LiznJack

Hi there,

My fiancee and I are getting married in March in Sarasota, Florida. We're then going to fly to Jamaica for our honeymoon. We're looking into airfare and the cheapest we can find is $325 or so on Spirit air (with one stopover) from Orlando. Jamaica air flies nonstop from Orlando for $360.

These prices seem high to us. Does anyone have any experience with flying from Florida to Montego Bay? Do you think air prices will come down? Should we wait? We'd hate to wait and then have them rise even higher!

We'd really appreciate anyone's help or insights on this.

Thanks so much!

Liz

KVR

Sorry, don't know regarding airfare prices since we always purchase a package. However, we have booked an Air Jamaica package twice and both times our flights were canceled. We ended up going to another destination on American. Air Jamaica gets really bad reviews regarding late depatures/arrivals and canceled flights. They eventually pulled out of Houston, so we don't even have the option anymore. We finally got to Jamaica on Contenintal.

I would carefully consider Air Jamaica before booking. Read the many reviews if you decide to go with them.

tivertonhouse

The shorter the flight, the more pricey.
Flights from Boston to MoBay are often
not more than from Fla. SPIRIT tends to be cheapest, but the more connections,
also the dicier the experience. Non-stop AJ, tho it can have delays or
cancels, or American Airlines might be the way to go. Check sidestep.com,
onetravel.com and the airlines' own Web sites which generally post the best buys/updates on tickets after midnight.

JAGIRL

In addition to the sites Tiverton suggested, you might also want to look at itasoftware http://matrix.itasoftware.com

For some reason Orlando fares are ususally in the $300+ range. Miami & Ft. Lauderdale fares tend to be much lower. If that is an option maybe you could consider it.

caribtraveler

Seems a bit pricey to me. We paid $300 non-stop from Newark (Continental), but then again it was low season (August). If you're talking about this March, I wouldn't wait too long. Flights to the Caribbean seem to fill up quickly.

We flew Air Jamaica years ago (NYC to St. Lucia) and had a good experience. But I have heard the horror stories. On our return flight this past August, the line for Air Jamaica at the Montego Bay airport was unbelievable. I think they had ONE line for several AJ flights! We were so thankful we were flying with Continental.

Congrats on the wedding and good luck with the fare search.

Michaelpl

I've flown Air Jamaica dozens of times over the last 15+ years. That said they have become less and less dependable and these days I try to avoid them. Mostly I've found that it it is the return flights that are regularly messed up/delayed. I love Jamaica, but when it's time to go home I dont want to wait 4 hrs in an airport waiting for a plane to fly in from somewhere else to come get me. (happened several times now) Recently I've been flying AJ going down and United coming home on one-way tickets. So far......so good. It cost not that much more and time is $$ in my book.

LiznJack

Hi all,

Thanks for the good information and advice. When I originally posted I was concerned about the price. Now I'm totally freaked out by Air Jamaica and all the lousy things I've read. We could deal with getting delayed or stuck in Montego Bay on the return flight but I think we wouldn't be too happy if the Orlando part of the flight got delayed or cancelled.

Unfortunately they are looking like our best option. Spirit has a flight but it is first thing in the morning.

I checked into flights from Fort Lauderdale and there are many more options there as well as Miami. Unfortunately it is so far away from where we'll be. The wedding will be in Sarasota (thanks for the congrats, by the way. We are SO excited!). Our options for airports are really Tampa, Orlando, or Fort Myers.

Errrrr. I don't know what to do and I hate having to take a risk with Air Jamaica. I know all airlines are risky when it comes to delays and everything. But AJ sounds really bad!

Liz

Ksea

We paid that price back in November from Washington Dulles Airport. You would think it would be cheaper from Florida, but maybe not. PS. Don't stay at the Holiday Inn Sunspree, it is terrible!

JAGIRL

I actually fly Air Jamaica most of the time and usually don't have a problem.

...But then again I don't mind it so much when they're delayed as I'm always running a little late anyway!
I'm always so disappointed when they're on time!

Michaelpl

I certainly would not mind getting delayed in Jamaica either. It's when I call ahead and they tell me it's on time and then I drive the 2hrs to the airport only to then have them tell me then that it will be delayed 4 hrs that I get upset. I guess that's one of the beautiful "quirks" of Jamaica though

LiznJack

Hey everyone, thanks so much for your input and experiences. We're going to get the tickets on Air Jamaica. It just works out best for our itinerary. Hopefully it'll work out just fine. Keep your fingers crossed! I'll let you know how it all works out in April!

Thanks again,

Liz