Are Oilers fans gearing up for Florida road trip?

With a great start to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final for Oilers fans, those in the travel industry say fans are ready for a Florida road trip, but they are seeing some apprehension due to U.S. politics. 

Although it was tense, the Edmonton Oilers managed to squeeze out an overtime victory, and fans are hopeful for the series ahead, hopeful enough to begin booking trips to Florida.

“We have 20 clients that are booked to go for Games 3 and 4. The prices were a lot less previously, so you were looking at about $2,500 before for a flight and a hotel that has since doubled,” explained Melissa Tolmie, the manager of Travel Gurus.

Still probably cheaper than seeing a game at home in Edmonton. 

But Tolmie told CityNews that while the number of Edmontonians she’s seen book trips to see out-of-town games has gone down compared to last year, as tensions between the two countries grow.

“Definitely seeing less people going for the out-of-town games than we did see last year. Last year we probably saw triple that number, so it’s definitely has changed drastically from last year,” said Tolmie.

Oilers fans might not be the only ones a little iffy about travelling south. A new poll from Leger found that Canadians are split on their opinion of our neighbours.

With 27 per cent of those surveyed seeing the country as an ally, and 26 per cent viewing the country as an enemy. But Leger also found Albertans were most likely to keep their U.S. travel bookings in the wake of the 51st state comments made by President Donald Trump.

Which is good news for those booking charter flights out of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, who says it’s business as usual for fans willing to shell out big bucks for direct private flights from Edmonton to Florida.

“Right now we have a bout ten confirmed flights of travel from Edmonton to Florida, and as the series goes on, we expect that number to jump. We could use a heavy jet, which would seat typically up to about 15 passengers, and for that you’d be looking somewhere at the $60-70,000 range, for the one way,” said Ryan Debruyne, the director of charter sales with Mercury Jets.

Oilers face off against the Florida Panthers Friday here in Edmonton before hitting the road to play in Florida next week.