Dear Professional Travel Agents,
I am going to Bonaire on Saturday, July 20 and returning on Saturday, August 3. I live in western CT, so I can either leave from NYC or Boston. I wanted to know when is the best time to buy my air tickets, because I have seen them slowly climbing since January. I know weekends cost more, but the timeshare at Divi requires a Saturday to Saturday stay or else they charge big. Thanks for your help!
Daren Daniels

Hey Daren,

Keep in mind you could also go from BDL on AA as they connect in SJU!

OK, having said that, the BOS to BON route on Air Jamaica (JM) is very busy so often the remaining seats are high. Although I MUCH prefer JM to AA.

I would WAIT and look at fares in April. July 20 is not too hectic aside from the NE factories closing for July and folks going home to SJU but I am not aware of too much in mid July. Later July is getting close to Carnival in Antigua and Crop Over in Barbados..sorry, I digress...wait wait wait..the price in Aug. on JM for me was 351!!

Annie
Cape Cod

Annie,
I knew that you would be able to help me! Thank you so much for your advice. So you feel that I should wait until April to buy tickets. I just thought that sooner is better, but if you say April I will take it into consideration. I am actually closer to NYC than Boston, but it doesn't matter. What travel agency do you work for, because if you could find me some good flights I would love to give you the business. Thanks! My e-mail address is AngelCity101@aol.com

Daren

Call American Airlines up and ask them what their "roll over policy is". I believe that if the fare goes down, AA will give you credit in the form of a transportation voucher (that is good on AA only) less the penalty (usually about $100US per ticket).
Keep in mind that the airlines have what is called capacity control which means they offer a limited number of seats at a low price (which they advertise) and the rest of the seats go at higher prices.
By waiting to book your flights, your are gambling that the fares will go down against the airline having the low price seats on the flights/dates you want.

Good luck!

Annie: when did you buy the August JM ticket?..right now they are quoting 760 out of BWI for an Aug 3 departure. Would love to beat that price!

I bought it like Aug. 3 and flew the 25th..Right now all air to the Caribbean is high but the fares come down in the spring. I had NO problem getting flights in Aug. Be patient and wait but if u r nervous buy it now. If the fare comes down with the same class of service u can get a refund. But, u have to go to the ticket counter. For me it is a pain as BOS is 2 hours from Cape Cod. If it is over 60.00 I will drive up but nothing less.

Annie
Cape Cod

I also have timeshares at Divi and go there several times per year. One trick I learned years ago was to consider going to Bonair of Friday instead of Saturday. Often times the $$ you save on the airfare will pay the extra nite at Divi and you end up with an additional day. I just booked this way for a July 2002 trip, the extra nite was less than $100. I saved several hundred $$ on the airfare