Getting There

JD- can't answer the lonliness factor but can answer airfares and times for you, as I work for an airline. Mainland US to STT is an expensive route - always. Not like the 100. RT fares to Cancun, etc. one might find. Delta flies non-stop from Atlanta (3 hours and 30 minutes - 1600 miles) and cost about 600.00 at the cheapest. American is out of Miami (2 hours and 30 minutes - 1100 miles) and is currently about 400 roundtrip but shows higher faes in the next few months due to increasing fuel prices. Usairways is Charlotte to STT (3 hours and 30 minutes - 1530 miles) and has similar fares as Delta. fares will probably creep higher due to fuel costs.

And while the price does reduce the amounts of visits that you will make back to the mainland, it doesn't seem to deter people from visiting you! Everytime I'm on the phone, telling people I might be visiting for X-mas/T-day/Labor Day/Memorial...etc., there is always someone that says,"NO! You can't come home then! We're coming to see YOU!" You tend to become very popular to those you knew in the States.

Hello JD,

You can get good deals sometimes. Sign up for newsletters from a few of the airlines, putting the destinations you frequent into your profile so you get notices of prices for the routes you are most interested in.

Also get a miles credit card from American or Delta and use it to buy everything so you can rack up miles towards free tickets. (If you don't have one already that is.)

Some friends might not visit because of the cost, because they never left the state they are living in, because they are scared etc. I have heard those reasons and others. But some will visit. 🙂

--Islander