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Strategies to get to St John!
Strategies to get to St John!
My husband and I love to travel especially to St John. We have a nice income and can afford a nice vacation but it is still what I consider pretty expensive to go to St John! We usually end up spending 6k by the time you factor in airline tix, rum, lodging, rum, rental car, food, rum, and well... rum!! We would love to be able to go to St John once a year and we don't mind traveling in the immediate off-season (mid April to mid May) or of course any other time it would work. Our budget just can't stand 6k every single year for a 11-12 day vacation plus the other traveling we do out of tradition, plus spur of the moment other vacations, so.....we are looking for strategies to get us to St John cheaper. My first thought is I have to get organized and use FF miles if I can. What credit card's have you found to be the best in terms of miles earned/and availablity of tickets? How do you save for your vacations? Just curious on what people do to get to those islands that we all love so much. Thanks for any advice or info!
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Iluvstjohn
- Posts: 397
- Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2007 11:02 pm
- Location: Boston, MA
my family of 4 just went and we didn't spend 6k! LOL....
We have been to st john 5 times now and I don't think we've paid that much for any of them. We have typically gone off season, and we have stayed in a variety of places....
*lavender hill
*cinnamon bay
*travelocity got us a 175 airfare (not the best flights, but it got us down thee)
*we also buy/bring most of our food and eat out occasionally
there are tons of ways to save on a trip...but you might have to sacrifice some things for others!
good luck in your search and savings!
We have been to st john 5 times now and I don't think we've paid that much for any of them. We have typically gone off season, and we have stayed in a variety of places....
*lavender hill
*cinnamon bay
*travelocity got us a 175 airfare (not the best flights, but it got us down thee)
*we also buy/bring most of our food and eat out occasionally
there are tons of ways to save on a trip...but you might have to sacrifice some things for others!
good luck in your search and savings!
FF tickets make a HUGE difference for us. I am the queen of 5 star at 2-3 star pricing. Also, we always travel in the off season. I just can't pay 2x for the same house.
I have the delta skymiles platinum amex. I pay for everything possible with it and pay it off every month (though you don't have to, I like that option in emergencies). Right now I have over 160k miles on there. Tickets to STT are between 30k-60k a piece. This trip we got them at 45k per ticket. I HATE doing that but it was so worth it to go for free.
It saves us a ton in airfare. We just went over Thanksgiving on 4 FF tickets that would have cost us at least $1600-2500 depending on the days were were looking to travel.
The house I try to keep around $2000-2500. This time we inched over that but we had another couple covering some costs. Traveling with other people brings the cost down on the house. I book usually a year in advance so you pay 1/2 up front. Ponying up the last 1/2 30 or 60 days out. I like that the house is usually paid for before we even leave.
Once on island all you have is food and the car. I don't skimp on the car and it runs me about $500-700 depending on how long the trip is. The food you can either do cheap by bringing as many parishables as you can and packing a cooler, or shopping on island and eating in a lot.
I am looking at CHEAP but nice options for a maybe trip in '08 and I think I could do it for under $2000 easily. About $1300 for the house and $500-600 for the car. With FF tickets the flying is free.
I find the more trips I take (other than the nonnegotiables) the accommodations matter less and less. I don't care where I am as long as I am in St. john.
I have the delta skymiles platinum amex. I pay for everything possible with it and pay it off every month (though you don't have to, I like that option in emergencies). Right now I have over 160k miles on there. Tickets to STT are between 30k-60k a piece. This trip we got them at 45k per ticket. I HATE doing that but it was so worth it to go for free.
It saves us a ton in airfare. We just went over Thanksgiving on 4 FF tickets that would have cost us at least $1600-2500 depending on the days were were looking to travel.
The house I try to keep around $2000-2500. This time we inched over that but we had another couple covering some costs. Traveling with other people brings the cost down on the house. I book usually a year in advance so you pay 1/2 up front. Ponying up the last 1/2 30 or 60 days out. I like that the house is usually paid for before we even leave.
Once on island all you have is food and the car. I don't skimp on the car and it runs me about $500-700 depending on how long the trip is. The food you can either do cheap by bringing as many parishables as you can and packing a cooler, or shopping on island and eating in a lot.
I am looking at CHEAP but nice options for a maybe trip in '08 and I think I could do it for under $2000 easily. About $1300 for the house and $500-600 for the car. With FF tickets the flying is free.
I find the more trips I take (other than the nonnegotiables) the accommodations matter less and less. I don't care where I am as long as I am in St. john.
common ideas
How to get there for less, that is the $100 question, isn't it? I agree with everything said here, all good advice...the top factors/ideas being:
1- Watch airfares (use Yapta or another "fare-watcher") this is a huge variable cost!
2-Travel with another couple who can split Villa costs with you, gotta be careful who you choose...
3-Leave the kids with grandma...less airfare $$$
4-Eat and drink at home more
Ya'll know all this already...guess I'm just bored being out of work (that's sad...).
Cheers-
1- Watch airfares (use Yapta or another "fare-watcher") this is a huge variable cost!
2-Travel with another couple who can split Villa costs with you, gotta be careful who you choose...
3-Leave the kids with grandma...less airfare $$$
4-Eat and drink at home more
Ya'll know all this already...guess I'm just bored being out of work (that's sad...).
Cheers-
The cheapest decent places to stay are on vrbo.com. They almost always require a vehicle. They frequently are an apartment at an owner occupied house. They rarely have a swimming pool. Linne has a nice trip report where they stayed at one.
Off-season is a lot cheaper. I just paid over $500 per ticket for four people for March. November runs less than $300 per person. We save our frequent flyer miles for Europe.
The other big cost savings for us is cooking our own food. Eating out runs $1500 per couple per week. If you cook at the villa and bring lunch to the beach you can easily get by on $500 per couple. That's not staying at home, its just eating before you go out for the evening. I love to cook and find it relaxing, I know a lot of folks feel differently.
Cheers, RickG
Off-season is a lot cheaper. I just paid over $500 per ticket for four people for March. November runs less than $300 per person. We save our frequent flyer miles for Europe.
The other big cost savings for us is cooking our own food. Eating out runs $1500 per couple per week. If you cook at the villa and bring lunch to the beach you can easily get by on $500 per couple. That's not staying at home, its just eating before you go out for the evening. I love to cook and find it relaxing, I know a lot of folks feel differently.
Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
Hi,
You can certainly save a lot with a villa; especially if you travel off-season. If you're willing to give up some villa amenities, you can find several places under $2000 (even less). If you stay walking distance to Cruz Bay, you can give up a vehicle for part or all of the week.
As for credit cards, we had a Citibank card with a American miles for awhile. Like flip-flop, we charged anything that could be charged, the miles pile up. However, I found redeeming miles for the flights we wanted to become increasingly difficult. Booking in January/February for November travel, we would usually have to travel Friday - Friday or Sunday; it was hard getting a Saturday to Saturday schedule. We recently changed to Capital One, I'll know in a few weeks how that will work out.
We also eat breakfast in and pack lunches for the beach on most days; but dinner is always out.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
You can certainly save a lot with a villa; especially if you travel off-season. If you're willing to give up some villa amenities, you can find several places under $2000 (even less). If you stay walking distance to Cruz Bay, you can give up a vehicle for part or all of the week.
As for credit cards, we had a Citibank card with a American miles for awhile. Like flip-flop, we charged anything that could be charged, the miles pile up. However, I found redeeming miles for the flights we wanted to become increasingly difficult. Booking in January/February for November travel, we would usually have to travel Friday - Friday or Sunday; it was hard getting a Saturday to Saturday schedule. We recently changed to Capital One, I'll know in a few weeks how that will work out.
We also eat breakfast in and pack lunches for the beach on most days; but dinner is always out.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
janet
Everyone's thoughts are right on the money as far as I am concerned.
1. Villa amenities - what are you willing to sacrifice for cost savings? For us a pool has become less important even unimportant over the years.
2. Travel w/ another couple. But buyer beware! We traveled with friends one year and it turned out one was allergic to sunscreen! A difficult thing to deal with in the islands. A slight pain for us spf'ers and a real pain for him.
3. Location, Location, Location
4. Food - even though the stores are expensive it is still alot cheaper to eat in occasionally.
We have a CITI AA card tied to our checking account and a CITI AA Credit Card. I'm amazed at how quickly miles pile up. If I do any shopping online it's through the AA Shopping website. I hardly ever go into a physical store anymore - I even get miles for the dog and cat food online. I do e-rewards and get miles for doing surveys. It seems to me the opportunities are almost endless to get miles. We almost always fly on American but Spirit from National Airport is awfully tempting with those cheap airfares....
Fortunately for us we have enough flexibility that getting FF tix is not a problem. If we need to fly from Tuesday to Tuesday we can. I got the tix for our trip starting New Years Day in the beginning of November of this year. It was 60k miles and $30 total.
Good luck with your dilemma - but its a good dilemma to have.
1. Villa amenities - what are you willing to sacrifice for cost savings? For us a pool has become less important even unimportant over the years.
2. Travel w/ another couple. But buyer beware! We traveled with friends one year and it turned out one was allergic to sunscreen! A difficult thing to deal with in the islands. A slight pain for us spf'ers and a real pain for him.
3. Location, Location, Location
4. Food - even though the stores are expensive it is still alot cheaper to eat in occasionally.
We have a CITI AA card tied to our checking account and a CITI AA Credit Card. I'm amazed at how quickly miles pile up. If I do any shopping online it's through the AA Shopping website. I hardly ever go into a physical store anymore - I even get miles for the dog and cat food online. I do e-rewards and get miles for doing surveys. It seems to me the opportunities are almost endless to get miles. We almost always fly on American but Spirit from National Airport is awfully tempting with those cheap airfares....
Fortunately for us we have enough flexibility that getting FF tix is not a problem. If we need to fly from Tuesday to Tuesday we can. I got the tix for our trip starting New Years Day in the beginning of November of this year. It was 60k miles and $30 total.
Good luck with your dilemma - but its a good dilemma to have.
I charge everything on my American Airlines credit card and the FF miles add up pretty quickly. From our region, love 'em or not, AA is the best carrier to the Caribbean (most options for flights). If you are willing to either (1) book trips 9-11 months in advance, or (2)book just a few months in advance but travel mid-week, you can usually get a trip to STT at the 30,000 mile level. Unlike flights from the East Coast to STT, tickets to STT from the hinterlands of the midwest are always expensive, so I think its a good use of FF miles.
---Jim
Hi Lavender -
You've gotten some great advice so far. I think $6K is a little expensive (during low season), but it's easy to see how you can arrive at that amount if you're staying at the Westin, Caneel, or a super-luxury villa plus paying for airfare. I'm a bargain Caribbean traveler and we rarely spend more than $3500 for a week for the two of us.
First, do get a FF mile card. I notice you're in NY. What airlines have hubs nearby? AA has a huge presence in NYC, and they have the most access to the Caribbean of any US airline. I have a Delta card because I'm in Atlanta (DL is headquartered here), but I've often considered switching to AA for accessibility. You could also get an AMEX total rewards card or that Capital One card someone else mentioned. We charge ALL monthly expenses to our card and pay it off each month. They rack up quickly.
When we travel in the Caribbean, we avoid the traditional "resorts" like the plague. Those are filled with high costs, surcharges, and an in-authentic experience. Okay, we DID stay at the Westin STJ back in July, but I got a $79 rate on Hotwire. Anyway, we stay in smaller places - either apartments or homes. VRBO is a great place to find rentals. We're just not that picky though. I'm happy to just be there and don't have to have a perfect experience. We rented a townhome on St. Martin last January for $1400 for nine nights, and that's during high season. We didn't have our own pool and didn't have an ocean view, but we still had a great time.
Also, splitting villas with friends is a great idea. We've done it two times (both times on St. Martin). However, you do need to set ground rules ahead of time and not feel like you are hooked into someone else's plans. I prefer to travel with just my husband or with one other couple only.
We usually get two week-long trips to the Caribbean each year for about $7000. This year, we're doing Costa Rica and St. John and our costs will run about the same. Those FF miles really help offset the cost of a nice place to stay.
Oh - and one more thing I forgot to add. We never travel Saturday-Saturday. Those are the most expensive days to travel. We usually do Fri-Fri or Sun-Sun. It helps to be flexible when using FF miles. During low season, most rental agencies are flexible.
You've gotten some great advice so far. I think $6K is a little expensive (during low season), but it's easy to see how you can arrive at that amount if you're staying at the Westin, Caneel, or a super-luxury villa plus paying for airfare. I'm a bargain Caribbean traveler and we rarely spend more than $3500 for a week for the two of us.
First, do get a FF mile card. I notice you're in NY. What airlines have hubs nearby? AA has a huge presence in NYC, and they have the most access to the Caribbean of any US airline. I have a Delta card because I'm in Atlanta (DL is headquartered here), but I've often considered switching to AA for accessibility. You could also get an AMEX total rewards card or that Capital One card someone else mentioned. We charge ALL monthly expenses to our card and pay it off each month. They rack up quickly.
When we travel in the Caribbean, we avoid the traditional "resorts" like the plague. Those are filled with high costs, surcharges, and an in-authentic experience. Okay, we DID stay at the Westin STJ back in July, but I got a $79 rate on Hotwire. Anyway, we stay in smaller places - either apartments or homes. VRBO is a great place to find rentals. We're just not that picky though. I'm happy to just be there and don't have to have a perfect experience. We rented a townhome on St. Martin last January for $1400 for nine nights, and that's during high season. We didn't have our own pool and didn't have an ocean view, but we still had a great time.
Also, splitting villas with friends is a great idea. We've done it two times (both times on St. Martin). However, you do need to set ground rules ahead of time and not feel like you are hooked into someone else's plans. I prefer to travel with just my husband or with one other couple only.
We usually get two week-long trips to the Caribbean each year for about $7000. This year, we're doing Costa Rica and St. John and our costs will run about the same. Those FF miles really help offset the cost of a nice place to stay.
Oh - and one more thing I forgot to add. We never travel Saturday-Saturday. Those are the most expensive days to travel. We usually do Fri-Fri or Sun-Sun. It helps to be flexible when using FF miles. During low season, most rental agencies are flexible.
Hi Lavender!
What a great topic! I agree totally with your sentiments, we also love St John, but definitely we spend alot when on vacation there.
This past year, we managed to go twice.
One of the trips (last March) was the economy trip. I watched Spirit Airlines and got a great deal on air - you have to be ready to buy at the drop of the hat and travel on Tues, Wed or Thurs. We stayed at a guest suite instead of a luxurious villa. It was very comfortable and extremely affordable and we will absolutely do it again, check out Sailview in Coral Bay, the owners live on property but yet their guests do have plenty of privacy.
Our other trip, we did the usual villa w/pool and air and spent alot more $$$ - but hey, it's vacation and we work hard, so gosh darn we deserve it!
What a great topic! I agree totally with your sentiments, we also love St John, but definitely we spend alot when on vacation there.
This past year, we managed to go twice.
One of the trips (last March) was the economy trip. I watched Spirit Airlines and got a great deal on air - you have to be ready to buy at the drop of the hat and travel on Tues, Wed or Thurs. We stayed at a guest suite instead of a luxurious villa. It was very comfortable and extremely affordable and we will absolutely do it again, check out Sailview in Coral Bay, the owners live on property but yet their guests do have plenty of privacy.
Our other trip, we did the usual villa w/pool and air and spent alot more $$$ - but hey, it's vacation and we work hard, so gosh darn we deserve it!
Patr
~~Longing to be back on St. John~~
~~Longing to be back on St. John~~
Time isn’t the problem – the cost can be, although working around teenagers schedule is getting more daunting.
St. John aint cheap that’s for sure. The FF miles thing has never worked for us, so for our family of 3 you have to count on around $1k for AF, OFF SEASON decent digs with some kind of view is gonna be around $2k for the week, vehicle $500, some kind of daytrip/daysail $200 - $400, maybe 2 special meals out $250-$300. So with other meals, bevs, and some shopping, plus misc like ferries, cabs, airport parking or transfers at home, pet sitting, etc. its pretty easy to push $4500 even during off season and yes, $5500 - $6k high season, and that’s not even for your killer villas. Can't imagine what those who do the really nice villas, spa treatments, private ferry service, etc. drop in a week. God Bless 'em - I guess we could do that too, but then other trips would come less frequently for us.
The relatively high cost of a STJ vacation was really reinforced when I was amazed that we did the 8 day trip to Switzerland in May (shoulder season there) for around $5500. Of course I did that planning myself after consulting with a travel agent that wanted $1300 more to book/plan same trip.
I understand - they gotta eat too. Plenty of folks out there who don’t have the time/inclination/skills to trip plan, so I’m sure those European travel agents do alright for themselves.
St. John aint cheap that’s for sure. The FF miles thing has never worked for us, so for our family of 3 you have to count on around $1k for AF, OFF SEASON decent digs with some kind of view is gonna be around $2k for the week, vehicle $500, some kind of daytrip/daysail $200 - $400, maybe 2 special meals out $250-$300. So with other meals, bevs, and some shopping, plus misc like ferries, cabs, airport parking or transfers at home, pet sitting, etc. its pretty easy to push $4500 even during off season and yes, $5500 - $6k high season, and that’s not even for your killer villas. Can't imagine what those who do the really nice villas, spa treatments, private ferry service, etc. drop in a week. God Bless 'em - I guess we could do that too, but then other trips would come less frequently for us.
The relatively high cost of a STJ vacation was really reinforced when I was amazed that we did the 8 day trip to Switzerland in May (shoulder season there) for around $5500. Of course I did that planning myself after consulting with a travel agent that wanted $1300 more to book/plan same trip.
I understand - they gotta eat too. Plenty of folks out there who don’t have the time/inclination/skills to trip plan, so I’m sure those European travel agents do alright for themselves.
When we come to place where the sea and the sky collide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
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cypressgirl
- Posts: 2178
- Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 2:42 pm
- Location: houston
Well it looks like we can look for a higher end villa since you already have it paid for.sea-nile wrote:Eat in your villa.
Pick a less expensive villa.
I am currently saving for November with a "stash" and I put all of my Christmas/birthday money in that stash and I think I have the villa paid for already.
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cypressgirl
- Posts: 2178
- Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 2:42 pm
- Location: houston