and test because it's mind blowing and it's really fun to hear each drivers experience.  You don't have to have an Oyster Card for the tube if you have a contactless credit card - just tap at the turnstile in and out.  Sometimes I call my credit card company before going to minimize the chance of them wanting additional verification when they see overseas charges but it's usually no problem.  If you drink beer consider trying cask ales or "real ales" that are hand pulled from the keg, very smooth.  Check into your cellphone plan to see if there is an international rate and how it works.  A low cost, cheap and fairly easy way  to get from Heathrow to central London is the tube, it works well especially from the airport to central London because you'll get onto an empty train.  Going the opposite direction can be a minor hassle if it's crowded.  The Heathrow express is super easy if you're heading near Paddington.  Have fun!

[Kirby Jackson]

28 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

I don't understand the point of making it to London only to watch a Bills football game while there! 

 

London is one of the world's great cities and I've been there several times, but if you are going to go to London, do London things--don't watch a frigging American football game! 

 

Take in the Premiership at Wembley!  Catch an Arsenal game!  Do a cruise down the Thames.  

 

Leave the Bills for more normal times back in Orchard Park, or wherever you live in USA.

 

 

I plan to do both. The Bills are the reason that I’ll book my trip. I’ll experience a lot of other stuff while there. It’s the same thing that I do for every Bills road game that I attend. That game is the reason that I visit somewhere but I indulge in whatever that city has to offer.

[Sherlock Holmes]

13 hours ago, Virgil said:

The family is looking to head to the Bills game this upcoming fall, but have never done anything like this.  I see a site called "Fans of Buffalo" that is promoting a full package with a $250.

 

My questions are:

 

1 - Has anyone used the Fans of Buffalo to book an away game?  I'm nervous to give out money to a site that I've never heard of

2 - Did the Buffalo Bills offer any kind of fan package for the last game?

3 - For anyone who went last time, any lessons learned you can share?

 

Thank you and hopefully will see some of you in England

I got a great deal at an airbnb there! It was a hostel located somewhere they called The Red Light District... Had to share a bed with some guy with a peg leg, and I must've cut myself along the side of my lower back but at least somebody was nice enough to stitch it up for me while I slept the booze off.

[RiotAct]

58 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

I don't understand the point of making it to London only to watch a Bills football game while there! 

 

London is one of the world's great cities and I've been there several times, but if you are going to go to London, do London things--don't watch a frigging American football game! 

 

Take in the Premiership at Wembley!  Catch an Arsenal game!  Do a cruise down the Thames.  

 

Leave the Bills for more normal times back in Orchard Park, or wherever you live in USA.

 

 

I mean, it’s like a four-hour time commitment.

[Mr. WEO]

24 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

I plan to do both. The Bills are the reason that I’ll book my trip. I’ll experience a lot of other stuff while there. It’s the same thing that I do for every Bills road game that I attend. That game is the reason that I visit somewhere but I indulge in whatever that city has to offer.

 

London is an amazing city.  I'm hoping to go back again for this Bills game.

 

I would warn anyone against using a tour group for something as straightforward as a trip to London (it's not an Alpine glacier hiking expedition).  It's 2023, not 1983--it's never been easier to create your own trip on line in under an hour.  

 

Your money is far safer with buying your ticket for the game from a primary source, booking your own flight on expedia and then picking one of hundreds of airbnb/verbo accommodations and a Tube map/Oyster card....than it is with an all-in-one "tour package". Also, why pay a middle man to make your arrangements? 

[GunnerBill]

59 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

I don't understand the point of making it to London only to watch a Bills football game while there! 

 

London is one of the world's great cities and I've been there several times, but if you are going to go to London, do London things--don't watch a frigging American football game! 

 

Take in the Premiership at Wembley!  Catch an Arsenal game!  Do a cruise down the Thames.  

 

Leave the Bills for more normal times back in Orchard Park, or wherever you live in USA.

 

 

The Premiership doesn't play at Wembley.... it did for a year while Spurs were there I suppose waiting for their new stadium. And good luck getting tickets for an Arsenal game these days. Now we are good again they sell out within 5 minutes. I am a member and have tried for 9 games this year and got tickets once!

 

But yes, London is a great, anyone who wants tourist recommendations while they are here feel free to PM me. In my humble, though admittedly biaised, opinion it is the greatest city in the world. 

 

As Samuel Johnson famously said (or more accurately is famously misquoted as saying): when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life. 

[Virgil]

29 minutes ago, Sherlock Holmes said:

I got a great deal at an airbnb there! It was a hostel located somewhere they called The Red Light District... Had to share a bed with some guy with a peg leg, and I must've cut myself along the side of my lower back but at least somebody was nice enough to stitch it up for me while I slept the booze off.

Ah, so you met my uncle….

[Shaw66]

Well, I guess I'm a spur-of-the-moment kind of guy.   Never heard of Fans of Buffalo an hour ago, and I just now paid my deposit for the London trip. 

 

We're not sure we're going to go (you have three weeks to cancel with Fans of Buffalo after they announce the actual package, and the entire deposit is refunded).  Depends on several things, but mostly the date of the game and if we want to be in the UK at the time of year.  

 

We started talking about going a few weeks ago.  We don't have a lot of interest in seeing London - been there, and never found it to be our cup of tea.  If we go, we'll fly into London for the game, then travel to Scotland and Ireland for a couple of weeks.  Fans of Buffalo looks like a really simple way for us to plan the front end of the trip - just let them do it.  

 

At away games, we've never stayed at a hotel where a lot of Bills fans are staying, so FOB's trip offers us four nights of that.  Coverage charge at multiple Bills Backers events is a nice plus.  And transfer to the game.    That's all stuff that makes their package attractive.  

 

Although we've never gone with FOB before, we have taken one trip - an eclipse viewing trip - organized by people who are eclipse nerds and organize trips for every eclipse.  FOB seems the same.   They're not a big institution, but they have a history of having done this kind of thing successfully.  (Think about it: if they had planned a Bills trip that turned out to be the trip from Hell, we all would have read about it right here.)   They're professional enough to have a quality website and payment page - all of that worked flawlessly for me.  

 

Anyway, I'm one step closer to actually going to the game. 

 

As for the notion that it's a waste of time to go to London for a Bills game instead of spending that money just on travel, because the Bills experience on this continent is good enough.  Well, I don't see it that way.   I'm finding that one thing that I like about having had a lifetime as a Bills fan is having a collection of games I've gone to.  It's sort of like having a collection of coins or figurines or autographed baseball cards, but this collection is just in my head.  It's a collection of memories.  I don't have a "complete" collection, in the sense that I've gone to every "collectible" game (like, I was there for wide right but for none of the next three Super Bowls), but it's my collection and I like it.   I view this as an opportunity to add a unique game to my collection.  It may or may not be a memorable game, but it's likely to be a memorable experience.  

[BillStime]

Do your own thing. In 2015, we bought our tickets on Ticketmaster. We stayed at the InterContinental Park Lane and met a ton of NFL executives and Buffalo Bills families - no, the team did not stay there.

 

Ton of fun - Bills fans EVERYWHERE from the second we landed at Heathrow - highly recommend it.

 

Will be going to the game in Tottenham this fall - can't wait.

 

 

[Augie]

A Bills game was always going to be my excuse to get to London. Unfortunately (that sounds wrong!), it’s a travel packed year for us with two trips (Hilton Head Island and Sarasota, FL) already in the books and two weeks planned for Paris and southern Italy in May. Add a week in New England in July, plus a trip to Blowing Rock, NC in August and I thought I was pretty much done for the year.

 

THEN, a buddy sends me the Bills outline of a schedule and points out the obvious - that I really should be there. I point out that we had enough into our travel budget already to have bought a nice new car, so I’ll probably pass. He is recently retired from a job of frequent corporate travel for the last 24 years and he has gazillions of miles on Delta and he’ll get me the plane ticket for a mere 125,000 sky miles he doesn’t need. He’s already sent me a screen shot for a comfort + seat. Hmmmm. I’d hate to disappoint him! 

 

I’ll wait and see what the date is, but it’s hard to say no to an offer like that. A bit awkward, but I need to seriously consider this. 

[Doc]

20 hours ago, Virgil said:

The family is looking to head to the Bills game this upcoming fall, but have never done anything like this.  I see a site called "Fans of Buffalo" that is promoting a full package with a $250.

 

My questions are:

 

1 - Has anyone used the Fans of Buffalo to book an away game?  I'm nervous to give out money to a site that I've never heard of

2 - Did the Buffalo Bills offer any kind of fan package for the last game?

3 - For anyone who went last time, any lessons learned you can share?

 

Thank you and hopefully will see some of you in England

 

$250 includes airfare, lodging and tickets?

[Punching Bag]

However you book it use American Express. Multiple times I have had issues and they were good at helping me get it resolved.

[Augie]

5 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Well, I guess I'm a spur-of-the-moment kind of guy.   Never heard of Fans of Buffalo an hour ago, and I just now paid my deposit for the London trip. 

 

We're not sure we're going to go (you have three weeks to cancel with Fans of Buffalo after they announce the actual package, and the entire deposit is refunded).  Depends on several things, but mostly the date of the game and if we want to be in the UK at the time of year.  

 

We started talking about going a few weeks ago.  We don't have a lot of interest in seeing London - been there, and never found it to be our cup of tea.  If we go, we'll fly into London for the game, then travel to Scotland and Ireland for a couple of weeks.  Fans of Buffalo looks like a really simple way for us to plan the front end of the trip - just let them do it.  

 

At away games, we've never stayed at a hotel where a lot of Bills fans are staying, so FOB's trip offers us four nights of that.  Coverage charge at multiple Bills Backers events is a nice plus.  And transfer to the game.    That's all stuff that makes their package attractive.  

 

Although we've never gone with FOB before, we have taken one trip - an eclipse viewing trip - organized by people who are eclipse nerds and organize trips for every eclipse.  FOB seems the same.   They're not a big institution, but they have a history of having done this kind of thing successfully.  (Think about it: if they had planned a Bills trip that turned out to be the trip from Hell, we all would have read about it right here.)   They're professional enough to have a quality website and payment page - all of that worked flawlessly for me.  

 

Anyway, I'm one step closer to actually going to the game. 

 

As for the notion that it's a waste of time to go to London for a Bills game instead of spending that money just on travel, because the Bills experience on this continent is good enough.  Well, I don't see it that way.   I'm finding that one thing that I like about having had a lifetime as a Bills fan is having a collection of games I've gone to.  It's sort of like having a collection of coins or figurines or autographed baseball cards, but this collection is just in my head.  It's a collection of memories.  I don't have a "complete" collection, in the sense that I've gone to every "collectible" game (like, I was there for wide right but for none of the next three Super Bowls), but it's my collection and I like it.   I view this as an opportunity to add a unique game to my collection.  It may or may not be a memorable game, but it's likely to be a memorable experience.  

 

Experiences and memories > things. 

 

Wise choice, I hope to see you there. 

[Virgil]

1 hour ago, Doc said:

 

$250 includes airfare, lodging and tickets?

Just your deposit per person 

[Augie]

18 hours ago, sullim4 said:

Book on your own directly with the airline and hotel.  You can get exactly what you want, and you will not have to go through a third party to make any changes to your reservation.

 

I was sort of hoping to be able to double dip if the schedule aligns and there is a home game the week before the London game.  Fly from Seattle to Buffalo, see the game on Sunday, and then fly from Toronto to somewhere in Europe... then on to London for the game on Sunday, and back home.

 

London is great if you've never been, but we've already been there and want to explore something else.  Maybe Spain or Portugal.

 

I learned the bolded lesson the hard way right before Covid. It was a work trip to Denver followed by a side trip to Vail. Book with a 3rd party and you deal with people “elsewhere” with limited english skills or training. Call the hotel and they can’t help you about any change policies, whoever bought those nights at the hotel make the rules regarding any changes. Virtually impossible to manage. I ALWAYS try to go directly thru the hotel now. 

 

Last trip before Covid was a Windstar cruise from Barcelona to Lisbon. I loved Barcelona! I’m with you, I want to see NEW places more than become infinitely familiar with any one place. Hit the highlights, then decide what you want to see more of later. 

 

Hope you make it, and sleep thru a LONG flight back home. 

[beerme1]

I had friends use Fans Of Buffalo for Detroit last year and they were so impressed and had such a great time they are using them for London.

They have a tailgate on gameday, they provide transportation to and from the airport AND to and from the game! They also have events in the days leading up to the game. Pretty damn sweet I say.

Edited March 6, 2023 by beerme1
Accuracy

[fathersnowman]

as of today the train service in London at weekends is very poor, some maintenance work is carried on most lines , when you get to the stadium, get ready for the wow factor.. best stadium in the Uk . the new bills stadium is based on Tottenham stadium.

i live in Uk and approx 1 hr train journey from ground....

enjoy your visit, i am awaiting fixture date  as already on waiting list for ticket with Ticketmaster.