st john on a budget

[samholtz]

with my daughter getting married this year; i informed my in laws that St. John was going to be out this year, unless i could get some really good deals....Im happy to say that i managed to put a trip together with a villa for 14 days, plus car and a one night stay on St. Thomas for 2565.00. that's under 200 a day. that being said; i still have not included food. However; i think that is an awesome get away for that price! last year i was at 4000.00 before we left.
so to all of those who think it's to expensive to go to st. john; think again!

Now I'm wondering where to make reservations for thanksgiving? any suggestions who may have been there last year and had a good dinner? we ended up at La Tapa; i liked it, but my in-laws needed a little more.

[Xislandgirl]

It is easy on a budget actually. We are doing 6 days with jeep, airfare and lodging for under $1500.

No suggestions on Thanksgiving, all my STJ Thanksgivings were spent cooking

[leslieeliz]

Well feel free to pass along any tips!

[Muhaha]

Is this based on off season or in season rates?

[samholtz]

this is based on one week in season (holiday-thanksgiving) and the other week off.

were saving money by renting a car on St. Thomas and coming over on the car barge. last year i was so upset with the pp ferry and the workers; awful experience, i won't go into details but it's a rip off! Plus were not having to pay for a taxi ride to Red hook!

we rented with Caribe Havens; Nancy was awesome to work with. we paid her monthly (which i loved cause nothing went on credit cards) were staying in a low end villa; i don't care cause i only wanted to be on st. john! i booked our flights late (August) so we didn't save there.

[piscesgirl0314]

I think its definately easy to find great deals on villas. For us, airfare is RIDICULOUS!! For my husband, our nine year old, and I it has been around $2200.00 for our last two trips. We fly out of Norfolk Virginia. We've checked another local airport and the prices are the same. The next closest airport is Richmond and the thought of driving 2 hours to get on a flight is just something I can't bring myself to do. That being said, kudos to the folks that can travel to St John on the cheap...as expensive and our airfare is...I will never stop going...

[bnsilly]

Yeah airfare is our big challenge too. Flying out of DFW prices seldom drop. Low end is $1000..high end $2000 per couple.
But yes, I will still make trips to STJ

[Xislandgirl]

I have fare watches set up and when I got a deal that looked good, I booked it right away.$347 RT from Hartford.

We are staying in a small place that is a lower end unit, but I know that it is clean and has an AC unit in the bedroom.

We are renting from STJ car rental, so that was the most expensive part of the trip.

[toni]

Which place are you staying at? We've used Nancy a couple times.

[waterguy]

Going to STJ I always drive 3.5 hours to ORD so I can get flights for under 300.00 Instead of 1000.00 or more from my home airport I can have alot of fun for 1400.00

[samholtz]

were staying at Eureka! has anyone ever stayed there? i have not seen any reviews.

living in Cleveland the other airports are about 2-3 hours away. we usually fly out of pittsburgh but cleveland had better pricing this time. i'm going to look into New York next year.

[piscesgirl0314]

So after reading everyones posts about cheaper airfare my husband and I decided to look in to leaving out of Richmond, which is about 2 hours away...we will save about $1000.00 if we fly out of there VS Norfolk...so we both agreed it would be silly of us not to. We decided to drive to Richmond friday after work, get a hotel and leave for the airport from there...Thanks Waterguy...you made an EXCELLENT point!!!!

[waterguy]

Check out parksleepfly.com for hotels I can get hotel for under 100 with free parking for up to 14 day's and they will take you and pick you up from the airport for free

[piscesgirl0314]

Thanks for the tip Waterguy. I will definately look in to that...

[Chickadee]

If you do a sleep/park/fly arrangement, be sure to specifically ask what hours the shuttles run to the airport and make sure they work with your flight times (both ways).

Years ago we discovered at the 11th hour that the hotel shuttles didn't start running in time to get us there for our very early flight time and had to pay for a taxi (still cheaper than airport parking). On the return if you're getting in very late (or are delayed), best to know if you'll have shuttle service or need to call a cab.