High airfares causing concern?

[Jan]

We made reservations using the Love Away plan a year ago for a November 2011 trip to CSA. Airfares from Minneapolis are now more than $1000 per ticket. I can't believe I'm even writing this... we may have to consider canceling our trip. While I love visiting Jamaica (our 5th trip; 2nd to Couples) I'm having a hard time justifying the cost. Has anyone else experienced the same? Are there any travel agents out there willing to make a prediction on future fares? Other suggestions?

Jan

[Sueboo]

Airfare like gas prices are out of control. There is no way to predict future prices. We always try to book our resort and airfare together so there are no surprises. We also buy trip insurance. Some charters will offer lowest price guarantee if you buy their insurance. We just booked a package for Jan. 2012 through AA Vacations a couple of weeks ago. Since then the price has gone up $300 per person due to airfare increases. Good luck!

[melody]

I think it's a little early to be buying tickets for Nov. Usually there will be sales between now and then. We found the best prices for our October trip at the end of summer. Right now the cost of oil is really high, partly due to the unrest in the Middle East. Hopefully the cost of fuel will go down between now and then but eve if all of that were not going on I would still expect to be able to find better prices between now and then. I would just keep an eye on it for a while.

[Lindad]

Jan, Have you checked fly.com. I just checked for early November and the tickets were about $560/ticket. These were on American and Continental. I know the TA adds some per ticket (Ours adds about 40 or 50) and that the airlines also may have baggage fees, but that should make it about 625-675 each.

[IceMonkey77]

I completely understand your situation as I just went thru it for our upcoming trip this June and thought will we have to cancel. Can you tell me the exact dates you are flying? Are you flying on a weekend or a holiday? I just went on to kayak.com and found rates on AA for about $530 per ticket.

I set up multiple price alerts and bought when I thought the price was the best. Hope this helps. Couples might even work with you if you need to move your trip a few days forward or back to help you find a better airfare. It is cheapest to fly mid-week, such as Tuesday or Wednesday.

As a side note I am not a travel agent just got tired of paying outrageous amounts for airfare.

[mainesunlover]

I had the same concern you did- see my post- airfares-. We to may need to rethink going back to Jamaica next year. I asked my travel agent and she said it is like looking into a crystal ball- may go up more or come down. She said to watch the fares and pounce on anything that looks reasonable.

[shaw22]

Hi Jan,
We are from Iowa and booked exactly 1 yr. ago with CSA for our first trip to Jamaica. We booked our airline tickets really early. We heard gas prices were only going up so we book on-line through US West flying out of Minn. St Paul this June. I check our flight pricing to only see them rise in cost. I feel so bad for you Lets resolve this so you can go. We are leaving on a Thursday and getting back on a Wednesday. Middle of week flights are cheaper. You could call couples and see if they will change your dates from mid wk to mid wk. We are paying 1,000.00 for both of us to fly. They are at 1300.00 now. Sounds much better then 2,000.00. OR you can "name your own price" on airline tickets on priceline.com. You can't cancel tho, but you get deep discounts. We use priceline "name your own price" all the time for hotel when we go to Mall of America and get 4 star hotels for 35.00. I have used it once on airlines and worked out great. Saved us 40% off our tickets. I would of done that for this trip, but we are going with another couple AND I wanted to get in by early afternoon to enjoy most of the day at the resort. SO I booked through the airlines to get the times I wanted. BUT in your situation I would do one of these suggestions. Hope this helps and good luck!! Hope you don't cancel!

[sb61692]

I am actually wondering the same. I have been watching them for about 3 weeks now, checking daily. They came down a bit today, at least American Airlines did, but are definitely still up... I am working with a travel agent but she hasn't really said much about them coming down...

[cypresspeeps]

We made reservations using the Love Away plan a year ago for a November 2011 trip to CSA. Airfares from Minneapolis are now more than $1000 per ticket. I can't believe I'm even writing this... we may have to consider canceling our trip. While I love visiting Jamaica (our 5th trip; 2nd to Couples) I'm having a hard time justifying the cost. Has anyone else experienced the same? Are there any travel agents out there willing to make a prediction on future fares? Other suggestions?

Jan

We were fortunate to be able to fly using miles. $1000 is outrageous!

[Blondie]

Not sure what airport you are leaving from or your exact weeks, but Air Trans has a flight that leaves on the 5th of November and returns on the 12th that is $1024 - total. That is $512 per person.

[dandj]

I doubt prices will come down much. This year was the year to watch and book early. We booked in Feb for October when there was a dip in price and now friends of ours are wishing they had jumped on flights when they were low.

[Vickyj]

We used to fly out of Cincinatti, which is 15 minutes from our house. Then we found that we could fly out of Louisville (2 hour drive) or Dayton (1 1/2 hour) for about half the price. The most amazing this is the flight times are better. For example, this year, CVG--almost $800 pp leave at 7:30 get into MoBay at 1:30, Same day of out Dayton--$450 pp (same airline--Delta) leave at 6:30 am and arrive into MoBay about 11:00 a.m. Guess where we are flying out of?? The message here is to check the smaller airports in your area. My son and I just flew out of Knoxville (3 1/2 hour drive) to Orlando--$240 RT for both of us--same flight out of CVG--$450 Each!

[weluvjamaica]

Sometimes when you want to book so far in advance the airlines sock it to you for advance planning. Usually, the fares come down as you get closer to vacation time. Good luck!

[brownsugawife]

I booked our November flight on USAirways in March. I watched the fares every few days, and unexpectedly, they went down 50.00 each way. From San Francisco to MJB, we paid 1054 total. Other airlines booking that far in advance were significantly higher, but none approached 1k each. Maybe it would be worth a search from a different city that you could drive or take a shuttle flight to?

[mrs2cool]

Travelocity has a fare alert to let you know when fares change. I too am going to CTI in November but we already have our airline tickets- Air Jamaica , only &40/PP more than last year. Just keep watching, the fares will go up and down alot between now and then.It can change every day, that's why the fare alert is so helpful.

[Samantha]

We booked last week for or December 2011. We are in the north east with no hub. The prices are just slightly higher than last year, but we have seen our prices go up the closer we get to travel. We have also seen flights get full. No mater what you do it is a gamble. Good luck.

[Chris]

We booked our airfare back in January, and its been up and down (mostly up) ever since. $1k is a bit steep... have you tried checking directly with the airline (as in a phone call)?

[AnnArbor_707]

Yeah, I'm sure peace in the middle east is RIGHT around the corner....

[Margi]

Check about 2 months before you are leaving and you'll be good. You can cancel all the way up to 45 days out, so don't worry yourself. Hang in there and check prices closer to the date. You'll be fine. Don't cancel now.....wait and see. I think we bought our tickets about 3 months ahead of time and they dropped after that. CSA rocks and you don't want to miss the vacation of a lifetime.

[Jamerinadians]

Airfares seem so unpredictable these days. I don't think the old rules apply any more. Prices seem headed up, up, up, but as another poster said, airlines typically don't start discounting until closer to departure date. But with gas prices rising and fewer seats available, who knows???

I'd suggest using a couple of airfare monitoring sites. I recently used both Kayak and Yapta for a December trip to CN. I started monitoring in January as soon as the flights became available. Prices started rising right away, and then when they dropped I booked my tickets. I'm paying about $450 pp, roundtrip from Albany NY. Since I booked, prices are rising again, so I got the lowest prices offered so far this year. Will they be lower at some point later in the year? Perhaps, but I think higher prices are more likely.

So sign up with a couple of monitoring sites and buy when you see a price that seems reasonable. Then forget it and start dreaming about paradise.

[Sea Ya Soon]

Jan - I am not as confident as Melody that airfares will go down. I sincerely hope they do.

We too are booked for Nov '11 and made the reservation direct with Couples in April '10, and you cannot book air 18 months in advance. We were at Couples in June'10 and Dec'10 and both trips we paid just over $400/person for air. The same exact tickets for this Nov are $700/person. We typically try to book ~6 months in advance.

Yes, there is un-rest in the middle east and yes gas prices are sky high but airlines have also cut capacity. I fly alot for work and I'm seeing this in my every week travels too. For exammple, I always fly Delta. Last year, each day there were 3 Delta flights to MBJ from Atlanta, 1 flight from Memphis and 1 flight from Detroit. For Nov'11, all I am seeing are 2 flights from Atlanta and 1 from Detroit. If all airlines are cutting capacity this extreme, then that is yet a third factor impacting the higher prices.

The above said, don't get too discouraged yet and is haste cancel your time now. You still have alot of time to decide what to do and to be patient hoping that costs will go down. I'm not positive but I think you can cancel as close as 45 days out and get a full refund. Weigh all your options, alternate airports, crazy air schedule, low cost carriers. You may know this already...try www.kayak.com, this site will compare alot of airlines and other discount sites in one search.

[Spiff542]

I agree with Sueboo, it is way too early to book air... This far out they crank up the prices, and then use sales to fill the flight out as it gets closer. We usually look to book air 45 - 90 days out.

[Cathy_Joe]

We usually travel to Jamaica in the fall and generally there is a "fall air sale" end of summer, so I would not book now but would wait and see if prices drop in the fall. Remember a lot of people travel in the summer.
I can't remember where I heard it but I recall hearing airlines change prices Wednesays.
We are visiting family in TN in June and we had been watching airfare. We leave out of Philly. For the 2 of us the trip was around $800 round trip for 2 but last Wednesday the prices suddenly dropped and we booked for $500 for 2 tickets round trip . Went back on Thursday and prices we back to $800.
Doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.

[JimT]

Wow, I can't beleive the prices out of the States. We always watch for seat sales and were fortunate to get a good price in Feb for our November trip. We paid less then $500cdn ($525usd) including taxes for a direct flight from Toronto.

We booked thru an online travel agency. I would watch prices on a regular basis as the prices can change from one hour to the next.

[cleversole]

I booked our November flight on USAirways in March. I watched the fares every few days, and unexpectedly, they went down 50.00 each way. From San Francisco to MJB, we paid 1054 total. Other airlines booking that far in advance were significantly higher, but none approached 1k each. Maybe it would be worth a search from a different city that you could drive or take a shuttle flight to?

We booked our trip in February, for November. The gas prices were just getting ready to go up, so we took the price we got on airfare (besides the plane was more than half full). Then three weeks later they dropped 40 bucks. I'm sure they will go back and up and will have a lower price than someone who waited but had we waited we would have gotten a good deal. OH WELL....couldnt' take a chance on not having the flight we wanted out and back....and it's worth it to get to Jamaica anyway. We knew we were going and we took a chance. I think it's always a gamble...Unlike Couples, if a better deal comes up, you can't do anything. We booked our room earlier this year knowing if we got a better price we would be guaranteed and took the chance on the airfare.