As we mentioned last week, finding airfare to St. Thomas has proven to be quite the task in recent months. We have a few more tips that can help you in your quest to find the cheapest airfare.
1. Southwest releases its fares today through March 7, 2014. The catch with Southwest is that it only flies to San Juan, Puerto Rico. You would have to pick up a puddle jumper flight from there. But it may be worth the extra hassle – After performing a quick search for fares for next February, we were able to find roundtrip fares from New York for only $307 RT; from Los Angeles for only $388 and from Dallas for only $446.
2. For those of you traveling with a small group and don’t mind the extra hassle of San Juan, Cape Air has a pretty good deal out there. It’s called the Commuter Book. This, however, is only good for folks traveling with five or more in a group, or those in smaller groups who travel to St. John more frequently.
The way it works is simple: You purchase a Commuter Book of tickets on Cape Air. The booklet consists of 10 one-way tickets between San Juan and St. Thomas (or vice versa). The tickets must be used within one year of purchase. Cape Air states that fliers can save up to 30 percent by purchasing tickets this way. In our very unscientific study, we’ve found an average savings of around 13 percent. The regular price for February, for example, is $1,245 for five round trip tickets whereas the Commuter Book sells for only $1,099. That’s a savings of $146, not too shabby.
So yes, it has become increasingly more expensive to travel to St. John but there are ways to lower airfare costs for those willing to put up with small hassles and those committed to doing their diligent homework.
In case you missed last week’s post about other ways to get the lowest airfare, please click here to read the full article.