beachgirl86

I have been planning my Aug. honeymoon for months, reading these boards. I originally thought Hawaii was too expensive (we are from the east coast), so we wanted to head to the Caribbean. BUT, the places in the Carib. we were interested in (St. Lucia, Nevis, Aruba, Anguilla) have flights to them that are almost as expensive as the Hawaii flights. So, I figure we should do Hawaii. Why aren't the Caribbean flights much cheaper since they are closer? Just interested....

Anonymous

Flight prices are based on supply and demand as well as costs.

Neal_Sanders

American and U.S. Air have a lock on Caribbean destinations from the east coast and, except for non-stop service to San Juan, everything out of Boston requires a change of planes at an AA or US Air hub, and then sometimes a second change elsewhere. So, lack of competition and a feeder system that requires changing planes multiple times breeds high prices.

By contrast, Hawaii is served by a dozen carriers. It is a hotly competitive market with all of the majors vying for your business. While no one flies non-stop to Hawaii from Boston, you can get frequent connecting flights on high-capacity planes out of Chicago, Dallas, Denver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. That's a recipe for low fares.

dantheman

Keep in mind the flight from the east coast is VERY long. The flight there not too bad, the one home is terrible because of the time the flights leave Hawaii among other things. My next trip will include taking a late flight to San Fran, staying the night and an early flight the next morning to Maui. Same on the way home. I think I'll enjoy it much more.

GoTravel

The caribbean destinations you are looking at are mostly served by a scheduled flight AND turbo props. Most of those little islands airports don't have runways long enough for a big jumbo airliner holding 300 people.