Ahoy everyone,
After a 10 year absence, I am planning a trip for next July. In the past we always flew into STT and took the ferry because it was quite a bit cheaper than flying to EIS. I see the ferry prices have gone up a lot in 10 years so I looked at flight to EIS. Strangely it is about $140 less to fly coach from Memphis to EIS than to fly to STT, and we save the ferry fees. This also avoids the possibility of being stuck in St Thomas if the flight arrives late.

I checked American Airlines site and it shows a coach flight for about 570 or Business class for 885. The first bag is free in coach then $40 for a second bag. Business class allows 3 checked bags free. That lets me take SCUBA gear for free and maybe a cooler (just to have on board. don't want to revisit the frozen food importing discussion again).

I've never paid for Business class before. In your experience is this a good price for Business class. (Free drinks too <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />)
I've got 10 months to departure.Is the price likely to go up or down in the future?
Thanks for your input.
Fair winds,
Rick

I'm not an airfare expert, but both of those prices strike me as excellent. For roughly $300 R/T I'd be all over that business class.

Those are great fares! Best a friend could do for NOV from CLT was 1100 to EIS in coach and 632 to STT also in coach.
G

I just found one/way from LAX all the way to Beef for $404 pp on American for our trip in May/June and jumped on it - paid a little extra for "comfy" economy but still a great deal - it was actually more expensive into STT....

Do the American business class. That's a great price. Close to what we pay for coach from Seattle

Fly business/first class! Our motto is vacation begins when the plane takes off. I don't usually remember the landing. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/circle.gif" alt="" />

OK, Thanks for all the responses. The price on my prefered Business class flights already went up. Got the same price for a slightly different schedule. Only gives me 40 minutes to change planes in MIA. I guess it will work out.

That sound tight for a connection in Mia. What do others think?

The fares weren't any cheaper ten years ago, so, yes.

40 minutes should be fine. As long as your plane is on time. There are a lot of gates for AA at MIA, but you also have the train that you can take vs walking.

Hate to be the naysayer but I would want an hour plus for a connection in MIA..you might get lucky..or you might have a 20 min walk..five or six min walk and five min train ride..not exactly the way to start a relaxing vacation..but I'd grab that business class fare in a heartbeat!

Booked the business class. Checked AA.com today and the price was back down on the itinerary with about 2 hours between flights. Called American Airlines and they let me change to my preferred flights and they waived the change fee.
So now I have 2 hours between flights instead of 40 minutes. I was a bit concerned about me or my bags missing the flight.
Thanks again for all the input.
Rick

It's always good to double-check flights within 24 hours - I believe most (if not all) will let you change within the first 24 hours no charge. I know JetBlue does, seems AA does as well.

Actually, as of now, ALL flights are fully cancellable within 24 hours, so obviously they should be pretty generous with allowing changes.

That is a great price. Out of Detroit, MI the best price I found to EIS is $752 Coach and it takes 13 hours to get there and 23 hours (and 3 stops) to get home. If I want a decent time the ticket is over $1200 and its still 10+ hours each way. I can fly into STT with one stop in 6 hours for about $600

Colleen, we are north of Detroit. Flying out of our nearest airport (pelston) we can't even get to STT in one day. Takes an overnight in Detroit or Atlanta. This November we're driving to Columbus to see our kids and then flying in and out of there. It's about $600 to STT round trip from Columbus. I'd jump on an $800 ticket to EIS.

I agree that an $800 ticket into EIS is good, but if I can fly into St. Thomas and get there in 1/3 the time, I'd rather go into St. Thomas.

The time factor is where I am at. After this thread started, I went and looked at flights into EIS for our March 2016 trip and while the pricing was competitive it was going to be a 14-16 hr day vs a 10-12 hour day. We like to get on island and to the villa by dark if possible. Gah, does this make us old? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I know there's the ferry to factor in when you fly into STT but I kind of like the ferry. It makes getting to Tortola seem like it's a little more remote (=special) to me. Knock on wood however our ferry trips have always been smooth.

I agree, in our 20 trips, we have never had a real problem with the ferry. I like landing in St. Thomas, usually by 1:00, getting off the plane and enjoying the smells and temperature of the islands. We normally catch the 2:30 ferry to Tortola.

We have flown through San Juan and even though we might land around 3 or so, we are stuck in the terminal until our flight to EIS. We have been stuck there for many hours because of flight delays. Hate not being able to get out and enjoy the islands right away.

We've done the ferry twice. No major issues. Sitting having a drink while waiting for the ferry was nice. Waiting in all the long lines at customs at both ends was not. One trip the ferry was blasting gospel music (I think it was a sunday morning). I had not problem with the music, would have been nice, had it not been at an ear piercing volume..

I much prefer relaxing for an hour or two at San Juan, grabbing a bite to eat and then enjoying the great views on our flight.

We are fortunate coming from Boston though as we have a lot of options in timing with JetBlue.

Having read most of the topics on this over time, it seems pretty clear that there's no "best" option - What's best really depends on where someone is coming from.

Stickman, think you got a great deal there. If you usually fly from Memphis, you know it is one of the most expensive markets - used to be the worst. We now fly Delta through Atlanta and San Juan. Would be great if Jet Blue or Southwest started flying direct to San Juan, though.