CINCINNATI — For the Cincinnati Bengals it’s been a long road, decades-long road back to the Super Bowl and for fans, it’s been an agonizing wait.
That’s why the Cincinnati-based Provident Travel is working to make the final leg of the journey as easy as possible, offering planned trips to Los Angeles for the big game.
Provident Travel announced Monday the agency would offer Super Bowl packages to cover all the logistics for fans hoping to make the trip.
According to Cheryl Parker, a spokeswoman for the agency, Provident is still finalizing the details of the trip but they know the group would leave on Feb. 11, agents would handle the flights, booking the hotel, and planning transportation to and from SoFi Stadium. Almost everything but besides the game day ticket, for that, fans are on their own.
“We’re trying to provide the most economical, seamless and enjoyable experience for fans as they head out to Los Angeles,” she said.
To get those plans underway so quickly, Parker said the agents started looking for flights and contacting hotels well before McPherson’s game-winning field goal clinched the Bengal’s trip to L.A.
“They’re in their element right now because this is a terrific opportunity to tell fans, hey we can help you,” she said.
As for those fans, Harry Wagner, a longtime Provident traveler said he couldn’t be more excited to make the trip, and more relieved someone else is available to manage it.
“They take the stress out of it. I want to enjoy the game (and) enjoy the travel,” he said.
Wagner’s been a part of some of the other sports trips Provident has planned, including multiple journeys following the Cincinnati Reds.
“I was trying to go to every stadium in this part of the country,” he said.
Wagner made the trip to the last Bengals Super Bowl in 1989, and this year he said he plans to bring his son, in the hopes he’s the good luck charm that will help the team take home their first Lombardi trophy. Win or lose though, Wagner said the Super Bowl and the events surrounding it are an experience any big football fan needs to see in person.
“It’s just Americana that’s the only way to describe it,” he said. “It’s only an American experience.”
Parker said Provident Travel is confident its team will be able to pull off the logistics in less than two weeks because they’ve done it many times before.
“Most recently with the UC Bowl trip that was a wonderful experience for fans, they’re still talking about it,” she said.
Now she said agents are excited for the opportunity to do it again just a month later on an even bigger stage.
“It’s the kind of excitement that the city needs and for people to feel good about something,” she said.