Having recently booked an anniversary vacation to beautiful Nevis for this October, I've been checking the American Airlines website daily to try and get a good deal on airfares for our dates (AA is the only airline that flys direct from Washington, DC to Nevis). Since I've been checking, the fares have increased from $539 roundtrip late last month to the current $689. By way of comparison, AA's fare prices for October 2005 were about $490 for the same travel days.
I can't imagine that the plane is already filled for October 2006 so I suppose part of this increase is due to higher fuel prices (whenever it seems they can't possibly go any higher, they do) and the rest is because of the lack of competition flying to Nevis (a monopoly can charge monopoly prices). Ah well, I'll keep checking and hoping that what goes up will also come down (at least a little anyway).
Rising Airfares To Nevis
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Nevis is always difficult and usually expensive to get to and quite honestly I'd kill to get a r/t $689 fare from my city to Nevis. I usually pay over $1,000 but then again I don't live in Washington, DC.
One thing you should be aware of though is that AA does not have a "direct" from Washington, DC to Nevis. In airline jargon, a "direct flight" means you take off from one city, make one or more intermediate stops in that same plane before that plane arrives at your final destination.
What you are actually on is a "connecting flight" meaning you change planes somewhere along your route. I'd venture to say you are flying non-stop from Washington, DC to San Juan and changing to the American Eagle flight from SJU to NEV. Regardless of how you are getting there, have a great trip to Nevis. It's a wonderful island.
It's still early and October is low season, so I think you're smart to wait.
You can check seat availability for the flight you're interested in, to see how many seats are sold. I would also recommend putting in a flight alert.
You can do this with Orbitz. You put in a price, and they will e-mail you when the fare is at that price or lower, and they will periodically send you an e-mail giving you the current fare.
I usually buy my tickets for St. Kitts or Nevis at the AA website.
Hope you get a good fare.
cw
Thank you A_Traveller and cw. I appreciate your suggestions. I was aware of the need to change planes and used the term "direct" loosely and inaccurately. This isn't the first time I've experienced jumping airfares and, as with so many things, patience and vigilance is usually the right answer
I definitely think that price could come way down. They are scalping you because you want to get all your plans nailed down early.
It might be cheaper to fly to St. Kitts and take the ferry.
Also, if you have frequent flier miles, a high-fare place like Nevis is the perfect way to spend them.
On AA, you pay 30K miles to get to Nevis, the same as you would to get to San Juan. So they are giving you the flight from SJU to Nevis.
For the last 4-5 years (the time I've been paying attention to Caribbean airfares), AA has offered a fall sale to the Caribbean. I believe the sale is offered in July or August. Keep in mind that not all islands are on sale every time, but it would still be good to wait a bit before committing to your airfare.
$550 is the least expensive I've seen it in my market (Hartford, CT), and when I traveled in November 2004 with an open jaw between Nevis and Antigua, it was just over $600 (taxes included).