Flights to BL cruise in PR

[tbmrt]

Flight prices are very high  lately..Sailing BL in Feb 2024.

 

Wondering if I should bite the bullet and book now or wait.

 

Hotels were also high so we went w Airbnb.

 

Input appreciated.

 

 

[CruisingWalter]

Flights literally change by the hour. That old adage of 'flights are cheapest on Tuesday' doesn't really seem to apply anymore. We had some friends waiting to "see what happens" and ended up paying $250 more pp than if they had booked when they first looked at the flights. 

 

They did find a sweet hotel in Old San Juan for a really good rate, around $120/night ish I want to say. Looked like a cute little 2 story place within walking distance of some of the local restaurants and I think they can literally walk down to the port if they wanted to.  I'm really excited to get down there to try Brilliant Lady. Those are the best Caribbean itineraries VV has right now. 

[Freelancer3]

Flights to SJU are high right now but watch for deals. Though I dont care for Frontier, there are better prices from their cities even after paying their crazy fees. Few or none of the cruise ships leave from the Old San Juan piers. The cruise ships dock in Old San Juan are for stops to visit OSJ. So, I anticipate we board where the cruise ships depart. 

Edited August 7, 2023 by Freelancer3

[Fogcityca13]

I bit the bullet and bought. AA was the cheapest, but very short connection in MIA. JetBlue was the same with connections in FLL, JFK or BOS. Ended up with Delta. Now the AirBnB vs hotel research. 

[lisabucsfan1]

30 minutes ago, Fogcityca13 said:

I bit the bullet and bought. AA was the cheapest, but very short connection in MIA. JetBlue was the same with connections in FLL, JFK or BOS. Ended up with Delta. Now the AirBnB vs hotel research. 

 

Keep watching Delta. Since they don't charge fees for cancellations, you can always cancel & rebook with your credit. Granted, you'll have credit leftover with them for a future flight, but as long as you'd fly them again, you won't lose it.
I'm doing this with my flights to Sydney in February - have rebooked 3 times now and saved quite a bit.

[Fogcityca13]

Thanks. I wish Delta had more direct flights between SFO and MIA, they took care of us when our flights were cancelled due to the shutdown. Gave us 2 years to use the flight credit. AA has non refundable with change fees. I’ve got the flights tracked on Google flights.

[chillyw]

36 minutes ago, Fogcityca13 said:

Thanks. I wish Delta had more direct flights between SFO and MIA, they took care of us when our flights were cancelled due to the shutdown. Gave us 2 years to use the flight credit. AA has non refundable with change fees. I’ve got the flights tracked on Google flights.

 

That sounds like basic economy on AA - be careful booking those on any airline.  Normal AA fares are similar to the rest of the industry (no change fees, pay the difference, get a credit back if drops).

[scubagal44]

47 minutes ago, Fogcityca13 said:

Thanks. I wish Delta had more direct flights between SFO and MIA, they took care of us when our flights were cancelled due to the shutdown. Gave us 2 years to use the flight credit. AA has non refundable with change fees. I’ve got the flights tracked on Google flights.

 

We're doing a red eye out of SFO for our BL sailing in Feb 2024.  Price was less than $400pp roundtrip with 3 hrs connection time at MIA.  I found that to be pretty reasonable, especially with how fllight prices are these days!

[cantgetin]

Check SW if they serve your home airport.  If prices go down, they allow you to re-fare and the excess becomes a non-expiring credit.  Also, 2 bags at no cost.  They DO serve SanJuan.

 

[Fogcityca13]

1 hour ago, scubagal44 said:

 

We're doing a red eye out of SFO for our BL sailing in Feb 2024.  Price was less than $400pp roundtrip with 3 hrs connection time at MIA.  I found that to be pretty reasonable, especially with how fllight prices are these days!

Sadly red eyes are a no go for the wife. I can operate on little to no sleep, she cannot. Both times I’ve tried to convince her it’s ok, we’ve had crying kids sitting behind us. 
 

@cantgetinSW didn’t have a flight from SFO to SJU, had the return flight. Maybe too early for March bookings. 

[cantgetin]

25 minutes ago, Fogcityca13 said:

@cantgetinSW didn’t have a flight from SFO to SJU, had the return flight. Maybe too early for March bookings. 

Their next date to release flights is Sept 14.  Yes, their schedules can be odd.  For our last cruise, we had to fly into FLL as they weren't doing anything from my daughter's home airport to MIA on the days we needed.  We were flying from different home cities and meeting up in Florida, so FLL didn't make any real difference.  It was just rather odd.

[CineGraphic]

58 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

Their next date to release flights is Sept 14.  Yes, their schedules can be odd.  For our last cruise, we had to fly into FLL as they weren't doing anything from my daughter's home airport to MIA on the days we needed.  We were flying from different home cities and meeting up in Florida, so FLL didn't make any real difference.  It was just rather odd.

 

The last time I looked I noticed that flights from Orlando, FLL, and Miami are more frequent and considerably lower in price than anything we can get out of ATL, so we're considering adding a day or two pre-cruise in one of them before heading out to San Juan.

[Ixtoras]

5 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 

The last time I looked I noticed that flights from Orlando, FLL, and Miami are more frequent and considerably lower in price than anything we can get out of ATL, so we're considering adding a day or two pre-cruise in one of them before heading out to San Juan.

That's essentially what we're doing.   Booked a multi city flight staying in Orlando a couple of days prior to departure just to have more options for getting to San Juan.  We're coming from California, so pickings were slim on single stop flights as it was.

 

As for flight prices - president's day weekend flght prices were rediculous - so in addition to staying in Orlando pre-cruise, we're staying several days in San Juan post cruise.   Wish I had known that the prices would be that high that week.  Might have picked a different week.

[CineGraphic]

13 minutes ago, Ixtoras said:

As for flight prices

 

For our transatlantic sailing in October on the Valiant, we're flying to Boston in order to catch a great deal in premium economy to Barcelona with Level Airlines. It was 1/2 the cost of Delta's basic economy out of ATL.

[Mione]

We bit the bullet tonight and booked our flights from Toronto to San Juan for around $430.00 CND per person, which I thought was a pretty good deal. We are flying American Airlines from Toronto to San Juan, with a stop over in Charlotte, NC, and a direct flight from San Juan back to Toronto. On the hunt now for hotel accommodations. Someone mentioned that we will most likely with not leave from the OSJ cruise port. Where is the alternative port?  

[red lobster]

I booked a flight to Orlando on Southwest 2 days before, spending the night and flying to Puerto Rico the next morning. I can't do a return flight until they open the schedule for that week. In the past I have booked a flight the day before from our nearest airport, but it isn't offered anymore. We cruise on April 6th.

[CrazyTrain2]

15 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 

For our transatlantic sailing in October on the Valiant, we're flying to Boston in order to catch a great deal in premium economy to Barcelona with Level Airlines. It was 1/2 the cost of Delta's basic economy out of ATL.

See you on that sailing.

[CrazyTrain2]

I would book a refundable fare now and then use that as a maximum price for the trip.  If another carrier or fare sale makes it cheaper just cancel.  Times are strange for airfares, but there seems to be increasing oil prices that can influence prices.

 

I booked my flights for BCN almost a years ago and boy I am I glad I did. I thought I was getting robbed back then, but now I feel like a genius.

[tbmrt]

Has anyone ever booked one way fares on different airlines rather than using the same airline?  I remember reading somewhere that was a bad idea, but don't remember why. 

 

I can't seem to find good times/prices on the same airline for our Tampa -  San Juan flight. Going through Orlando is unacceptable due to drive and traffic.

 

 

[chillyw]

2 hours ago, tbmrt said:

Has anyone ever booked one way fares on different airlines rather than using the same airline?  I remember reading somewhere that was a bad idea, but don't remember why. 

 

I can't seem to find good times/prices on the same airline for our Tampa -  San Juan flight. Going through Orlando is unacceptable due to drive and traffic.

 

 

 

Booking two one-way fares is not an issue if it's different travel days (ex: outbound and return).

 

Two different carriers on the same portion of the journey does carry some risks and inconveniences.

 

You will need to collect luggage and recheck at the ticket counter, then go back through security.

 

In addition, you are not covered on any delays by the first airline. The second airline only has the obligation for your second flight. You'd fall under however their no-show policy is it you missed it.

 

For both of those reasons, I've only ever done it when I've had a significant layover, like an overnight, but usually avoid.

[tbmrt]

Bit the bullet and booked our flights Tampa to San Juan - $311 Jet Blue Blue.  Not many flights from Tampa and driving to Orlando is a mess.  

 

Problem is timing..We leave SJ around 9 PM and get in around midnight!  Yuck...Has anyone used that Bagaway thing in PR to leave suitcases after checking out of airbnb??

[ckck]

6 hours ago, tbmrt said:

Bit the bullet and booked our flights Tampa to San Juan - $311 Jet Blue Blue.  Not many flights from Tampa and driving to Orlando is a mess.  

 

Problem is timing..We leave SJ around 9 PM and get in around midnight!  Yuck...Has anyone used that Bagaway thing in PR to leave suitcases after checking out of airbnb??

For luggage storage, we've used Barrachina restaurant in Old San Juan. They will hold until 5 PM for free (there is a tip jar to tip for the service) - since your flight is at 9, you could enjoy old San Juan for the day, return to Barrachina to retrieve luggage, eat an early dinner, and then head to the airport. The restaurant is a short taxi ride from the cruise terminal.

 

We too just booked airfare for around the holidays - brutal prices. Hoping the prices will drop and we can reticket.

[WanderingBrit]

We're willing to pay extra to avoid connections, given how unreliable air travel seems to have become. There are limited nonstop options for ORD to SJU, and the AA flights I booked in March, for Feb '24, are $150 each more now than they were - so booking far in advance seems to have paid off.

[poohterp]

We just booked SWA RT NonStop for $417 pp, but arriving the night before.  Gone are the days when you could fly in the same day.  Airlines are too unreliable now.  We haven’t had a flight leave on-time in over 18 months, or worse - get changed once or twice after booking.

[cantgetin]

1 hour ago, poohterp said:

We just booked SWA RT NonStop for $417 pp, but arriving the night before.  Gone are the days when you could fly in the same day.  Airlines are too unreliable now.  We haven’t had a flight leave on-time in over 18 months, or worse - get changed once or twice after booking.

My most recent flight got me in 6 hours late after some "restructuring."   This was not to a flight, and it was fine as, again, I had planned to arrive a day ahead of my appointments.