Caribbean castaways: Fall airfares for the fetching
Hurricane Charley bore down, but with some luck and a little help from Mother Nature, the Bahamas managed to dodge the wrath of Frances: The nation’s 700 islands (and their lively tourism biz) were largely spared. In fact, the Nassau International Airport on Sunday returned to normal, and cruiselines plan to stick to their regular itineraries begin later in the week. Most hotels are fully operational, welcoming guests as usual. The Bahamas, it appears, will continue full steam ahead as one of the most accessible, budget-friendly destinations for US travelers, offering up all manner of tropical delights.
All this brings us to some pretty big Bahamas travel news: JetBlue just announced its new service from New York City (JFK) to Nassau in the Bahamas. Its introductory fares are priced from $99 each way, but be forewarned—depending on when you book, tickets can run as high as $249 each way! JetBlue’s service kicks off on Nov. 1, but you can book tickets online now. So far, there’s no end-date for these debut fares.
Reader Response: Cost cutters for the Caribbean
Name: Tamra
Here are some ways to cut your travel cost while staying on St. Thomas VI.
- Buy an Entertainment Book in your city. You will find a 50 percent coupon on three resorts on St. Thomas: Secret Harbour, Point Pleasant and the Wyndam resort. The discount is good during low season and you will need to call the resort and ask if they will honor the discount during the dates you are traveling.
- If you rent a car from Budget you get a coupon book which has 2 - 2 for 1 day sail trips coupons which can save you $55.00 on a wonderful day sail.
- Stop in Charlotte Amelie at Kmart and buy your beverages and staples.
- Take a ride on the tram to Paradise Point on Wednesday nights as it is free that night.
Cheap hops to Puerto Rico
We just got a note from the airline experts at SideStep.com (one of the top airfare search engines on the web) giving us the inside scoop on what well may be the lowest fare for a flight from the mainland US to Puerto Rico. It's from the carrier Spirit Airlines, departing out of Fort Lauderdale and SideStep had the flight listed at just $61/each way. To put our two dollars in (or take them out, actually), we found a rate of just $59, before taxes, when we plugged in dates on the route on the Spirit site directly.
Considering that Fort Lauderdale is now a hub for a number of low cost carriers (including JetBlue and Southwest), it may work out that flying to the Sunshine State and then from there on to the Caribbean could be a new low cost way of getting to San Juan.