airfares

That's pretty darn cheap, considering. I'm assuming you've checked various airlines and sites like orbit, kayak, etc. The only other thing I know to recommend is to fly on dates and at times when no one else wants to... 5am on a Tuesday, for example. You could also try flying to a less desirable airport if whoever you're visiting is willing to drive farther to pick you up or if the cost of a rental car doesn't negate the savings in the cost of the flight. Or... got any friends who want to give you some of their frequent flyer miles?

I doubt you will ever find a fare to NYC from St. Croix under $450.

If you want cheaper fares, wait for hurricane season.

wow, I didn't think $500 was cheap. I guess I still remember the days when I used to fly roundtrip for $250 with only 3 days advance notice.

In the nearly year and a half we've lived here, I've yet to find a flight anywhere I needed to go for less than $650. I'd jump on that $500 ticket if I were you!

I'm searching for tickets for later this summer and haven't found any under $680 where we need to go. We used to consistently get them for $450 -$500. One of the things that makes it hard to be here.

wow, I didn't think $500 was cheap. I guess I still remember the days when I used to fly roundtrip for $250 with only 3 days advance notice.

Holy sh*t man, you can't even get to Puerto Rico for that these days!

I regularly fly between STX and ORD and would find $500RT to be a bargain. This time of year runs in the $600-$700 range.

Sucks, I know. And that doesn't even include the luggage fees!

IT

Try http://www.cheaptickets.com/ . They search a lot of airlines and they have flexible search options, like searching nearby airports, and searching up to 3 days before and after. Also search different weeks and try searching at different times of day, and different days of the week, as fares are always changing. They can also notify you by email if fares drop below an amount that you specify, so you don't have keep looking. I just found STX/JFK/STX for $473 in early April, but you only get a 2-day trip out of it. A few minutes later, that $473 deal was gone. Keep looking. Deals happen.

$473 (including fees/tax) is pretty much the going rate STX-JFK right now. It's available through aa.com for a lot of days in April. I didn't look at May.

Thanks everyone - Bring back Eastern Airlines

We went to Miami last week with about 3-days notice. Price was $881 each round trip coach on American...
All of this on an airline that usually loses money. Makes you wonder how much they would have to charge to actually break even given their cost structure.

wow, I didn't think $500 was cheap. I guess I still remember the days when I used to fly roundtrip for $250 with only 3 days advance notice.

Funny how it's always so much more on short notice. They obviously still had a seat, so you'd think they would be trying to fill it. Maybe the next guy, booking a "last minute" got a better deal. But probably they know that if you're booking, it's because you need to go or really want to go.

Airfares are all going up this week. I've been checking several destinations for later in the spring/summer. It's a real concern. When it starts getting up to $1600+ for a couple to leave island, it makes an impact.

One possible way of saving money on airfare, especially for a shorter trip and/or a last minute trip, is to use travelocity.com or some other travel website that offers packages with hotel and airfare, and book the package instead of just the flight. Though it doesn't always work, I have actually done this sometimes for LESS than the cost of a flight alone (apparently some hotels have deals with travel services that allow them to bundle rooms for really cheap, and the airline does its part by keeping the airfare low on the packages). I then didn't show up at the hotel and stayed where I had planned to stay. There was no penalty for not showing up at the hotel since I had already prepaid for the whole trip.

In big cities like New York and Toronto the lower airfares on packages often come with a not-so-great airport hotel or an off-brand, out in the sticks motel, so look for those. And if you're not too picky, and were planning to stay at a hotel anyway, the budget packages with airfare and hotel can be REALLY cost effective if you actually use the hotel room you book.

Best,

Islandlola

I don't think STX is losing money for American with the fares we are paying but I could be wrong. I think this is a pretty good market for them because the lack of competition allows them to price fares high.

VIPA chased the other airlines, notably US Airways, out after 9/11 with the landing fee increases they instituted. So now we have only one real choice for daily service, American. American knows this and prices accordingly.

Sean

I bought 5 American Airlines fares for August from JFK. All 5 were to St. Thomas at $157, and all 5 returned using 17,500 Frequent Flier miles each, three from St. Thomas and two from St. Croix. So there was availability from the islands back to New York, but not for getting to the islands. I wonder what the opportunities might be for FF earning miles in the islands.

My favorite option for earning miles on American Airlines is the iDine program. By using a dedicated credit card (any card) I can earn miles by dining at participating restaurants. There are no registered restaurants in the USVIs. The going rate is three FF miles for each $1.00 spent, with opportunities to earn more. I wonder if restaurants in the islands could join up and what all is involved for a restaurant to participate.

We bought the seaborne 10-pack and have just started using it for the SJU air-shuttle.
Flights in and out of SJU are so much cheaper and frequent.

Also try Kayak.com, if you want to try several airports at once you can just put the codes into the field separated by ","
so flying to New York you can try SJU, STT, STX to NYC or to JFK, LGA

check hotwire.com or sidestep.com

Hotwire, Expedia (and another site, maybe Travelocity) no longer book American, so it loses a lot of value to us here. FWIW, I've never found a better deal than just going to aa.com. AA guarantees the lowest fare booking direct with them. I don't travel all that often, so who knows, but when I do fly, I spend a LOT of time comparing.

It's possible to put together legs on different airlines, sometimes at a lower price, but you're on your own if there's a problem and you miss a connection. Also, when booking the no frills airlines, they even charge now for you to choose a seat in advance. WHY? Because they can, I guess. Can't think of another reason.

Use the new google site,

www.itasoftware.com

search one way fares with the month long option. it will give you the lowest fares for each day of the month.

For some reason, rt tickets are not really cheaper than 2 one way tickets.

Thanks bev. I'll check it out. I've been looking at a couple of trips later in the spring and early summer, and fares are out of control!!

Some days we only have 3 AA options to Miami, and the only one with a reasonable price gets you in at 11 PM, so add a hotel.....no deal and a pain!

I used the app on my iPhone and it really gives you a lot of airfares to compare for different airports/airlines/alternative dates etc. all on one screen. My discovery on Kayak the other day that two one way fares are lower than a round trip is confirmed also.

Thanks for the information.

Check out spirits air... They got last minute deal!!
U have to be their $9 club members

Check out spirits air... They got last minute deal!!
U have to be their $9 club members

A friend just got a really good fare on Spirit, but that's out of STT, only. If you're on STX, then you have to add on the fare from STX to STT.

And remember, Sprit charges you for CARRYON luggage in addition to checked luggage! By the time you take all your stuff with you, pay to get to STT from STX, be willing to then go outside of security in STT, recheck in and recheck bags with Spirit, and factor in the risk that if your STX-STT flight cancels you will pay a big change fee with Spirit it probably isn't worth it. YMMV though!

Good news is when the second flight to/from MIA is added in June I'm seeing $216 flights each way!

Sean