I am a high school teacher, so I only have specific weeks I can travel each year. I am looking into islands for next April, and wondering if the fares I am seeing are typical.

This past April, we went to Aruba for about $500 each pp (booked last July). At the end of June, we are going to Anguilla for about $420 pp.

We fly from Boston, and although it's the beginning of the low season, I know it's busy because of school vacations. I also know it's far in advance, but right now the tickets to the Caribbean for various islands are anywhere from $750 for the Caymans to $900 for Aruba! That seems expensive!

Do you all think this is because it's so far out, or because fares are just increasing these days and it's a vacation week? Just curious as to what other people have found in the past...

I'm not sure whether to wait and see what this summer brings, or jump on something cheaper in the US, like a $200 Vegas fare I saw. When I booked last summer for April '06 to Aruba, the fare never went down again, only higher.

Airfares are posted 8-10 months in advance so it may be a tad early to
get real quotes for peak demand times
like April. CVOA, the Caribbean Villa Owners Association often offers wholesale pricing/match rate price
guarantees for villas on just about
every island. See www.cvoa.com or call Lydia at CVOA toll-free at 1.877.248.2862 for the skivvy.

To clarify:CVOA handles airfare but lists villas, cottages, etc. Tho it flies thru Providence, you might also want to keep tabs on SPIRIT which routes thru Lauderdale to many islands
and often offers real cheapo fares.

I don't know your exact dates, but World Cup Cricket is going to be played throughout the Caribbean mid-March to mid-April so that may be affecting fares to some of the islands.

I don't think the Caymans nor Aruba are involved.

CW

tivertonhouse: Thanks for that website, I will check it out.

cw: interesting about the World Cup...I had no idea. That could def. affect airfares.

Airfare from US shouldn't be a problem
for late March-April when World Cup Cricket is on/from the UK/Europe, flights however are pretty full.