I just received an email this morning from Delta. They are running some pretty good round trip deals right now on some SXM fights.

Boston (BOS) to SXM - $351.00

NYC to SXM - $365.00

Raleigh/Durham, NA (RDU) to SXM - $391.00

LAX to SXM - $497.00

Here is a link to the Delta Deals

Just thought I would pass the info on in case some luck soul could squeeze an extra trip in this year.

Some very good deals!

And, wait for it--- ATLANTA to SXM is $751!!!!

Go figure.

It is hard to understand the system sometimes. LAX is $497 and ATL is $751, why????

..and presumably the flight from LAX connects to a flight from Atlanta. I notice the same thing here in Florida. Flights from Orlando or Tampa on AA that connect to the AA flight from Miami to SXM, those flights are almost always cheaper than the flights that originate in Miami.

And no Detroit or Chicago!

And good luck trying to book using frequent flyer points. Once you're not a Gold business traveler, you're dead to them. DELTA -- driving every loyal traveler away!

We actually are flying on Delta miles to SXM in June. We were lucky, I guess. We spent about 40K roundtrip for each of us, and got Delta comfort on the way home. That is pretty comparable to what we normally pay on AA, where we usually pay 35K for regular seats both ways.

It's because airports charge airlines for landing, taking off, jetways, everything.
So a farther away smaller airport will be cheaper than a close major airport.
Get it?
Miami charges airlines more than FLL. Stuff like that.
Peace out.
irina

Irina--the point is that it often costs LESS to take one flight to connect to a different airport, in this case, Atlanta, and then board another plane in Atlanta and fly to SXM, than it would to just book the flight that starts in Atlanta and fly to SXM. That makes no sense..

It’s because airlines price based on demand not costs and they optimize for maximum revenue. When you buy a product in a store, the store typically prices the item with an X% markup and that’s it. If there is an increase in demand for that product they don’t raise prices. If there is a decrease in demand they don’t drop prices.

This is a pretty good explanation of it: https://crankyflier.com/2012/01/03/why-does-a-connecting-flight-cost-more-than-a-nonstop-ask-cranky/

Well, actually, that doesn't address the specific issue we're talking about here..

It actually does. In their example it is cheaper to fly LAX -> SFO -> HNL then it was to fly SFO -> HNL.

OK, if you say so. I didn't read it as addressing the situation.