YYC (Calgary) to San Juan...

Hoping for feedback!

There are very few flight options for our January/February cruise out of San Juan that don't require a full-day of travel...

I've found a great options through CruiseAir. American Airlines from Calgary to San Juan through Dallas, and return through American Airlines with brief stops in Miami and Dallas. No stops in winter-prone cities on the East cost of the US, though we are flying in the day before.

Flight times work for us and it's $800 CDN/person, including taxes and fees (baggage is additional). We're still 10 months away from the cruise. Is this a good price? Do airlines ever had new flight options because of demand?

There's a 'sticky' at the top of the page re cruise air.. you should read thru it.

I did a quick check on Matrix for your flights, but not knowing the exact dates could not determine if you're getting a good quote. I came up with prices nearing the $600 mark for late Jan. This a link to Matrix... just fill in your dates and see what comes up. Airport codes for Calgary and San Juan are YYC and SJU.

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Good Luck

Airlines rarely add flights for demand, unless it is serious and expected demand, like for a major sporting event (think Super Bowl) or similar. The airlines don't lots of extra aircraft or crews just sitting around.

Thanks for the Matrix link. Our dates are January 29-February 6...I've scouted it out on the airlines directly, plus sites like Expedia, and CruiseAir (we used CruiseAir this past January without any issues).

We don't want to arrive in San Juan after midnight, we want to avoid stops in the northeast US and one stop is preferable. For the flight back, we're a bit more flexible - but still don't want an overnight flight and landing as early in the evening as possible would be best.

Right now, I'm looking at Calgary to San Juan 7:25-9:01 p.m, and return flights are 11:35 a.m.-8something p.m. Both are AA.

United has a return flight at 1:35 p.m.(approx), but it's quite a bit more expensive.

Did you realize that YYC-SJU (especially via DFW) is getting close (75%+) to the same distance as Europe is from Calgary.

YYC-SJU: 3446 mi

YYC-DFW-SJU: 3688 mi

YYC-LHR: 4372 mi

Expecting a routing that wont take the better part of a day is simply a matter of of the maximum speed of aircraft.

American Airlines from Calgary to San Juan through Dallas, and return through American Airlines with brief stops in Miami and Dallas. No stops in winter-prone cities on the East cost of the US, though we are flying in the day before.

 

While some of the risk is certainly reduced, be aware that just because the airport you connect at isn't subject to bad weather that doesn't mean your flight won't be affected if there's a storm. Every plane that leaves DFW or MIA will have previously arrived there from somewhere else. If a big storm has hit the northeast or midwest, it's possible that many planes could be grounded there. Your flight could be delayed as a result, either because the plane can't leave wherever it is to get to DFW or MIA, or the plane is there but the crew is stuck elsewhere, or the crew has timed out due to weather delays.

Chances are you'll be fine, even with a delay, but be aware that just because it's 80 and sunny in MIA doesn't mean your flight is guaranteed not to be affected by winter weather. ;)

While some of the risk is certainly reduced, be aware that just because the airport you connect at isn't subject to bad weather that doesn't mean your flight won't be affected if there's a storm. Every plane that leaves DFW or MIA will have previously arrived there from somewhere else. If a big storm has hit the northeast or midwest, it's possible that many planes could be grounded there. Your flight could be delayed as a result, either because the plane can't leave wherever it is to get to DFW or MIA, or the plane is there but the crew is stuck elsewhere, or the crew has timed out due to weather delays.

Chances are you'll be fine, even with a delay, but be aware that just because it's 80 and sunny in MIA doesn't mean your flight is guaranteed not to be affected by winter weather. ;)

I have a funny (at least, I can laugh at it now...) story from last month, when I was flying AMS-LHR-DFW-MCI. Well...I really ended up flying AMS-LHR-DFW. Note that this was late February (the 27th to be exact), and DFW was getting hit hard by snow (hard for DFW standards).

We landed in DFW more-or-less on time, and then took an hour to get to our gate because of unplowed taxiways, etc. Of course, all flights to Kansas City were cancelled for the rest of the day, and all hotels anywhere around DFW were booked. Being in a crabby mood after two weeks of stressful travel, I said "the hell with it" and rented a car for the drive to Kansas City. Roads were bad...really bad. Eventually, I got to Sherman TX where I had to bed down for the night because the highway was shut down. Finally finished my drive the next day, where it eventually took me 12+ hours (of actual driving) to make what should have been an 8 hour drive. BUT...but...I was home. Had I stayed in DFW, even with my frequent flier status, it's almost guaranteed that I would have been there until the next day, and lost my entire weekend.

I had specifically booked to fly through DFW in February rather than Chicago. Had I flown through Chicago, I would have been fine. Sure, the odds game says that DFW > Chicago in winter, but you never can be sure. You could avoid NYC in the winter in favor of Dallas or Atlanta just to find Dallas is snowed in and NYC is sunny. But, you've gotta play the odds game sometimes.

Thanks all! Yes, I know this is essentially a full day flight/travel even with "ideal" stops...still, we wanted to reduce the time on the ground at stopovers as much as we can.

And I also know that flying only into/out of warm weather locales doesn't provide any good weather guarantee, but I'm still partial to trying it and I'd like to avoid Chicago as much as possible. :D

As it is, I put off booking until last night and ended up paying $60 more/person than when I checked earlier yesterday. This morning, the flights have risen another $40/person. I know prices fluctuate and they could come down again, but I'm pleased with what we got.

I have a funny (at least, I can laugh at it now...) story from last month...

 

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But, you've gotta play the odds game sometimes.

This is pretty much what I was going to post.

Whilst it might seem like human nature to avoid those areas prone to snowfall in winter those areas are also best equipped to deal with the problems.

Conversely, as is the case with your story, Zach, those areas which don't see much of it are least equipped to handle it.

Conversely, as is the case with your story, Zach, those areas which don't see much of it are least equipped to handle it.

Yep...that was the problem. The snow wasn't bad, but the fact that DFW has like three de-icing trucks and two snow plows (not literally, but probably close ;)) is what caused the cancellations and delays.

 

And I also know that flying only into/out of warm weather locales doesn't provide any good weather guarantee, but I'm still partial to trying it and I'd like to avoid Chicago as much as possible. :D

 

Glad to hear that you do; unfortunately not everyone does. I have sat in an airport more than once and listened to someone rant and rave at a gate agent, demanding compensation of some sort due to a delayed or canceled flight, and when the agent explains that the issue is weather-related the pax points outside at the nice sunny day through the window and continues their rant. :)

A friend is a retired 30+ year AA pilot. He always recommends ORD instead of DFW due to their abilities to handle serious snow as others have mentioned. His "data" is several thousand flights to both airports :)

There was a thread several weeks ago where the first flight of the day from Detroit-ATL was weather-cancelled on a sunny but cold morning. The poster was calling BS. It turned out the plane was dispatched DEN-OAK-PHX-TPA-BWI-DTW the previous day. All segments after TPA were cancelled due to bad weather at BWI...no plane at DTW in the morning. Weather on the other side of the continent has potential to mess up your flight.

 

There was a thread several weeks ago where the first flight of the day from Detroit-ATL was weather-cancelled on a sunny but cold morning. The poster was calling BS. It turned out the plane was dispatched DEN-OAK-PHX-TPA-BWI-DTW the previous day. All segments after TPA were cancelled due to bad weather at BWI...no plane at DTW in the morning. Weather on the other side of the continent has potential to mess up your flight.

Thank you, that was my whole point....that weather on the other side of the country can affect a flight virtually anywhere else in the country. :)

And that poster sounds like some of the folks I've seen arguing with gate agents in airports about weather delays on nice sunny days!