We always go to St Martin from mid October to the end of the month. I started watching ticket prices right after the first of the year, and basically checked them every day. We have flown direct flights out of Charlotte every trip we have gone down to the island. Last year during October was when the official merger and conversion of US Air Flights to AA flight numbers occurred. Our flight down was listed as a US air flight, but while down there, the conversion happened, and our flights back were listed as AA. So this year, while searching for the direct flights out of Charlotte, the prices never really fell below $700 per person. I had never paid that much on US Air, even with the higher fuel cost the last few years. I checked the price every day for the first 4 months of the year, as the last few years, it seemed the lowest ticket prices I found came in April. This year, that did not happen. Around March, I also started checking the price out of my local airport. You see, I only lived about 70 miles from Charlotte, so it was never a problem to drive there to catch a direct flight. This year to my surprise, I found a AA flight out of my local airport that connects through Charlotte and actually does the same 2nd leg to St Martin as the direct flight. I only had to pay $596 per person for this. I do have to change planes in Charlotte, but don't have to drive but about 12 miles to catch the first leg of the trip. Not sure what sense this pricing makes, since the cost was so much lower by taking this from my home airport.