Air Prices!!!

I've been watching air prices for quite some time. We need air to San Juan, from the upper mid-west. Just checked and it's $849. from our city. Does anyone think it will go down? A normal price for us would be $500 or slightly lower. I believe it was down to around $400 last winter. Also need a hotel in San Juan. I've done some checking there and even the Hampton Inn is over $200. I sure wasn't planning on spending this amount for air and hotel. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

My theory is book it as soon as you can because the trend is that prices are rising . . . I booked my air almost a month ago for next summer because I didn't want to get snagged. I got a decent price, but it was up from 2 weeks before I could book (not by much).

My suggestion might be to check some surrounding airports too and calculate the cost to drive a bit farther. You don't say when you are going either and that may have some bearing on cost as well.

Can't help with hotel.

I'm sorry I forgot to mention when we are flying. We will be flying Feb.2, as we are cruising on the 3rd on the Crown Princess. This does make a difference!

Don't play the price game with airlines.....while they may offer occasional "sales", etc, the overall trend is for prices to increase. A good rule of thumb is if it is a price you feel comfortable with, buy it.

Remember, if you are traveling during high season, airfares will more than likely stay high - as will hotels prices.

Feb is high season for Puerto Rico.

Unfortunately, airlines have taken pricing games to new highs (or lows)... From Indianapolis to PR it's around $400-430, thru ORD with AA, yet from ORD to PR it's MORE expensive.

Then there are the games of arrival - departure times, especially departure times. The price magically jumps $100+ for an afternoon flight, so a good fare means you get to ask the Captain to drop you at the airport before he docks.

Finally, there are the dates game, where the games played with dates defy explanation.

I've been watching air prices for quite some time. We need air to San Juan, from the upper mid-west. Just checked and it's $849. from our city. Does anyone think it will go down? A normal price for us would be $500 or slightly lower. I believe it was down to around $400 last winter. Also need a hotel in San Juan. I've done some checking there and even the Hampton Inn is over $200. I sure wasn't planning on spending this amount for air and hotel. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

Try checking fares to Ft. Lauderdale and then San Juan from there on Spirit Airlines. gail

That is outrageous. Have you played around with different sites? Air Gorilla, expedia, orbitz, sidestep, booking buddy. It is true January and February are high season. 34 of us sail from Ft. Lauderdale Jan. 14 and the prices are out of sight for a decent hotel and airfare.

Can you drive to a larger airport to catch a flight? I know for our cruise from San Juan this past spring, the people who could get to a large airport could get a lot lower prices, than those of us who flew from small airports in the center of the country. Have you checked the price of Princess Air?

You may want to try Priceline for the hotel. Around $200 is the norm for regular prices for many San Juan hotels during the high season.

As to the suggestion about flying to Ft. Lauderdale and catching Spirit, that may not be any less expensive since that is Super Bowl weekend in South Florida and airfares to South Florida are sky high.

We have flown out of Omaha, Nebr. a few times, but that time of the year you have to pray for good roads! Were about 2.5hrs away. Also it usually involves an overnight hotel stay to catch an early flight. We start to wonder is the little savings worth it!

Looks like you can save about $150 per person on Delta if you are willing to change planes twice. I usually try to avoid 2 connections but if you're willing to put in more time to save money, it's an option to consider.

We have flown out of Omaha, Nebr. a few times, but that time of the year you have to pray for good roads! Were about 2.5hrs away. Also it usually involves an overnight hotel stay to catch an early flight. We start to wonder is the little savings worth it!

I live in Lincoln and I can tell you that air fares in Lincoln and Omaha seem really high right now also. There are some cheap flights in Sept/Oct but my flight to FLL in December is 3x what I usually pay for air. I ended up using miles instead. I couldn't afford air otherwise. Flights out of the midwest seem to be a killer right now.

That is outrageous. Have you played around with different sites? Air Gorilla, expedia, orbitz, sidestep, booking buddy. It is true January and February are high season. 34 of us sail from Ft. Lauderdale Jan. 14 and the prices are out of sight for a decent hotel and airfare.

After spending a month on all of the above, there is no place that finds the 'hidden' fares simply because everyone knows what everyone else asks. sidestep seems to have the 'deepest' search capabilities...

The funny part is that there are some truly esoteric price games. Delta had a substantially lower fare but only ONE seat at that fare when I last looked...

Unfortunately, I don't think the prices are going to go down any time soon, particularly with the cost of fuel still high. You might contact a TA and have them do the research for you. Sometimes, it's really worth it.

You may want to check the prices through Princess. I know for me the airfare was very scary. I called them and they got me a decent rate (I do not know the times until 60 days out, but it is over $100 less than what I can get). They also pay for my hotel the night before and transfers because they cannot guarantee I will make the ship the day of sailing. I am going to Ft. Lauderdale from Wyoming so that is a no brainer-- I was leaving a day early anyways!

The pricing games have really gone overboard. Let's say you're lucky enough to live in a city where there is a non-stop to SJU. Tough, IND-SJU it's only a few bucks cheaper than MIA-SJU, or ATL-SJU. (actually ATL, being a Delta stronghold, is a lost cause...).

Even more of a lost cause is the use of cheaper airlines - Jetblue is nearly$300 roundtrip to their mainland hubs, and then you have to get there... Not Good.

The funny part is that there are some truly esoteric price games. Delta had a substantially lower fare but only ONE seat at that fare when I last looked...

Also remember....if you are booking more tickets than there are in the lowest fare bucket, you will get bumped up to the next highest bucket that has enough seats for your entire group. So, it may be better to purchase separate tickets - but you can only find this out through trial and error OR some advanced tools such as ExpertFlyer or ITN.

In this case, you would get the cheapest fare if you bought ONE ticket, but if you tried to buy TWO tickets, you would be out of luck....it won't give you one at the lowest fare and then the second at the next higher.

knutsonl,

I sympathize with you, those are very high airfares :(

I haven't tried this myself, but a friend just the other day had the same experience and she got online at 2 a.m. and found that the fare she was looking for was alot cheaper. I had also read before that checking the web for fares after midnight many times resulted in lower fares. It's worth a try.....good luck!

knutsonl,

I sympathize with you, those are very high airfares :(

I haven't tried this myself, but a friend just the other day had the same experience and she got online at 2 a.m. and found that the fare she was looking for was alot cheaper. I had also read before that checking the web for fares after midnight many times resulted in lower fares. It's worth a try.....good luck!

I'd heard this too -- I think my parents suggested it once . . . did I listen? Heck no! LOL

I too am in the same "boat" (tee-hh) I am crusieing 03/17/2007. The advise that I have recieved from other CC members is that air fares usually go down around the holidays and SW Airlines will be posting thier rates around the end of Sept. I will hang tight to see what I can find and if nothing becomes available I will buy from Carnival.

I am having the same problem. Sailing 16 feb and dallas san juan is prohibative as only aa has direct flights. we do not have jetblue.ted or sririt here only good old aa and our prices are unbelievable. delta left last year so that has made the situation in dallas even worse.hope you find something ,we check every day but may have to use rcis fare.

I have been in the same boat as all of you. Everyday I've been obsessing about finding the best prices, but instead of going down, prices were going up. This morning I tried around 11:30 on aa.com. Now I've been checking for over 2 weeks straight non-stop about 10 times a day, and the lowest I had found was $506 per person. Today a new flight showed up for departure from Miami to Boston at 5:35. The price for a round trip ticket was $318, so obviously I jumped on it and booked it. Well this is how fast prices fluctuate, I accidently hit the Back button, and I lost my fare. I'm talking a matter of seconds. So I had to settle for $393 a person. When I went back again (curious) within 5 minute span of time to search for the same flight it was up to $468. Can you believe it? So don't give up, keep looking, and jump on it when you can (but don't hit the Back button :rolleyes: ).

Teechadeb

I'm glad I'm not the only one that obsesses about finding low airfare. Our cruise departs 12/10 and we still don't have our airfare. :eek: I can't find a combo of times and price that I like. I'm hoping prices come down a little after Labor Day.........then I can spend more time on cruise critic instead of airline websites! :p

I got my airfare for DH and both DS... for 12/10 on AA for a good deal. I agree with the person that posted on this forum that airlines are selecting individual airports/destinations and lowering that route. They aren't necessarily advertising these 'specials'... anyway I awoke early one morning a couple of weeks ago, nervous over DS starting the first grade and went on AA.com and got the 1:25 departure that we were on and was perfect out of miami to chicago last cruise. Suddenly that fare went from $700 to $199. I had to divide my younger son and older son up, so that DH had one and I had one, otherwise wasn't getting the lower rate... anyway we are booked and for pretty good, not $199 but I am happy and done!!! I am also content knowing that, and they are the ones that pointed it out, that my dear Sister, her family and my Mother don't have their tickets and appently it is driving them crazy!!!

Sorry about the lack of :) I am just soooo exicted my son is in school, happy and I am booked and going on a cruise!!!

ps, my sister is rusmilingyet or something like that... and she is obsessing!!!:p

Have you tried pricing from Kansas City? My relatives in Des Moines find it's worth the drive!