Airfare is tricky!

[boscobel]

So I thought I found a good deal on airfare (and I guess in comparison it is), but I thought this was so good I was going to have to snatch it up right now. I found airfare to Jamaica for the days that I need it for $313 roundtrip. I thought, holy shilz, I need to book that right this instant! Then I choose it and they add almost $100 in additional fees! Now it is $440.56 which isn't so great that I need to buy it right now. Tricky bastards.

[TammyWright]

for all travel i make sure people go through the entire process because airlines and hotels tack on alot of fees...

[boscobel]

That probably would've been ideal, but we booked before airfare was available and my TA quoted me $670/pp!

[IrieBride08]

My contact at Air Jamaica told me that taxes can start at $88 or more per ticket and can fluctuate all the way up until the departure date.

 

When I booked my group rates of $348 and $317 from Baltimore and Atlanta respectively direct to Jamaica, the taxes were $88 per ticket, but it has gone up to $108 per ticket. So the tickets are all over $400. All my contract does is secure the cost of the tickets only. (Kinda frustrating!)

[Spazz]

My TA booked directly with Air Jamaica and secured 60 seats at $465 including taxes. I think you should try to work directly with the airline to get the seats. My TA said they are holding that rate for us because we guaranteed to fill the seats.

[boscobel]

Damn, so I guess $440 isn't a bad price. Maybe I will just book it, calling my FI now.

 

He wants to just wait it out. I wish I had as little worries as him about it! See, we are paying for this whole trip ourselves and we are also paying to bring my sis and her 2 kids (her stupid husband left and moved back to Canada!) So I feel guilty already about price and am trying to cut corners where ever I can, but he has no worries.

[Spazz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlymcmullen Damn, so I guess $440 isn't a bad price. Maybe I will just book it, calling my FI now. He wants to just wait it out. I wish I had as little worries as him about it! See, we are paying for this whole trip ourselves and we are also paying to bring my sis and her 2 kids (her stupid husband left and moved back to Canada!) So I feel guilty already about price and am trying to cut corners where ever I can, but he has no worries.

That's so nice that you're paying for your sister and her kids. I thought we could get lower than $465, but I've been stalking airline websites since April and they haven't seemed to drop at all, they've actually gone up. It's true that they may drop as the date gets closer, but I wouldn't want to wait too long to reserve seats. I'd say just keep checking for the next couple of weeks and get them when they're the lowest you've seen.

[PVBride]

Carly - Have you tried Cheap Flights, Airline Tickets, Cheap Airfare & Discount Travel Deals - Kayak.com Kayak gives you rates from tons of different airlines, and all of the rates already have taxes/fees calculated in them. So, you just look at the bottom line.

[Jenn]

Wow, I guess we got lucky... you guys are talking about flying out of Philly, right? When we first started, airfare was $440 on US Air. We waited a few weeks, and it dropped to $355 (including all taxes) to Montego Bay.

 

The one thing I would say is that flying out of Philly international is a pain on US Air. They don't skycap checkin for international, and the line is insane. When we booked our tickets we had to do it at the airport b/c we had travel vouchers from a refund for a previous trip. They don't actually have a ticketing agent line. We had to stand in the international departures checkin, and it took almost 2 hours to get through the line! If the price hadn't been so much better and if we didn't have $200 in vouchers, I would've flown Air Jamaica...

 

In the end I can't totally complain, because we got bumped up to first class for free (woohoo!). We asked for a manager because after the 2 hour wait, they still couldn't figure out how to book us with the travel vouchers! His resolution (because we were fuming at this point) was to upgrade us. I've never flown first class, so that's cool.

[MsShelley]

I was going to suggest Cheapflights.com as well, I found the best prices on there!