USVI-On-Line

The PAs will be celebrating our 15th anniversary this June and the plan was to go back to Caneel, where we spent our honeymoon.

Real life got in the way and after much back and forth, we decided to cancel the trip.

After shaking our box of rocks, we have found a way to make a summer trip work. We are looking at going down the beginning of July. YEAH!

Then I started looking at airfare Delta has flights with horrible times but they are the cheapest at this point - low $600s. The arrival and departure times are bad enough, Delta isn't an option.

USAir is $700 to nearly $900 depending on what airport we use. We would consider BWI, PHL, and MDT.

Summer travellers, did I miss the window on decent fares?

My next bright idea is to fly to SJU and get a charter. Has anyone done this?

Something I have done several times is fly to SJU and then get a connecting flight with Cape Air to STT. Cape Air is down stairs below the main concourse in SJU. But I love flying small aircraft too!

Hi PA Girl,

We are going in July, but booked back in Feb. I still get updates from Kayak, and the fares in July are from $260-$420 roundtrip from Dulles (IAD).

I don't know how far away you are in PA, but it may be worth the drive>

Also used Kayak searched for 7-19 for one week--
413 out of ACY on Spirit (ok, they suck...)
398 from either IAD or DCA or if you don't mind a bit of a hike--
really great direct flight out of EWR for 348 (think that was delta?)

For S's and G's, I looked last night at mid-week fares for the same time we'll be there in late July and the fare was $450 on Delta from RDU (Through ATL). I know you're not flying from RDU, but the weekend fares are in the $700's. so, mid-week was a lot better.

What dates? Maybe I'll come crash the Caneel and behave like the classless boor I am.

July 1 - July 6 is the plan but that may change. If you are there Pip, swing on by! We will have our 4 year old with us. He is a great beer-fetcher.

Delta does have great prices out of DC area but Kayak is showing horrible schedules, like arriving in STT at 9:22 at night. DC is probably the limit to how far we would drive. I don't care about going down, it is driving back home 3 hours that is a downer.

US Air to SJU/Cape Air combination could work. It would have us getting up early on departure day but that doesn't bother us too much.

We always go in July. Usually by now airfares have dropped, but not this year. We live near Memphis, but we are driving to Atlanta and catching Delta nonstop to STT for half the Memphis fare!!! When you have 6 people, it makes a big difference!

Is EWR an option? Continental has direct flights to STT, but not sure if they have them during the low season.

I feel your pain! We're going in July out of Buffalo and just watching the prices because they too are running from $600-$1000 here which is crazy. I think they should go down, so I just keep watching them at all hrs-they seem to bounce around. The seats are looking pretty empty still so I'm crossing my fingers that they'll drop.

Our experience for summer travel to STT is that buying now was not too late. We've flown out of PHL, EWR, and that morning AA non-stop out of JFK. Agree - paying $500+ for those non-weekend travel dates you gave AND having the trip time be 8+ hrs seems a bit much from our area.

That said, pricing seems different these days, so set up your alerts and be ready to pounce. Maybe the new off season reality is something closer to $500 is the new best deal vs something closer to or under $400 (?) Maybe somebody who has been actively tracking current pricing from NY/NJ/PA can speak to that.

Better time to purchase is on Tues and Weds = when most prices changes occur. Worst time to price and purchase tickets for leisure travel is on the weekends (posted prices can be higher then). And, if/when you go to the actual airline site to check before you buy, make sure you clear your history and cookies before you go back in to purchase or else a higher price could show up even if you just checked a little while ago.

Are you trying for that $399 breakfast included deal at Caneel? I didnt think we would see that deal again at the $325 level they had it for last year.

jmq wrote:Are you trying for that $399 breakfast included deal at Caneel? I didnt think we would see that deal again at the $325 level they had it for last year.

That is the plan. It will be a no vehicle rental, pure beach time vacation, if we can solve the airfare issue.

Delta's site shows high 500's round trip from PHL to STT......

byado18 wrote:Delta's site shows high 500's round trip from PHL to STT......

I like the going down options but the return options su@k due to a 3 hour drive home from from Philly. That 8am departure might deserve a 2nd look.

I am going in July too and had your same problem. I ended up paying a little more for reasonable times and only 2 stops on the way home! Ugh! It is AA.