The Bengals will be making their first trip to Lambeau Field since 2009, and many fans are heading to Green Bay with them.
"I've always wanted to see a game at Lambeau. It's the holy grail of professional football," said Bengals Season Ticket Member Drew Nurre. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip. We started talking about this last winter, well before the official schedule came out. We decided we'll figure out the logistics and we'll get up there and we'll see a game at Lambeau."
Bengals Season Ticket Member Ed Evers agrees. "It's on the bucket list of a lot of people, including me."
Evers will be flying to Green Bay with his son, daughter and son-in-law on Ultimate Air Shuttle.
"When I went on Ultimate Air Shuttle last year to the Browns game, it worked out well," said Evers. "It was so convenient. Up and back same day. Everybody's got a busy schedule. You don't have to be renting cars and getting hotels and driving for eight hours. It's a great time."
Ultimate Air Shuttle will be sending four planes full of Bengals fans up to Green Bay this Sunday.
"The demand is far bigger than I anticipated," Ultimate Air Shuttle Managing Director Rick Pawlak said. "We had scheduled two aircrafts for this trip. The first one sold out in three days. The second aircraft sold out in a week. Then our charter department got requests from large groups, so there are two groups who each chartered their own plane."
Pawlak said there was interest for two more planes, but they didn't have the availability.
"We now have a waitlist of over 35 people and our charter division had a request for one more plane," Pawlak said. "So we could have had six aircrafts going, but we just don't have the availability. They're all full."
In addition to Green Bay, Ultimate Air Shuttle will be making trips to Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Nashville for Bengals games this season.
"You've got 30 instant friends," said Evers. "You've got something in common. Everybody is there to have a good time and cheer on the team. It's kind of like a flying pep rally and tailgate with new friends. It's a great event with networking and camaraderie."
David A. Armstrong, J.D., president of Thomas More College, is a Browns fan, but he didn't mind being surrounding by Bengals fans on Ultimate Air Shuttle's trip to Cleveland last season.
"Everybody was in a great mood because they didn't have to drive. Everybody could have a good time and talk and just enjoy it," said Armstrong. "You had two planes full of football fans that knew they just saved themselves eight hours and it just made the whole game that much more fun because you got there in 40 minutes. It was fantastic."
Ultimate Air Shuttle is sold out for the Cleveland game, but there are still seats available for the Bengals games against Pittsburgh and Nashville. Fans can call 1-800-437-3931 for more information.
