Anybody have any suggestions about procuring a good rate for a group of 15 adults and 5 kids, leaving from Hartford (BDL) and going to Antigua (ANU)? I spoke with the American Airlines group travel agent and it was a joke. Nearly $800 per adult for summer travel was the quote! I'd appreciate any help you can offer.

You are traveling from a regional airport to another regional airport. There are very few airlines that actually serve both airports, so yes, you will find that since there is little competition they will take you to the bank. Maybe somebody else has some other suggestions, but it is limited.<BR>I maybe wrong but I believe AA and USAir are the only 2 American airlines that serve this island. The only suggestion I have is to look for a 'bigger' 'international' airport on some neighboring islands. After that look at some regional airlines that serve the islands. I'm not sure it would be that much cheaper, especially since you need to transport 20 people, but basically you need to do some research if you expect to get a deal.<BR>Good Luck!!!

Actually, rates out of Hartford to the Caribbean are less expensive than flying from Boston. (Not to mention you can excape the nightmare that is Logan Field) When I travled the same route last summer, I found round trip tickets for $350 on American. I don't expect to find that fare again, but I didn't think it would be unreasonable to assume $500 pp, especially with a group rate. <BR><BR>Delta also serves the island in the form of its partner airline, Air Jamaica. Northwest codeshares with Continental to Antigua as well. But none of those airlines have good connections coming from Hartford like American does.

That's what I meant. Air Jamaica and NW/CO may serve the island, but if they don't serve your airport, then it's useless. I wish I had some magical answer for you, but I don't. Sign-up for net-sAAvers with AA.com. Also, see if you could fly into San Juan, PR., and maybe some regional airline from there.<BR>Good Luck!!!<BR>PS.I believe the group deals are great if you're flying into a competitive markets, but in instances like this, when the airlines has just few flights per day, the group deal may actually work against you. Again, I never tried to price a large group like this, so maybe I'm totally wrong. Maybe somebody else will have some better answers.

ejcrowe- when are you trying to travel (dates...and how flexible are you?) Also, how old are the 5 children?<BR><BR>I've booked group rates before and always found that it was something like 10% discount off the cheapest fare available (on American, at least).

ejc- <BR>just checked, and the $800 quoted shows NO discount...that's just the plain old fare.<BR><BR>If you are willing to travel from Boston or Providence, you can go on USAir, which has a commitment towards group rates. Given their fares are also $800, but they offer a decent % discount, you might consider driving to Providence.<BR><BR>Also, as AAFF noted, it might be worth purchasing 2 tickets...one to San Juan and one from SJ to ANU. THere are heaps of $200 deals to San Juan (from Boston or Providence or NY...maybe Hartford as well) and RT fare from SJ to ANU in summer is about $200 as well. All up then it's $400 and you could still get a group discount on top of that (as the two airlines that do SJ to ANU are American and Link).<BR><BR>In all, you should be able to get the adult fares for around $450/500 most.

Thanks, y'all. Now I'm actually thinking that it might be easier and less expensive in the long run to get everybody down to JFK for travel. BWIA has a 3:00pm direct flight arriving in ANU around 7:00pm. I've never flown BWIA, though, but have heard horror stories from their early days in the air.<BR><BR>Providence is a better venue for us than Boston, but we would gladly do Boston if I could get Air Jamaica do offer a decent rate.<BR><BR>Kids' ages are 2-10. All of the older kids I'm counting as adults.

Yank: PS. Forgot to say that we have flexibility of only one day on either side, as we're all traveling for a wedding. Ideal dates would be Friday-Monday, 6/20/03-6/23/03. To qualify for midweek travel we could move the departure date to Thursday, though.<BR><BR>

Given the # of folks in your group, have you considered a charter? I am serious. You might be surprised. Also, any airline that can get you there without going via San Juan would get my $.

Any ideas where to start looking for a charter? Also, why not fly through San Juan? It's never been a nightmare for me as I've read it's been for other people. Do you just mean the customs part, or do you mean something else?<BR><BR>Thanks again, everybody!

Try www.charterauction.com, or call them at (800) 370-7719. I have not used them, but have read about them in a couple of travel and business journals.