Airfare to san juan

[denatravels]

That's probably some of the worst advice I've seen.

 

JetBlue, Southwest and Spirit don't interline. So if you have a problem with a flight, you can't get reaccommodated on a different carrier. Now do that twice. In addition, by buying two tickets, you have no protection if your first flight is delayed and you miss the second flight. It's as if you were a no-show and you lose the value of your ticket and have no way to be rebooked on a different flight. Plus, since they are separate tickets you would be paying any luggage or other fees twice for what would otherwise be a simple connection.

 

Yeah, you might save a few bucks, but you are putting so many negatives into the equation. But why not...saving money is all that it's about.

 

 

Maybe I read it differently but I thought the "breaking up into two flights" was by arrival and departure flights-- I have done that before (buy two one-way tickets) although often because I am flying into a different local airport. There is nothing wrong with trying this option.

On the other hand, if it was in fact to break up one flight into segments with different carriers, I agree that it's a terrible idea!

 

 

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[waterbug123]

But, can someone tell me how that works with RC since I can't book through them? I always look for my flight then book with Choice Air so I'm covered if anything goes wrong. Does anyone have any experience with booking SW on your own?

 

 

1. how it works with RC if you buy WN (that's the code for Southwest, not SW) air: You buy your airfare. You hope you don't have any delays or cancellations that cause you to miss embarkation. If you do, you hope WN can reaccommodate you on another flight that gets you to the embarkation port in time. They don't interline with any other airlines, so there is zero chance they will put you on another airline, even if that's the only way to get you to the embarkation port in time. If you miss embarkation and have to fly to the next port, you ask WN for a credit for the flight and book a brand new ticket. Maybe it will all work out, maybe it won't, but you hope it does. That's how it works. ;)

 

2. being "covered" by booking Choice Air: see below

 

3. experience booking WN on your own: People do it all the time. As with any airline, usually things work out fine. As with any airline, occasionally they don't.

 

That's one reason why I like to ask questions here. There are many of you more experienced than I, so I don't really know. I always thought that if a flight was cancelled and we booked through RC they would rebook us on something else in order to get to the cruise on time, or if not on time they would get us caught up with the ship in the first port? Is that not true? I really appreciate the help. Thanks.

 

They cannot guarantee anything. They don't control the airlines, so if your flight is delayed, your flight is delayed. If it's canceled, it's canceled. There is nothing RC can do about either. Can they rebook you to get you there on time? Maybe. When you read the fine print, all it really says is that they will try. I haven't read through it in a while, but I believe it includes verbiage such as "work with the airline" which doesn't guarantee anything. I believe it also says something along the lines of doing anything "reasonable." i.e. they aren't going to charter you a private flight, LOL. Or pay $5000 for a last minute ticket in first class if that's all that's available, if you only paid them $300 6 months ago for a coach ticket.

 

As for getting you to the next port, same thing- they will try. If flights are booked, flights are booked; they can't conjure up a new flight, or kick pax of an existing flight just to accommodate you.

 

Again though- most of the time it will work out, but sometimes it won't. That can happen no matter who you book through, but understand that when you use CA you are going through a middleman, and people have reported various experiences when doing so. Sometimes they call CA and CA tells them to talk directly with the airline. Sometimes they call the airline who tells them it's a CA issue. Likely the different response depends on exactly what type of ticket was purchased (something you may never know as the passenger). Sometimes people have reported trying to call CA on a weekend and getting no answer. At least with the airline you know they are staffed 24/7, and if you're already at the airport, you can also speak to a representative in person.

[IT_Guy71]

We're flying direct to san juan from Philly. It was about $560pp. We booked nearly 9 months ahead of time, idk why. My dad was not willing to do a layover, which would have saved $$ but we would have lost a lot of time.

 

Try using the Hopper app, it predicts when airfare will be the cheapest. I also heard that booking on Tuesday afternoons is when plane tix are cheapest.

 

I use the hopper app- I got an alert that my flight was like $275 round trip but I was too late once I went to book. You literally have to jump on the website to book when you get the alert- sometimes it's a handful of tickets and once they're gone they're gone.

[samb413]

I use the hopper app- I got an alert that my flight was like $275 round trip but I was too late once I went to book. You literally have to jump on the website to book when you get the alert- sometimes it's a handful of tickets and once they're gone they're gone.

 

ahhh good to know because I was thinking of using it for Ft. Lauderdale flights next summer.

[anewmac]

Ugg in going through this same thing for an early April cruise also from LAX, or San Diego, Ontario, Santa Ana, & or Long Beach lol. Found red eye flights on AMerican for $350 round trip. But waited for southwest to open up and the AA flight went to over $650 and SOuthwest was $250 one way and $600 returning lol. I'm kicking myself for not booking right when I found the AA flights. Hoping they come down again

 

 

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Edited August 5, 2016 by anewmac

[easyboy]

I use the hopper app- I got an alert that my flight was like $275 round trip but I was too late once I went to book. You literally have to jump on the website to book when you get the alert- sometimes it's a handful of tickets and once they're gone they're gone.

Thanks for the tip.

[pcur]

Ugg in going through this same thing for an early April cruise also from LAX, or San Diego, Ontario, Santa Ana, & or Long Beach lol. Found red eye flights on AMerican for $350 round trip. But waited for southwest to open up and the AA flight went to over $650 and SOuthwest was $250 one way and $600 returning lol. I'm kicking myself for not booking right when I found the AA flights. Hoping they come down again

 

 

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I just checked mobissimo.com from San Diego to SJU 4/1, coming back on 4/9. It was $516 roundtrip.

[Shorex]

Ugg in going through this same thing for an early April cruise also from LAX, or San Diego, Ontario, Santa Ana, & or Long Beach lol. Found red eye flights on AMerican for $350 round trip. But waited for southwest to open up and the AA flight went to over $650 and SOuthwest was $250 one way and $600 returning lol. I'm kicking myself for not booking right when I found the AA flights. Hoping they come down again

 

This is an example of the triumph of Southwest marketing. So many people actually believe the hype that Southwest is always the lowest fare (and bags fly free!) that they pass up a really great fare on a legacy airline to wait for Southwest to be even cheaper. By the time Southwest opens up the dates, the great legacy fare is long gone and Southwest is more expensive. Moral of the story: when you see a relatively low fare, grab it.

[fbgd]

this is an example of the triumph of southwest marketing. So many people actually believe the hype that southwest is always the lowest fare (and bags fly free!) that they pass up a really great fare on a legacy airline to wait for southwest to be even cheaper. By the time southwest opens up the dates, the great legacy fare is long gone and southwest is more expensive. Moral of the story: When you see a relatively low fare, grab it.

 

+146575

[msmayor]

This is an example of the triumph of Southwest marketing. So many people actually believe the hype that Southwest is always the lowest fare (and bags fly free!) that they pass up a really great fare on a legacy airline to wait for Southwest to be even cheaper. By the time Southwest opens up the dates, the great legacy fare is long gone and Southwest is more expensive. Moral of the story: when you see a relatively low fare, grab it.

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

For our cruise this past March, I looked at Southwest as they were 'traditionally' the lowest cost for me out of PHL. I was shocked at the fares, AND terrible schedules...almost no non-stops to FLL where there used to be many.

 

I checked with AA and imagine my surprise when I was able to book at their Choice level which included one checked bag each for a few hundred LESS than Southwest, and get the non-stops I wanted.

 

For next year's cruise, Southwest opened up yesterday. Same situation, horrible flight schedules, only one non-stop (that won't work because of the timing) and R/T fares about $300-350 each. This morning I checked AA and the flights I was watching dropped to $278 R/T and include one checked bag per passenger each way. For FLL during spring break period, I happily booked that fare.

[anewmac]

This is an example of the triumph of Southwest marketing. So many people actually believe the hype that Southwest is always the lowest fare (and bags fly free!) that they pass up a really great fare on a legacy airline to wait for Southwest to be even cheaper. By the time Southwest opens up the dates, the great legacy fare is long gone and Southwest is more expensive. Moral of the story: when you see a relatively low fare, grab it.

 

 

Ya I'm kicking myself now and will never make that mistake again. Can only hope it will go down from $600-$700 to something a bit more reasonable [emoji15][emoji22][emoji19][emoji379]

 

 

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[FlyerTalker]

this is an example of the triumph of southwest marketing. So many people actually believe the hype that southwest is always the lowest fare (and bags fly free!) that they pass up a really great fare on a legacy airline to wait for southwest to be even cheaper. By the time southwest opens up the dates, the great legacy fare is long gone and southwest is more expensive. Moral of the story: When you see a relatively low fare, grab it.

 

+146575

+146576

Edited August 6, 2016 by FlyerTalker

[FlyerTalker]

Ya I'm kicking myself now and will never make that mistake again. Can only hope it will go down from $600-$700 to something a bit more reasonable

Some words of advice: Hope is not a strategy. And if you've tossed that aside and are getting real-world, what's the plan? And until you have that formulated, you remain....hoping.

 

But here's a musical interlude for you:

Edited August 6, 2016 by FlyerTalker

[easyboy]

I find the only plus factor for Southwest is there is no charge if you change reservation when its price goes down, IF and only IF, you get the chance to see it.

[msmayor]

I find the only plus factor for Southwest is there is no charge if you change reservation when its price goes down, IF and only IF, you get the chance to see it.

 

I think this 'plus' only works if you're someone who travels regularly enough to be able to actually use the credit generated when the price goes down.

 

Let's say someone books a Southwest flight today for next March 2017. In January, the price drops by $40. Make the change, get the credit. But now you have to use that credit by August 6 2017, or spend $50 to extend it six months. If you have nothing planned (or already bought tickets for travel before the 6th) the credit is useless...so what did you really save?

[Globaliser]

Ya I'm kicking myself now and will never make that mistake again. Can only hope it will go down from $600-$700 to something a bit more reasonable

But are you immediately making the mistake again now? Your mistake then was to wait because you thought you'd get a better price later. But you are waiting again now - so you're actually now doing the same thing that you did then.

 

What if the price never comes down from current levels? What are you going to do then? Will there come a time when you're heartily wishing that you'd paid $600 instead of whatever it then costs? Or are you prepared to cancel the cruise instead?

 

As FlyerTalker says, you need to have a plan.

[IT_Guy71]

As a follow up, I missed out on the $275 fare, but we got our tickets for just under $400 per person round-trip. Granted, it is on Spirit Airlines which nickel and dimes you to death but we know how to play the game and go in with eyes wide open.

 

Unfortunately, we wound up spending $200 on checked baggage because we know we will probably have a lot of souvenirs to bring back like we did when we went to Mexico. The moral of the story is make sure you calculate all the costs including carry-on, checked bag and any goofy stuff like printing your boarding pass at the airport (yes, spirit charges $10 for that luxury).

 

 

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