Airfare to San Juan from Chicago or Detroit

[SWEETNLOW2005]

I am looking for the best airfare from Chicago or Detroit to San Juan? We are booked on a cruise departing Oct 29 2006 from San Juan. There will be a group of 10-20 of us. Looking for tickets around $300.00. Any good ideas ?

 

Thank You in Advance

Sweetnlow2005

[LUCY55]

I got a tip here on cruisecritc that really helped me--http://www.kayak.com

 

By scanning numerous travel sites and airline sites it shows a bigger picture of what is out there. I was able to grab tickets from MDW to FLL for our springbreak in March. I thought all the cheaper tickets were gone. However AirTran had a sale which showed up first on cheapseats(which is not a site I frequent). The noon-1:00 return flights are hardest to get after a Florida cruise. I was able to grab these times before the sale showed up on the major travel sites. (I never saw the sale on AirTrans site-and a few hours later the cheaper seats in this time frame were gone.)

[greatam]

I am looking for the best airfare from Chicago or Detroit to San Juan? We are booked on a cruise departing Oct 29 2006 from San Juan. There will be a group of 10-20 of us. Looking for tickets around $300.00. Any good ideas ?

 

Thank You in Advance

Sweetnlow2005

 

Just a suggestion-you may save yourself some money by calling AA direct and asking for the group department. Check the prices first but the best I am seeing in my database is $360.00 United nonstop or $365.00 AA-one stop in MIA on the return. AA usually has better group bookings than United and has more flights to SJU from ORD. You will need at least 10 seats on the same flight to get group rates.

[ocngypz]

Group rates are not the cheapest way to go. When the initial rate is loaded into the system, it stays at that rate regardless ofwhat is happening in the market

 

FIT rates on the other hand, move up and down as market conditions fluctuate.

 

Here's an example. I called AA groups department for St Thomas to London Heathrow rt. Group rate was $1180. Best rate for the same flight through FIT$982. Best rate available for my clients turned out to be on UsAir at $684.

[SWEETNLOW2005]

Thanks for the info. It does seem that group rates are the same as the published rates. I checked with Spirit out of Detroit and they will not have these rates until Feb 2006 in their system. Most of the group would prefer DTW. What are FIT rates ? I am hoping to find something in the 300-360 range.

 

Thank You

Sweetnlow2005

[parody]

It does seem that group rates are the same as the published rates.

 

I believe that Northwest provides a discount of 5% for group travel. However, as ocngypz points out, this is really no big deal compared to what you could do otherwise. As for your question, FIT rates are applicable only for Frequent Individual Travellers.

[ocngypz]

FIT = INDIVIDUALS.

 

Has nothing to do with frequent.

[parody]

A direct quote from http://www.southtravels.com/faqs.html#29 (and there are many more citations if one does a Google search).

 

What is FIT rates?

FIT rates is applicable only for Frequent Individual Travellers.

[SWEETNLOW2005]

Has anyone used Spirit Airlione to fly to San Juan from Dtw or Ord ?

[kimcruiser]

We will be doing this in 25 days;) (from detroit) But I noticed when I was looking for air for my sil that they had specials at this time of year on spirit but of course you have to travel on thur and mon, but the price was anywhere from $9 to $99. so for that time of year you might find deals if you wait until aug or sept. we never found deals and paid about 450pp but I guess for us this is in peak season.

[bouhunter]

Has anyone used Spirit Airlione to fly to San Juan from Dtw or Ord ?

 

We flew Spirit for the first time this year - twice. DTW-Myrtle Beach and DTW-Orlando. All flights were on time, the luggage made it fine, and employees were friendly. Can't ask much more from an airline these days:)

[wieslaw]

Has anyone used Spirit Airlione to fly to San Juan from Dtw or Ord ?

 

Hi, we did use Spirit Airline from DTW to MCO to SJU just about two/three weeks ago. Same flight number all the way from DTW to SJU, so carry on stayed on the plane in MCO.

It was a very pleasant flight: flights were on time (coming back there was 1 hour delay - not sure why, but the flight was late coming in, so going out of SJU there was delay).

The plane looked almost brand new, had lether seats with adjustable headrest. No food service for the main cabin, only bevarage - 'you' can purchase some 'snacks'.

I was very surprized (read their luggage info.) that they still have the 'old' limit of 70 lbs per bag - most others have now the 50 and it is very easy to go over and pay extra for it.

The best part was the price:

Airfare: 248.00

Exise Tax: 28.00

Departure Taxes: 0.00

Security Tax: 10.00

Facility Fees: 13.50

Segment Tax: 0.00

International Tax: 0.00

(Never knew there are so many taxes)

Total Per Person 299.70

 

Tickets were purchased about 10 months in advance during one of their "specials".

 

Wes

[SWEETNLOW2005]

Wieslaw-thank you. The price is within our range and we are looking to book airfare in Feb. I hope we are able to find a fare for that price. Although we are open to ORD also. Just hoping to get a good fare from DTW.

 

Thanks Again

Sweetnlow2005

[SWEETNLOW2005]

Any other takers on this . Well i guess we have plenty of time to look for airfare.

 

Sweetnlow