Hello all!

I have booked our accomodations during our upcoming August honeymoon in St. Lucia. We are staying 4 nights at Ti Kaye and 4 nights at Royal Rex (Royal St. Lucian) in Rodney Bay. This way we will have 4 days of tranquility and 4 days of trying new restaurants and shopping (we just want little tacky shopping places and small, cozy restaurants, nothing over-the-top).

My biggest open item now is our flight to get there. I don't know too much about getting flight deals but I am just wondering if anyone can give me insight on when I can get the best deals for next August and how much to expect to spend. We are coming from Chicago. Even if you flew in from somewhere else, when did you find it to be the cheapest? How far ahead, how did you book it, etc?

These are the current rates I can find but am hesitant to book them until I know I have found the best deal:

ORD to UVF:
Delta: $643 each (tax is included)

ORD to SLU:
American: $643 each (tax is included)


Also, I am not sure which airport to fly into, SLU or UVF. I know the ride is winding and long from UVF but heard the view is worth it. What is the best way to get to Ti Kaye (our first leg of the trip). Although UVF looks closer than SLU to Ti Kaye, I believe it takes longer. Also, currently we are leaning towards Delta (gets us in a little earlier), but if so, we will have to fly into UVF.

Thanks in advance!
Mike

Hi Mike, you have a lot of choices of getting to St Lucia, but it really does mean shopping around to get the best deal. If you first 4 days at at Ti Kaye (great choice), flying into Hewanorra would be an easier drive, but not a lot of difference, unless you can arrange to be met by boat at Vigie (SLU)! Great restaurants in Rodney Bay are Buzz, The Coal Pot (reservations recommended and a bit more expensive), excellent food at The Charthouse and pretty good Chinese at Memories of Hong Kong and Cafe Claude - great coffees and breakfast. As you walk around in Rodney Bay you will pass lots of restaurants and shops - no need for a car.
If you have lots of time to spend researching flights, remember that connecting through Barbados or Antigua are options that may bring rewards in the $$ department though adding travel time.
I found a ton of information on a website I found at www.destinationcaribbean.net
St Lucia is a beautiful island - hope you have a great trip.

I would fly into SLU and avoid the long ride. Just my personal preference. It also makes more sense since you will be in Castries when time to go home thus just minutes from the airport.

Whatever you do, do NOT miss dining at Coal Pot. The owners/chef are related to friends of ours that live in St Lucia and it is superb! You will never regret dining there.

Thanks for the advice!

Does anyone have any airfare price ranges to St. Lucia? Any overall strategies to get a good deal on flights? If I book it now, will it go down in a few months? Or do I hedge my bet against the price going up, and book now?

well, if anybody could accurately predict airfare prices, they'd be retired in a Pleasure Palace somewhere!

I can only give you the following generic travel patterns on American Airlines, which I've been watching like a hawk for the last 5 years or so. Every winter AA holds a Caribbean fare sale starting around the end of February good for travel roughly April through mid-June. Not all islands are on sale from every departure city, however. Then airfare prices jump up again from mid-June through mid-August. Then they have another sale that starts the end of summer good for travel mid-August through mid-November. Again, not all departure points and destination points are on sale.

Other airlines may have different patterns. But AA has been reliably following these patterns for the past few years. Whether St. Lucia will be one of the islands that is featured for the sale, nobody can predict.

My husband and I paid somewhere in the $500-600 range per person for our tickets to st. Lucia for travel in July 2001. Considering inflation and how far in advance you're booking, I'd say that the prices you're quoting are pretty decent. I personally would wait just a bit before booking, but it's not my honeymoon, either!

What I usually recommend to people if they see a pretty good price (and yours is pretty good, neither great nor horrid) is to go ahead and book. If the price for your itinerary goes down by more than $100 per person, you can get the difference credited back to you, less the $100 change fee. If the flight goes down in price, but by less than $100 per person, then it's not enough price difference to fret about. You could look at it as your "peace of mind" surcharge for booking early. However, it's just as likely that the price will go up, which means you booked wisely by booking now.

I guess it comes down to how much a gambler you are. Hope you have a wonderful honeymoon--I think you've picked a very romantic island!

I am paying almost $800 to go from Minneapolis (via Atlanta) in June, so the prices you found look great compared to my experience!