Airfare for the fall!!

Holy moly!! Just checked AA from Miami to SXM for October/November --$900!!! Yikes!! Wassup with that??

That round trip?

Are you thinking it's one way? AA from Miami (main cabin, NOT first class) has been usually no more than $600 R/T.

My daughter was going to bring her family to visit from FLL or MIA. Well over $1000 pp round trip. They won't be coming here.

We just paid $3k to get to CT in June. 2 pp round trip

The price of oil just went up a LOT and the airlines are passing it on. They react quickly when oil prices go up and slowly when they go down. Plus, demand for travel has increased substantially and they feel they can get away with the squeeze.

It's been like this for months

I hadn't looked for airfare in a long time because we have had our June trip booked for months. That is crazy from Florida recently. D*mn Jet Blue from FLL was keeping prices down.

I don't think it's that bad considering fuel prices and expected to go up.

Fuel up, labor up, interest rates up. Not just little amounts, way up. I know with my business travel which I am reducing this year hotels and everything has gone up, simple quick trips to Los Angeles from Portland Oregon get cost prohibitive. Used to be 18 times a year I would go, this year possibly four.

I know MJ and I have been paying more for our vacation travel but I have worked around dates and with a lot of flexibility we have done ok for airfare. Just sometimes have to get a bit creative.

I tried to come down right now for a few nights. Gave up. Could get down for 247 from jfk. But return on Monday was 850 and Tuesday not much better. Trying to go between now and June and the prices are insane. Already 2700 for February break pp from Boston!

Weird. We just paid $304 @ 1st class MIA to NYC O/W
Delta

Just your normal inflation, fuel prices, labor costs, people not wanting to work, etc. It all adds up.

I wouldn't say it's normal inflation, etc., at all. I paid approximately $508 for my plane ticket for June 2023 from Miami on AA.

We always flew JB - even went from our home in NJ to too far away on Long Island. A couple of years ago JB started to be MORE expensive than Delta and United, so reluctantly we switched. I know we're spoiled in my area at having choices between 3 different airlines for direct flights, but even that competition hasn't kept prices down.

I’m the same in CT. I can fly from JFK, LGA, EWR, BDL, and HPN. Many options but all are outrageous right now.

I agree Carol. If this is normal, soon only folks with mega $$$$$ will be in the air.

Here in Cincinnati finding RT for under $1100 is not possible unless you do an overnight. This can’t continue forever.

I feel your pain Carol. My husband and I were trying to plan a trip from MIA to the BVI's in the Oct-Nov timeframe. Everything was around $1200 per person, round trip. I just gave up. I think I could fly to Europe for less.

wanted to go to Scotland in August to escape Mississippi sweat season. $1300 round trip in the back of the Airbus....

My Wife booked two separate tickets for me to Toronto total $ 650.00 , West Jet . Bingo !

And you probably booked that months ago like we did in June for our coming May flight. 1100 each for FC one way.

Remember when oil was $100 a barrel, the airlines said we now need to charge a fee for checked luggage, when oil dropped to $50 a barrel the fees never went away. Now they charge extra for everything. The airline industry right now is a disaster, not enough pilots, crew members, rampers, short on ATC personnel. The FAA is now telling the airlines they need to cut back on flights to some of the larger airports because of the ATC shortage, less flights prices go up.

Oil prices one year ago today were around $20/barrel more expensive ($107 vs $82)

Carol I’ve been checking for the last month and the airfares are crazy. We booked one away for October and I can’t find a return even with a connecting flight that isn’t outrageously expensive on any carrier so I continue to look.

Wow, I booked our return to Cincinnati in February for 10k points each on AA.

Good move.

AWESOME move

Mine was $900 on AA for May 4. And that is for the cheap seats.

Yeah, these prices are "funny". I just booked our Feb '24 trip on AA from DFW, $1300 pp up front rt. I have yet to book our Dec trip, as coach is running over 1100 pp. We paid over $1000 for coach in July, but $1260 for up front for October. Go figure. I just decided that with all these upcoming trips, I can make Platinum, with effort, this year to tide me over until next year, when I should achieve Platinum for life. At least then we can book the Grand Exalted Coach section for free, awaiting complimentary upgrades.

Just booked for November on United out of Newark, 2 FC/RT tickets for $3k, price dropped $800 a ticket from last Tuesday.😎

Actually, when I first started looking a few months ago, the price was over $4k a ticket. I always noticed that the price see to change on a Sunday or Tuesday. So it pays to check often and buy when it’s a price you can live with.

We’re booked for Feb 24 and prices already went up.

Btw do you all use google flights and set alerts? If not, I’d suggest you do, just to even track trends Also it’s pretty inclusive with parameters that can be changed.

I'm sure most everyone on here is checking fares for any airport around you within your reasonable driving distance to save some bucks. I checked as soon as our Nov/Dec trip fell within the 331 day window and figured I would grab two seats out of Cleveland, as fares were definitely trending in the wrong direction, and as we haven't seen the typical "June Sale" in a few years. I got 2 up front for about $1200 each, which was just about what we've paid for awhile now on AA out of Detroit. Originating out of Detroit was $800 more per ticket! And connecting to the same flights no less. Within a few weeks, it was well over $2000 each.

And..I just checked the latest as I write this, and flights on our dates indeed dropped a good bit, so dunk my hat in the creek...I'm still ahead about $800 total, but what really stood out was how much coach had dropped. It's now in the mid-$700's, down from 1100/1200$ range just a few days ago. Might want to take a look if you're thinking about late November.

We're flying Jetblue out of Detroit for the first time for our June trip, and looking forward to it..that said, they added an early morning flight that made a same-day arrival and departure to SXM possible for the first time for us. Then, they cancelled the outbound flight so we're looking at an overnight at JFK. We used the free change to leave the evening before and still get to SXM on the planned date. Then, they cancelled the early flight out of SXM that let us get home the same day and we're now stuck with an overnight in Boston. Mint service on the Outbound SXM leg only. Despite the inconvenience, it was still half the price of AA or Delta when we booked, and looks like it still is.

Happy Motoring!

I have been looking for air prices for several months for our October 29 to November 12. Today was the lowest fare on United direct Newark to SXM flight $780 round trip per ticket. United has 3 economy fares one is very restrictive and a lower fare but only $50 lower, the next is what I consider normal economy which I booked but you can’t cancel and get a $ refund but you can cancel and get a credit. The last class allows for a $ refund and was a little over $100 more.
Bob

Which one you opt for?

I took the second ne or the middle priced for $780.
Bob

I see that now after I reread the post. Not a bad price. 👍

Booking an airline ticket today is like buying a lottery ticket. Can anyone explain why the ticket home is so much more expensive than the flight down - same aircraft, same route?

Usually, but not always the same aircraft and route. I fly from DAY and my return flight on Delta came in from JFK but went back to ATL. Conversely, the flight that came in from ATL then went to JFK. But, figuring out anything the airlines do is next to impossible.

SXM has a departure tax that is added to the ticket price

Correct, currently it is $39 per person.

Sometimes I have noticed last minute fares can be a good deal if you can plan short notice. About every tropical location is going to be a lot more now and SXM is still our number one place to go. We don't like paying more for anything but if it's between spending extra or freezing at home we always PAY and enjoy it!

We were very fortunate (and very lucky, I’m thinking….) in booking reasonably priced flights, both in JB points and dollars, for our November trip but I check every so often and I’m appalled at what the airlines in general and JB in particular are charging at this time and in particular for off season flights.

And still we go.

Perhaps it’s time for the SXM government to renegotiate with them?

A lot depends upon what is around the dates, we paid for this coming Nov/Dec trip almost 50% more for the trip down vs the trip home but that is likely because of being near Thanksgiving. Total RT for our trip was $1555.00 for big seats on AA. Have spent less, have spent more.

Nice perk for flying on AA business class is we get a 50% bonus (Alaska Airlines miles program) on status miles and this year I will be traveling less so getting all the way to 100k is going to be close.

"Perhaps it’s time for the SXM government to renegotiate with them"
What can they do?

I pulled a trigger on one way tickets from EWR on United for our November trip today. Not too bad, $288 in coach, Fist was over $1K so didn’t opt for it. Still watching for return in hopes that it will go down a bit. Wish AA would have a non-stop from
Philadelphia in November.