diann24

I also need a crystal ball. We have a confirmation for Aruba for 4 May-11 May. We will be leaving from PHL. The question is since this is Sunday to Sunday should I book now or wait? The price is about $500 pp right now. It is still a long ways off. Thanks.

Jed

What does a 'confirmation' mean? What does 'Sunday to Sunday' have to do with it?

diann24

Jed,

Sorry for the lack of clarity.

It is through a timeshare. The dates of our friends timshare which we have received confirmation is from 4 May-11 May which is the time frame. This is from Sunday-Sunday. Heneforth it is set in stone, and those are the flight dates as well.

Of course I would not "wait till May" but shall I wait till Jan. or Feb to book? Happy New Year!

Jed

We are in the same situation. Friends of ours have a timeshare for a week in Feb in St. Maarten, and we will be going with them. I am looking for flights from Newark, since there is no direct flight from PHL.

A few weeks ago, on a Thursday, I saw fares on Continental (for 2) for about $750. The next day I decided to get them, but when I searched, they were $880. That made me angry. Since then, I have checked every day, waiting for the fares to go down.

What to do? I have decided that I can wait, since there are still 20 seats left on the outbound flight, and 27 left on the inbound flight. When they get to 10, I will be forced to buy, no matter what the price.

So my suggestion thta you can wait depending on the remaining seats.

AAFrequentFlyer

Jed,

how do you know how many seats are left?

Jed

I check on the Continental site. I know that the number of seats shown may not be accurate since some people did not pick seats, but I think leaving a cushion of 10 would be reasonable. Whether it is or not remains to be seen.

AAFrequentFlyer

Seatmaps are nowhere close of being good indicators on how many seats are left for sale....

diann24

Jed,

Your reasoning is interesting, but if I were you I would take the $880. My thoughts are they sold all the other seats at the lower price so now that what is left. Especially for the month of Feb. it is high season. Good luck.

Now does anyone have any thoughts for me??

diann24

Since no one has responded to this I thought I would just update. I purchased my tickets for $400 pp. last week. Today they are $428 pp. It is the weekend and that could be the reason why, but so far I think I made a wise choice.

Jed

A follow-up: I just bought 2 tickets from the Continental site for $854.

diann24

Well you ended up without as good a deal, but not as bad as it could be. Higher than the $750 but less than $880. I think we both got the best as could, but of course I will "torture" myself daily until May to see if I made a good decision!!! I have never been to Aruba so I am looking forward to the trip.

Jed

Last year we went to Aruba, and had a good time. Where are you staying?

diann24

Since it is our friends timeshare we are staying La Cabana who have now changed there name. I hope it is o.k I have heard mixed reports. I won't complain since we are only paying for airfare.

What did you do while there? Any suggestions or must do's? I will hope over to the caribbean board to check that out. Do you suggest renting a car?