marianna

I am planning a trip to St. John and need to fly into St. Thomas to get there. Can anyone point me in the direction of inexpensive airfare?? I've tried alot of places and the lowest fare I can find is $700 R/T from the Washington, DC/Baltimore area. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Traveller

Most times you get cheaper air when you buy a package (air/hotel) from a travel agent.

Erika

Try expedia.com, travelocity.com, previewtravel.com and onetravel.com.. Personally I recommend Expedia.com. I got my airfare from EWR to STT on their site and had no probs. ($900 for two adults - but not direct flight). They also have wonderful customer service! <BR>

peg

Hi - I agree with posts above--first check travelocity and expedia, they have option to show "lowest available published fare", then you'll have a starting point. I've booked air through travelocity and had good results. Know that cheapest fares are almost always mid-week, but sometimes you can get cheap weekend fares. Also, check the specific airlines for packages, also look at Liberty Travel's web site, they sometimes have good packages. I recently got RT air from Columbus Ohio + 6 nights hotel in St Croix for about $850 per person through USAir, but they were running a special. Takes research, but you should be able to get below $700. Either way, don't expect to get to STT for less than $500, and I've only seen it that low on short notice travel (e.g. within the next week following the fare announcement). good luck.

jeff

I have previously posted my preference to booking yourself v. travel agents. Some people have disagreed. The best criticism was from a traveler who said that booking yourself is far better if you live in a very big city like NY but travel agents are better for smaller cities like Columbus. In NY you can get low fares like lowestfare.com due to the many half full flights available. But if you are leaving from Washington/Baltimore, I would try to book yourself through expedia (keep trying, the fares often change daily) and also from lowestfare.com-type sites. I am emailing this from the Buccaneer in St. Croix. The time spent to come down here is worth it.

Anne

I tried all those same sites but found the best airfare from travelassociates.com I got a round trip ticket from New York to St. Thomas for $510. That's about $200 cheaper that anywhere else. Good Luck, Anne

Sheila

I am flying to St. Thomas in June for my honeymoon and purchased my tickets through US Airways. They were offering a special $375 roundtrip from BWI airport (Balt/Wash Int'l). I think the sale is off now, but it never hurts to keep checking.

peg

hi again--this week's travelocity email airfare update shows American with $269 from NY to San Juan and $369 from Phila to St Thomas & St Croix. travel good through 6/15... I think you even get double miles. be advised these fares disappear like vapor, you have to move quickly when you find a fare you can live with. So I take it back; you CAN get there for under $500.

Michael

I have received the best prices from lowestfare.com. They beat everone by at least $100 per ticket.

Charlie

Hi Marianna <BR>A couple of years ago I made my own land reservations on St. John for a two week stay and when I went to book our air I was shocked at the price,it was somewhere in the $700 neighborhood.As luck would have it,while talking to the travel agent that I use for booking cruises,said that she would look into it and see if she could help.Long story short,by canceling our land rental and rebooking it through her agency she was able to ticket us in the block of plane seats her agency reserves for cruise passengers at half the cost we were quoted.I know that travel agents are taking a beating on this forum but under certain conditions they can be very helpful.Hey you've nothing to lose,check with an agent lots of times combining land with air packages can save you big bucks. <BR> Good luck

M.Gill

I paid 365.00 r/t from Newark to St.Thomas-NON-STOP. This is on Continental three week advanced purchase...We are leaving next week...check it out!

Kathy Sanders

I live in the UK and planning to stay in St Thomas but flying direct from New York. We have found that it is cheaper than flying direct from UK to St Thomas. Getting a ticket in the USA via Internet is cheaper than buying in UK could anyone suggest or help with Travel Agents or sites on Internet that could help. Also what are good restaurants on St Thomas. Thanks very much

Deborah

A few restaurants we liked: <BR> <BR>Hotel 1829 <BR>Blue Moon Cafe <BR>Cafe Wahoo <BR>Asolare, St. John

amber

My husband & I were planning on going to Tortola in June via St. Thomas from Atlanta & the cheapest we could find was 700 pp. We ended up going to St. Martin instead for a grand total of 1600 including our 1 bedroom beachfront villa. Too bad St. Martin is the biggest dump I have ever seen so I guess you get what you pay for. I know next year I'll pay 1400 for the tickets & another 1600 for lodging and I'll get a hell of a better trip. My advice is pay the 700 if it does not drop.

Abby

Hi, <BR> <BR>I just bought tickets at $760 per person from Tucson, Arizona to St. Thomas for mid-November. I checked all the above websites and called several travel agents, with no better luck. So, I think if you can manage anything less than $700 you should consider it a job well done! (Course, maybe its cheaper from the east coast).

Karen

Thankfully for me the fares from the NYC area seem to be a wee bit more reasonable. But I watch carefully and have yet seen a fare that I have booked lower or the same on any site for the flights I have taken (and I do it with AA). And there are often good packages with a minimum stay then transfering to the place of your choice that might work for you ... and give you a longer time there! I know that both in October and December we are paying less than $500 per person but we book early! Some Caribb travelers, I understand, are now flying thru Canada to save money ... with the exchange rate, it seems to give the midwesterners and others a choice! <BR> <BR>Now for the important stuff, eating ... <BR>my favorites are many but the ones I continue to frequent in STT are: <BR>Cafe Wahoo, Red Hook <BR>Blue Moon Cafe, Secret Harbour <BR>Herve, Gov't Hill (next to 1829 and worlds better) <BR>Inn at BlackBeards (overlooking Town) <BR>Raffles (Compass Point) There are so many ... ask for the "Restaurant Guide." <BR> <BR>But since you are staying on St. John: <BR>Dining with Andre (Chilly Billy's by day in the Lumberyard) <BR>Stone Terrace <BR>Chateau Bordeaux <BR>Be warned that Asolare is "fusion" food ... and not to everyone's preference but great views if you do <BR>Defiantely Vie's for lunch when touring (but call to see if she is cooking that day!) <BR>Ellington's at Gallows <BR> <BR>If you go to CA for shopping one day, do lunch at "Cuzzin's" on Back Street. Great "local cuisine." <BR> <BR> <BR>

Gerie

One method that worked for me this year hasn't been mentioned. Read what appears to be junk mail very carefully. <BR>This year we are flying rt from Long Island NY for $338 through a coupon that came in the mail from Discover Card in partnership with USAirways. It came in about March or April and was good through Sept.30. It had fares from "zones", not airports, and I was able to use it at the tiny local airiport whose fares NEVER go below $800. If we were traveling off peak it would have been only $318. I also received a coupon from Amex and AA for up to $140 off airfare, based on cost of ticket. So, read that mail. You might want to see if anyone you know has one, I was allowed to use one sent to my mother for additional tix. <BR>By the way, there are travel agents and then there are travel agents. The one I've been using is super. Knows there are cheap fares out there and works like crazy in the computer to find them. Of course, living in the NY metro area does present so many more options.

Ron

Try AAA. They got me a roundtrip fare of $426 leaving from Richmond, VA. Leaving from Washington or Baltimore was cheaper.

Susan

Keep trying Expedia at all different times of the day and night. The fares fluctuate vastly depending on seats available and when airlines release more seats for Expedia to sell. I found a GREAT fare at 4 a.m. one night, couldn't find my credit card at that hour and decided to wait and book in the a.m. when I was actually awake more. By the time I got around to it about 9 a.m. the fare was gone (jumped $190). So, keep trying, you can find a good one. I did wind up getting a fare of $492.00 and my travel agent had told me I'd never find anything less than $600