trouble booking a flight

**dec30** · July 31st, 2009, 06:11 PM

Hi... This is my first time I am writing on this forum. After a lot of thinking I finally made the tough choice of picking CSA over CN for my honeymoon in Jan 2010. I was looking to book my travel package directly thru the couples website and I noticed that my travel dates were reduced by a day due to an overnight flight. Does CSA deal directly with continental?? since they offer direct flights from Houston. Anyone from Houston who experienced same problems in booking flight tickets? Any suggestion is welcome

**markandjannett** · August 1st, 2009, 09:47 AM

We flew with Continental last year and will again in 28 days. We fly out of Little Rock and connect thru Houston. We arrive approx. 12:45 in Montego Bay and are usually at CSA around 3:00 p.m. -- You might want to check into purchasing the tickets yourself and get a better time.

**Amy** · August 1st, 2009, 10:15 AM

We have never had any problems booking our direct flight from Houston. However, we never book a package deal and always book our flights separately and directly through Continental's website.

If I were you, I'd call Couples and change your flights. You don't want to lose a night when a better flight exists! I know when you price the package on the Couples website, they list the cheapest flight in the first quote, then you used to have the option to choose another flight. Maybe they did that because the Houston flight was more expensive? Whatever the reason, just give them a call to get the flight you want.

Btw, you will LOVE CSA!!!

**tammye** · August 1st, 2009, 02:27 PM

Hi. Try booking it again. I've had that happen to me as well. I think the booking engine tries to find the cheapest flight first so the one that comes up is one with an overnight stay. If you go into the option to edit the flight, you should be able to choose another flight that does not have the overnight stay. Hope this helps. Tammy

**Chris** · August 1st, 2009, 02:52 PM

In looking for airfare, I noticed this trend toward 2-day itineraries... I think the industry has to get its act together and understand that this is highly undesirable. If this is all your budget will support, you might have to consider leaving a day early, and arrive home a day later than planned.

**dirtleg** · August 1st, 2009, 02:54 PM

I would look into flight schedules for other airlines. An overnight flight to Jamaica, while apparently not uncommon, is unnecessary. You may not find a non-stop, but I'm sure you can find something to get you there the same day. If you are not comfortable looking yourself, try a TA in your area. It is not too early to find a good selection of flights for January, we just booked air for next June. You can still book your room through the Couples site. It just takes a little balancing to coordinate the dates.
Hang in there, things will work out. Just be persistent in your search and look for help if needed.

**dec30** · August 1st, 2009, 06:04 PM

Thanks to all for your quick reply.. Would anyone who has visited CSA before know if all the rooms come with a hammock.....

**Garyandchar** · August 1st, 2009, 09:35 PM

Where are you flying out of? I'm guessing somewhere out of the Northeast?

What are your dates?

Do some research on kayak.com to get an idea of some of your other options for flights. My guess is you will come out cheaper by booking the hotel and flight separately.

It is easy to book them separately. Let me know and I will help you. garyandchar7 "at" yahoo "dot" com

**KSherlock** · August 1st, 2009, 10:23 PM

My husband and I also finally chose CSA after considering CSS and then CN. We actually booked our flight first, before we had settled on a resort. We are from Houston, and I had been checking the Continental site a couple of times a day. We booked a nonstop flight around mid-May (our trip is August 5-10). We got our flight for $355 each, roundtrip. We booked our room directly through Couples in June. I think you can find better flight options looking yourself. It seems like you have more options to "play" with things to get exactly what you want, and maximize your time at the resort. When we book flights, we start looking several months out from our trip, and check prices on a daily basis. There is almost always a "dip" in pricing a couple of months before the trip time we are looking at. With a little bit of effort, you can find some good deals.

**Kristi** · August 2nd, 2009, 01:16 AM

Click on edit flights to bring up all the flight options. I think it defaults to the cheapest flights but those are not necessarily the best ones for you.

**ElaineChick** · August 3rd, 2009, 10:46 AM

It doesn't look like Continental flies direct out of Houston any more. Do they?

We're trying to book for our mid-October (this year) trip, and I just can't believe how much tickets have been running and continue to run. There's been a lot made of how airlines are having to cut prices to increase capacity, but I'm just not seeing it. Tickets now are running more than what they were for our trip last December. October is the height of hurricane season there - how can tickets be so much? We're going on off-days (low travel days), too, in the middle of the week. It's so frustrating!!

**KSherlock** · August 3rd, 2009, 12:01 PM

Elaine - Continental does have direct flights out of Houston - we are taking one in 2 days. It looks like they may be cutting back on how many flights they make down there - maybe because it's not peak season anymore? We had lots of options when we were looking at July/August dates. I saw an October option leaving Saturday the 3rd and returning Saturday the 10th for $420. You may have to play with the dates to get the flight you want. If you are stuck with the dates you have chosen, you may have to take a less than optimal flight. Enter your dates and check the "search +/- 3 days" box. I also search on Cheaptickets.com to find options from a bunch of airlines and then go from there.

Good luck!