ridiculously high airfares!

paulandtracie · Post by **paulandtracie** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 9:43 am

Hi--we're heading back to STJ the first week in April and I am amazed at the high airfares this year--I have done farewatchers on Kayak.com for every possible date--leaving Saturday, Sunday, Monday, coming back Saturday, Sunday, Monday, etc. and the lowest fare out of Detroit is still over $700--some dates are as high as $875! This is almost double what we paid a few years ago and still $250 higher than the same week last year. It's our kids' spring break so we can't change the week. Anyone else having trouble getting decent fares to STT? Wonder what's up?

PA Girl · Post by **PA Girl** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 10:49 am

I feel your pain. We also have set dates and can't choice vacation dates based on the best available fares.

We are already booked for February and the few times I checked since booking, there wasn't much movement on the price.

michigancouple · Post by **michigancouple** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 3:40 pm

Have you checked Chicago? That's where we're flying from. It was less than $500. Same flights last year were less than $400 though. We're in Muskegon, so the drive to Detroit or Chicago is about the same for us. We'll do a park 'n fly hotel the night before. It save us the airport hassles and parking fees.
~ Nancy

Muhaha · Post by **Muhaha** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 12:30 am

michigancouple wrote:Have you checked Chicago? That's where we're flying from. It was less than $500. Same flights last year were less than $400 though. We're in Muskegon, so the drive to Detroit or Chicago is about the same for us. We'll do a park 'n fly hotel the night before. It save us the airport hassles and parking fees.
~ Nancy

Wow, how are you getting from Chicago for less than $500? I'm seeing the same $700 fares for the last week in March.

silands · Post by **silands** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 10:54 am

We are going in January from Boston and they are just as bad at least $300 more then a year ago.

Terry · Post by **Terry** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 11:06 am

Leave
Mon, Oct 31 US Airways 494
Depart: 12:59am Denver, CO
Arrive: 5:55am Charlotte, NC

2 stops Economy 2hr 56min Airbus A320 View seats
Change planes. Time between flights: 1hr 35min

US Airways 1577
Depart: 7:30am Charlotte, NC
Arrive: 9:28am Miami, FL

Economy 1hr 58min Boeing 737 View seats
Change Airline. Time between flights: 2hr 47min

American Airlines 775
Depart: 12:15pm Miami, FL
Arrive: 2:50pm St Thomas Island, Virgin Islands (U.S.) (STT)

Economy 2hr 35min Boeing 757 View seats
Total duration: 11hr 51min

Long haul, but only $520/rt pp. DEN-STT.

Perhaps you're trying to book too far in advance? We have been getting better deals closer to travel date. I know it's a risk.

michigancouple · Post by **michigancouple** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 6:11 pm

michigancouple wrote:

Have you checked Chicago? That's where we're flying from. It was less than $500. Same flights last year were less than $400 though. We're in Muskegon, so the drive to Detroit or Chicago is about the same for us. We'll do a park 'n fly hotel the night before. It save us the airport hassles and parking fees.
~ Nancy

Wow, how are you getting from Chicago for less than $500? I'm seeing the same $700 fares for the last week in March.

(alt+q)

We're going down Feb. 25- Mar 3 - total price after taxes for a direct ORD - STT flight was $490 on United. We booked it about a month ago. I put just about everything I buy on my FlexPerks Visa (and pay it in full each month!). I was able to get one ticket on 35,000 miles. Paid for the other one. So I am excited about going for less than $500 roundtrip for 2.

~ Nancy
[/quote]

mnfun2bme · Post by **mnfun2bme** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 7:04 pm

I completely agree with you. Airfare for travel to St. Thomas is really high. In 2010, we booked airfare in July for our January 2011 adventure. We found extreme deals. Those traveling from O'Hare only paid mid 300's/ticket. My girlfriend from Denver paid only $304 (granted for her it was a multiple city book - we all met in Chicago the night before we traveled to St. Thomas to get an early start.) From Minneapolis, it was just over $500.

This year we started watching flights in July and they were more than $200 higher than last year. In fact, Minneapolis is over $800. I believe Delta runs the market here... just as they do in Detroit. I hate them sometimes. LOL

We have tried configuring many ways, including meeting in cities like Atlanta the night before by booking multiple flights. Nothing was helping. I finally booked a frequent flier for 40,000 miles out of Minneapolis on Delta. I have been watching the fares ever since and they have not deviated from the $800+ price. Milwaukee was cheaper at just over $500.

The farees are insane this year for booking for next year. I do use my visa flexperks card for every purchase I make and pay it off each month also. It allows me to fly once/year in a normal year.

Wondering if the high airfares have impacted villa rentals. One would think there would be some dealing to do with so many villas to rent and high airfares.

Kentuckygirl · Post by **Kentuckygirl** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 8:30 pm

mnfun2bme,
I think you did good with 40,000 miles! We had to cash in 55,000 and 60,000 per ticket for late March/early April. We still need to buy 3, but they start at 800-900 for decent times. We can find 600ish, but that's with an overnight layover on the return flight. Still waiting something good to show up!...

SusieQT · Post by **SusieQT** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 9:22 pm

You might consider US Air if that is an option. We are going over New Years 2011-2012 & paid $525/ticket, this includes taxes. We purchased our tickets Sept 22.

KAY · Post by **KAY** » Sun Oct 09, 2011 11:26 pm

I totally agree. Trying to book flights out of Chicago for February and they are outrageous! I have been checking Bing Travel as a forumite mentioned and they are showing 75-80% confidence they will go down but I don't know when that will be. You got a deal for the holiday SusieQT. I'll have to bite the bullet soon though because its driving me crazy!

KTinTX · Post by **KTinTX** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 9:29 am

You should see them out of Houston! We're planning for a June 2012 trip and have set dates due to kids' activities etc. The cheapest I've seen is $724/pp after taxes and a couple of the options are running around a GRAND. I tried changing our days, but it didn't matter. It's a little early, as we've always booked our flights in December for our previous trips, but I'm prepared to pull the trigger on any day I see a sale.

2Feathers · Post by **2Feathers** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 1:42 pm

Have you tried Spirit Air? I just checked some rates out of Detroit for early April, and it looked like you could get them for around $500 RT (depending on the dates)... Not great, but it beats 700 bucks.

Spirit gets mixed reviews. We've flown them once, and had some minor issues with assigned seats and a lost bag, but we'd give them another try for a good rate. A friend of mine from Ohio flew down on Spirit out of Detroit in August and had no problems.

Good luck!

tothectothec · Post by **tothectothec** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 5:03 pm

I just booked in mid February with AA I used only 35000 miles going from Norfolk-Miami-STT. Guess I was lucky.

rpplano · Post by **rpplano** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 5:21 pm

I found a new method this time. I booked through my AMEX card points. They let me mix points and dollars and had $490 RT tickets. Lower than AA offered that same day when I booked them. This might work for somebody else.

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