discouraged by air fares to Cayman

[pharmlivin]

Just began searching for flights for 2009 and have come away with sticker shock. We can fly from Philly,NYC or Newark but fares for next winter for 2 people are pushing 2000,,,too much...we do have lots of Marriott Points...might have to use them for tix. Maybe things will go down now that oil has cooled off a bit...anyone else finding this as they plan for Cayman in 2009?

 

[lprstn]

I feel your pain...

I gave my 2 trades away at "1 and 4" resorts because the airfare doubled both places. Those who I gave it to only had to pay airfare for 1 person where I would have had to pay airfare for 6 people. One vacation I gave up all together the other I replaced it with a trip to my "Happy Place(Disney)" that is driving distance from home.

 

[caribbeansun]

I'm seeing $580 on Delta from Buffalo so I'm quite shocked that you're seeing rates as high as you are.

 

[JoeMid]

I got $400 for Thanksgiving!

 

[Anne S]

What dates are you looking for?

 

[pharmlivin]

I was just plugging in some random dates

for next Feb, March...fares seem to drop a bit when I got to May...we'll see. It seems like I might just have to stay for 2 weeks to optimize the air fare cost...that's a pity isn't it

 

[escargot]

We are seeing fares for next May to GCM around $800 from TN. Yes, staying 2 weeks is the "only" way to justify it.

 

[maryk]

I am in the same boat. I am so upset. We got this exchange to Grand Cayman over a year ago and have been so excited.

Now the airlines are brusting our bubbles !!

We live in Atlanta and I had a ton of FF miles but those are even more ridulous than the $$. Outradgeous.

We are trying for April 4-11 2009.

If anyone sees anything good , please let me know. We are willing to drive to Charlotte, Raleigh, Birmingham, or Chattanooga. But so far all I found was 127000 miles per ticket or approx $800 per ticket. YIKES !!

You can bet my next couple exchanges will be based on driving distance.

 

[maryk]

YEAH !! After reading my TUG for the night, I just happened to check Delta and the FF miles flight to GCM.

It went down !! I got the tickets. We are going to GCM in April 2009 !!

I am so excited.

Now I need to find a ticket for my Mother IN Law for the flight at a good price. wish me luck on that one. I have been using Kayak.com and I like that sight to get an idea what is going on with prices.

My husband can now start to think about getting recertified in Scuba so he can go while there. Sounds like a good Xmas present. :whoopie:

 

[Jbart74]

We got two Tix from JFK (NYC) to GCM about a month ago for our Jan. 17, 2009 week for $440 a piece. That is a DIRECT flight on Cayman Airways. I don't think it can be beaten, but it might be emmulated?

We'll be driving two hours to get to NYC, but we've made plans with friends on Long Island the day before we dapart, so it's all good. We'll stay there that night, leave the car in their driveway for the week, and take a 20 min train trip to the airport on the morning of the 7am departure.

We can't wait to get back to our happy place!

 

[TonyW]

Suggestions for airfares to Grand Cayman

Air Canada flies daily non-stop from Toronto to Grand Cayman. Connections through Toronto are convenient. Check out the Carribean Sun Pass on the AC WEB site, and you will find fares below the $2k you are being quoted.

Another alternative is the USVI. Fares are more reasonable ($1,200) but the connections from Canada at least are horrible (overnights in O'Hare, BWI).

 

[Zac495]

I'm hoping for 4 tickets from Phili - Grand Cayman - Aruba. AA says that's 30K per person with the week stop in Grand Cayman. When I go on line - they show availability. I'm still a few days away from my return trip - so I can't book yet. Here's hoping!

 

[maryk]

good luck with the philly- GCM - trip.

I found my best rate late at night.

I now need to book one flight with $$ for my mother in law going with us. She is in Philly.

I keep looking, but too much for her yet on a fixed income.

If anyone sees anything please let me know.

thanks and good luck.

maryk

 

[timesharejunkie4]

What about flying out of Atlantic City? I know Spirit Airlines flies to GCM but don't know anything about the fare or when they fly.

 

[anne1125]

I just booked our flights yesterday on Continental out of Newark for $470 plus fees. It came to about $1600 for 3 of us. We wanted Philly but it was too expensive. I've been watching fares for about 6 months. We go next July.

Anne

 

[krmlaw]

Im starting to look at prices as well. Is there a certain time of year when the prices are less?

 

[anne1125]

If you fly Continental book your tickets about 2 weeks after they have been released (330 days out). From my watching that is their best price.

Anne

 

[caribbeansun]

I did check out the sunpass when it was first introduced but the terms and conditions seemed a bit heavy handed. My flight to Cayman in January just ran me north of $900 with the various taxes being >$200.

Air Canada flies daily non-stop from Toronto to Grand Cayman. Connections through Toronto are convenient. Check out the Carribean Sun Pass on the AC WEB site, and you will find fares below the $2k you are being quoted.

Another alternative is the USVI. Fares are more reasonable ($1,200) but the connections from Canada at least are horrible (overnights in O'Hare, BWI).

 

[mbh]

Booked on Continental

Just booked Newark- Grand Cayman on Continerntal for 2/27/09 and return on 3/6/09. Price was $404 - all taxes and fees included. Base fare was $328.

 

[Laurie]

And another idea: we had an exchange to Grand Cayman this past January. When I first looked at flights, round trips were on the high side. There was a relative I had contemplated visiting in FL, so I checked flights for Tampa - Grand Cayman - NC ... sorta like an open-jaw, except different departure and arrival cities. Prices were hundreds of $$ lower than round trip NC-Grand Cayman at the time. Then I found a back-to-back exchange to FL, and a cheap 1-way flight on SW from NC-FL, with total flight costs lower than the round trip. Later on the round trip fares came down some, but we still came out better doing it this way, and got to spend a week in FL too.

So ... you might check out that kind of itinerary, especially if Southwest flies from your city - see if it could save you $. Lowest fare was out of Miami, but not much more from Tampa (which we used) or Orlando. It was either AA or Delta, I'd have to check.