Airfare Drama...

Getting married at PPR Nov 10 of this year.  I've been checking airfare since the rates have been published and all of a sudden no direct flights from Newark airport to Punta Cana during the week of my wedding except for Saturday Sunday & Monday and flights from JFK are over $1000.  I am absolutely freaking out.  Has anyone encountered this?  Is it still too far away to worry?

i can see why you'd panic!  airlines are always changing their schedules so i suppose there's a chance that they'll come back - i don't even think they know their schedules yet!  and even if you had booked, they can always change or cancel on you.  yikes, are you working with a TA at all?

We had a similar problem a couple weeks ago, we booked our airfare months ago with American airlines leaving from JFK going to Punta Cana and a couple of weeks ago my travel agent contacted me saying American notified her that all of their non-stop flights to Punta Cana are now connecting flights.  I was soo mad when she told me this, cause I was not going to have a connection.  Our only other option was to fly Jetblue, which we orignally did not go with because they do not have a closet for bridal dresses where as American did, but that was our only other option or leave out of Newark which is farther away for us.  We checked the price of Jetblue and it was a couple hundred more than what we paid, so I waited a couple weeks cause it was the holidays and stuff and I just didn't feel like being bothered or stressing over it.  Last thursday i checked prices again and they went down to almost what we paid originally and we had the travel agent re-book us with Jetblye and get us our refund from American. 

Besides not having the closet on Jetblue to hang my dress in, which I'm going to make sure they find somewhere to put it or I'll hold it if I have to haha in the end it all worked out for us.  Are you using a travel agent?  I would just keep checking prices and I would still wait to book, we waited months at first because airfare was so much but it eventually went down.  Are you in New Jersey?

Good luck and I know its hard but try not to stress it just yet

I'm working with a Travel Agent...he told me it's too early to worry just yet. LOL try telling a bride not worry!!!  Anyway, I actually did some checking and looked at a few Caribbean spots with flights from Newark and most of them are in the same boat.  I'm in NJ and my fam is scattered around Brooklyn, Staten Island, NJ, & Long Island.  JFK isn't the end of the world but not as convenient as Newark.  JetBlue hasn't published fares yet for  November so I'm gonna have to hang tight...ugh!!!

Kristen if you dont mind me asking how much did you pay round trip? We too are flying out of JFK in May 2013 so prices are def not out yet however your wedding in June is a good comparison.  We are going down for site visits next month and our airfare was close to $500...it is during the week of Valentines day so I am hoping thats whay it was soo much. Anyway let me know. Thanks!!~

Quote:

Originally Posted by kristen6212 

We had a similar problem a couple weeks ago, we booked our airfare months ago with American airlines leaving from JFK going to Punta Cana and a couple of weeks ago my travel agent contacted me saying American notified her that all of their non-stop flights to Punta Cana are now connecting flights.  I was soo mad when she told me this, cause I was not going to have a connection.  Our only other option was to fly Jetblue, which we orignally did not go with because they do not have a closet for bridal dresses where as American did, but that was our only other option or leave out of Newark which is farther away for us.  We checked the price of Jetblue and it was a couple hundred more than what we paid, so I waited a couple weeks cause it was the holidays and stuff and I just didn't feel like being bothered or stressing over it.  Last thursday i checked prices again and they went down to almost what we paid originally and we had the travel agent re-book us with Jetblye and get us our refund from American. 

 

Besides not having the closet on Jetblue to hang my dress in, which I'm going to make sure they find somewhere to put it or I'll hold it if I have to haha in the end it all worked out for us.  Are you using a travel agent?  I would just keep checking prices and I would still wait to book, we waited months at first because airfare was so much but it eventually went down.  Are you in New Jersey?

 

Good luck and I know its hard but try not to stress it just yet

I've been checking flights for my guests for my Aug 2012 wedding leaving from Newark and they are right about $500 including taxes and not looking like they are coming down. Don't know what I should do, tell them to wait or purchase now

We are having a difficult time with airfare also. My wedding is June 30, and I am surprised the prices are so steep considering its the off season. We have not found much better than $525 per person out of DC, NYC, or Boston, but most are around $550-$600. It just seems crazy to me bc I have never paid more than about $400 to fly to the caribbean.

Maybe its this hype about gas prices supposedly going up over the summer? Anyway, Bing, my favorite flight search website, posts the trends and buy/wait guidance when you are within 120 days. I plan on checking then. I cant imagine it being worse than it is now.

Yeah after I posted the prices went up another $50. If you look at the breakout of the taxes it's like $85 in Dominican taxes and another in $60 in US taxes. I think it's just nuts!

That's great info, I didn't know Bing did that.  We're going Continental out of Newark for ours, June 24, 2012.  Prices had been low 400s (before taxes) but we haven't bought our tix yet and of course they went up about a hundred.  We have a travel agent watching for us, so hopefully it will take a dip again soon... Worst case scenario we can eat up frequent flyer miles.  We wanted just to use them for a first class upgrade not use them all for the coach ticket alone!

Originally Posted by tyandnique 

We are having a difficult time with airfare also. My wedding is June 30, and I am surprised the prices are so steep considering its the off season. We have not found much better than $525 per person out of DC, NYC, or Boston, but most are around $550-$600. It just seems crazy to me bc I have never paid more than about $400 to fly to the caribbean.

 

Maybe its this hype about gas prices supposedly going up over the summer? Anyway, Bing, my favorite flight search website, posts the trends and buy/wait guidance when you are within 120 days. I plan on checking then. I cant imagine it being worse than it is now.

One more thing to add --- my TA called both AirTran and American and they both have two group travel discount plans... 

• Option 1: at least 10 people must fly the same round-trip itinerary (same airports, times, flights, both ways), they have special pricing [note: it wasnt that much better than the regular prices]. You have to put x number of dollars down for each person to solidify the group rate.
• Option 2: The airline gives you a discount code. Your guests book their travel (must depart within one week of the event, and must return within one week of the event) and apply the group code. As long as 10 people book you get a percentage off the lowest available fare for the selected flight (American's percentage off was 5%, and AirTrans was 10%). This is free!

So I had my TA setup codes on both airlines for my event (Option 2). I am leaning more toward American bc I've seen better itineraries.

So maybe ask your TA to contact the airlines to inquire. She said it was a bit of a hassel (waited on hold for 45 mins), but hey, that's why we have these TAs! To handle stuff like this!

HTH!!