A Tip That Might Save You Airfare Money

[SusieAndAl]

Hi Everyone,

We just bought a ticket for one of our sons and thought we'd pass along a little technique that we have used for many years with great success.

He is flying from Charleston, SC to MHH. The lowest round trip quote on both Travelocity and Orbitz was $1350 (!).

We split the trip into two: a) Charleston to FLL and b) FLL to MHH on a different carrier. Total cost came to $510, a savings of $840.

We have found that by going round trip from a US airport (especially smaller ones) to a major gateway like FLL, MIA or PBI and then booking the ongoing flight round trip to MHH typically saves us 30-50% over "standard" round trip quotes. It doesn't always work, but it's definitely worth the try.

Hope this helps some of you save some money which of course should be spent on Kaliks and other good stuff!

Susie and Al

[JJ]

That is a good tip, but there is a risk you are taking. If you book it as one flight and you miss one of your connections, the booking airlines is responsible to get you on the next available flight at no additional cost. If you book it separately, and miss one of your legs, they aren't responsible. But, given the huge savings you realized, it is probably worth the risk, but I think most of the time, the savings aren't that large.

[toledopirate]

It has been my experience that a good travel agent can also assist you when you need to get "creative" with airfare. Fees for using an agent are generally not much higher than Orbitz or Expedia fees. An agent can also be invaluable when the airlines make changes to your itinerary. I tend to use an agent for all my international travel. Just my 2 cents.

[The May's]

I've got to agree with JJ, we just learned the hard way. We were just down on Guana for 10 wonderful days. On the way down Bahammasair cancelled the flight from Ft Lauderdale to Marsh Harbour so they routed us through West Palm. They overbooked the flight, 2 of us got on that flight, 1 was routed on Continental. The other two had to take a cab to Ft Lauderdale ($140) and purchase 2 tickets on Yellow Air Taxi. ($300) On our return trip, Bahammasair was 2 hours late leaving causing us to miss our Continental connection. This was on Sunday, the next available Continental flight available was on Tuesday including West Palm, Ft Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa airports. We ended up renting a van and driving from West Palm to Cleveland (another expense we have yet to tally). We'll have to save ALOT of money to do that again!!

[AbacoKB]

I've been our trip "travel agent" for the last 7 years and have found that booking the Florida (usually FLL) to Abaco (MHH) leg separate from the Minneapolis to FLL certainly can save $$ but you have to be smart about it and that might include longer layovers. But I'd much rather have a couple of hours to wait and know we AND our luggage will make it all the way there. I usually book our FLL to MHH flight first and then keep an an eye on any "deals" from MSP to FLL, although they are few and far between these days, they are out there. Continental is pretty consistent but keep in mind the charter companies may have something that better fits your schedule and the ferry schedule as well.

Just my two cents.....:D

-KB

[LeeWoods]

There's an easy fix for all who are wrestling with airfare and connections and legs and all that stuff, etc., etc. Move to the east coast of Florida and make the hop to West End in your own boat!! Island people like you shouldn't be living in the cold north, anyway. C'monnnnnn down !!

[AbacoKB]

That moving south thang has seriously crossed my mind, especially right about January!!! Maybe next year......

-KB

[LeeWoods]

Good Grief....St. Paul? Is that north of Daytona Beach? LOL

[sailadam]

Heaven knows the last thing we need down here are more people!! Florida sucks, hot and full of bugs..and hurricanes..wait that sounds like Abaco too! No wonder we live here..But boy is it getting crowded!

[Wonkee]

I like the Boat Idea best, but I unfortunately will be paying off school debt until I am 107 and do not see living in FL in my near future. I have found that by using a service like Cheap Tickets, and then going direct to the Airline I have saved quite a bit. I just use them to find a cheap route then look at the airlines price. I booked a trip from Kansas City to North Carolina for the end of May, by skipping Cheap tickets, and going strait to Air tran I saved 120$ and it is still booked round trip so that I have the Guarntee if I have a Delay. how it worked was CheapTickets was using the Web special fare, which was $60 more each way. I did the same over Christmas with American to Marsh Harbour, I ended up saving around $70, but agian I had the assurance that I was covered if something happened. I have also saved considerable amounts by checking prices of departure and return by a day or two. My Christmas trip, I had to force myself to stay 3 extra days so I could save an addtional, $100. I guess there are a million tricks to get cheaper fares, but I think the best is plan in advance, to make sure you have time to research, and buy the tickets, before they are all booked up.
Best of luck to those looking for a good fare, and congrats to those who find it. And hopefully if I can find that great rate Ill be seeing some of you this summer.

[elcahun]

Better book early. Our flight we reserved March 3. Same flight is $400 per more now.

[COCONUT JIM]

We take our own boat, and sometimes wish we were flying when the Stream gets nasty. We flew back on Vintage a couple of weeks ago, and those guys managed to get through a huge cold front with hail etc. with hardly a bump. We did not wish to be down there for hours on our sailboat!

[WxGuru Lee]

$140 for a cab ride from West Palm!!!!

A little more research might have helped.

Check out the info on the tri-rail commuter line at:

http://www.tri-rail.com/destinations/broward_county.htm

Using their calculator, a one-way, single person fare on a weekday would be $5.00

[JONES]

We are rookies to Abaco but here is how we did it.
First you have a good friend, we will call him Mark, drag you out of the house to play poker.
While out playing poker you sit next to a nice women...
To make a long story short, we are getting married on July 2nd!
Leave for Abaco the 6th.

Back to the tickets.
"Mark" not only brought us together, he is performing the ceremony,
AND he is giving us airline miles, Colorado Springs to Miami, as a wedding gift!
Another friend is covering the lodging in Miami coming and going with lodging points!
We had to cover Miami to MH on AA for a grand total of $440 for 2.

Aren't friends grand!!!!

Can not wait to do our first Abaco trip report.
People on this board have made the planning a blast.
Thanks to all for the great input.

67 days

Jones

[big fish]

GREAT STORY!!!

Congratulations!!

Bruce

[Apoggi]

Jones,
What cay are you staying on. If you are on Guana look me up and I will buy you and the wife a drink at Nippers. We are stying close by and will be at Nippers most days and maybe most nights too.
Congrats on the upcoming wedding.

[JONES]

Thanks big fish.
Apoggi-
We arrive MH on Frida July 7th and are staying at Watercolours on Lubber's.
We plan to make it to Nipper's for the roast on Sunday.
Hope we can hook up.

Jones