Valor/ San Juan question

[dbd0512]

There are 4 of us that are booked on the valor on 4/20/2014. I am wondering about airfare. We will be flying out of RDU in NC. My TA is telling me to wait till Southwest/Air Tran comes out with there schedules but I am having a hard time waiting when i see all the other airlines charging 1200-1300 for those dates. Occasionally I can find a flight in $900 range and think its a good deal. I am concerned about the price as that is easter and spring break time.

 

My question is what airline did most of you use to fly to San Juan and What kind of price range was your ticket?

 

Also did anyone happen to stay in a hotel in San Juan? I am looking for suggestions on that too.

 

Thanks

[razorbackred]

May not be able to help you much on the airline suggestion. I am using Delta flying from Shreveport to Atlanta then to San Juan. My tickets were 408.00 per person. On the hotel, we are staying at the Casablanca in Old San Juan. It is an older building but with a lot of charm. Has great reviews, but it is five stories high and has no elevator. This scares some people off. It is walking distance to the pier and to most all of Old San Juan. Hope this helps!

[cbMcruiser]

There are 4 of us that are booked on the valor on 4/20/2014. I am wondering about airfare. We will be flying out of RDU in NC. My TA is telling me to wait till Southwest/Air Tran comes out with there schedules but I am having a hard time waiting when i see all the other airlines charging 1200-1300 for those dates. Occasionally I can find a flight in $900 range and think its a good deal. I am concerned about the price as that is easter and spring break time.

 

My question is what airline did most of you use to fly to San Juan and What kind of price range was your ticket?

 

Also did anyone happen to stay in a hotel in San Juan? I am looking for suggestions on that too.

 

Thanks

 

Re-post this in the "Ports of Call" then "Caribbean" and then "Puerto Rico" discussion area. You will learn a lot and hopefully get some great responses.

 

We are taking this cruise in February 2014, leaving from National in Washington as Jet Blue was cheaper than AirTran/Southwest out of BWI. We get onto PR the day before at around 6:30 pm.

[jabberjaw070596]

I am flying PHL to San Juan direct on US Air in February, 2014 and I paid 470.00 per person. We are staying a day after we return to San Juan to get the cheaper flight.

[Magico]

The new schedule should be out soon. Sign up on the website and you will get a notice when the schedule is out.

[kimba9615]

We are flying from San Diego to San Juan. Our round trip was $431 per person. What I did was I out a fare alert on Kayak.com. They will send you what your fare is daily so you can see if it is trending up or down. You have a long time till our cruise, I bet you will be able to get a better price.

[jjtimes6]

We have flown to Puerto Rico twice, from California. The first time I scored a major deal at $375 per person. That was three years ago. Last year I got us seats at $519 per person. I had to book those as one way, then one way, to even do that well.

 

I am waiting for Southwest to release those flights. Most people seem to want to book airfare as soon as possible, but if you do some research on booking flights, they all say to wait until about 90 days out or so. I always wait, and usually score a pretty good deal. You may have to be a bit flexible as to dates (but I never mind spending a couple extra days in Puerto Rico!)

 

Kayak has a great alert system, and tells you whether you should wait or book immediately.

 

(We are on the same cruise as you... don't know if you've checked into the roll call yet? There are not many on it so far, but hoping things pick up!)

[Dirkgun]

Hi, not sure what site you are checking? When I just checked the kayak prices for RDU to SJU prices ranged from $294 (fly in Sun and leave on Tues after cruise) to around $422 (for Sat the 19th to Sun the 28th) That site will look at almost all airlines. As far as hotels go..... try the bidding site. We have had real good experiences with them in San Juan. Getting Caribe Hilton last time there for $105 a night. You will love San Juan and that itinerary. We did that same itinerary when it was the Victory. I am jealous.:cool::)

[serene56]

we also use yapta to try flights.

 

we have had very good luck with booking air fare from southwest when they first hour they come online.

 

Our flights are now almost 100 more pp then what we paud

[hockeyguy2]

My wife and I and two children are flying from LAX to SJU in November for a repositioning cruise. A few months ago, we signed up for the American Airlines credit card - 30000 miles each (after spending $1000 in 3 months on the card) and no annual fee for the first year. Plus checked baggage is free.

Most airline frequent flyer programs charge a premium for going to San Juan, but not American - we got 4 one way tickets for 12,500 miles each (50,000 total). Granted our flight leaves at 11 pm and arrives in San Juan at 5 pm.

 

Our ship returns to Miami, and we did the same thing with United (Same exact credit card offer), flying out of Orlando, for 50,000 miles total for the 4 of us. Its a nonstop from MCO->LAX, and we found one car rental agency (SIXT) in Miami that doesn't charge the one way drop off fee to Orlando.

 

So I'd say free airfare is a pretty good deal!

 

And the cool thing is, when the annual fee hits, we cancel our cards, then in about 6 months we each get invitations for the same exact offer and repeat the process!

[PCHENG]

Is your price range of $900 to $1,300 per person or total for your group of 4? If it is for your whole group, that is not a bad price, and I don't think Southwest can do much better than $900.

[michiganredrose]

The next release date for flights on Southwest is supposed to be Monday. I don't know what dates they will release dates through but I am hoping they end up being more reasonable than what we have found so far. Right now we are at $400 - $500 per person from Chicago to San Juan on Feb. 14th.

 

Jet Blue is our other option and they released theirs a few days ago, I am hoping that Southwest comes in a bit cheaper still.

[cincycruisincouple]

I would honestly wait until Southwest's schedule comes out. They have some really good deal, but you have to keep up on the prices. I don't know about anybody else's but the prices for our trip raised and lowered almost daily. Another thing to think about is booking one way through two different airlines. We did that and it wound up being cheaper.

 

Whatever you decide, good luck. Shopping for airline tickets are a pain!

[Leo's Rule]

There are 4 of us that are booked on the valor on 4/20/2014. I am wondering about airfare. We will be flying out of RDU in NC. My TA is telling me to wait till Southwest/Air Tran comes out with there schedules but I am having a hard time waiting when i see all the other airlines charging 1200-1300 for those dates. Occasionally I can find a flight in $900 range and think its a good deal. I am concerned about the price as that is easter and spring break time.

 

My question is what airline did most of you use to fly to San Juan and What kind of price range was your ticket?

 

Also did anyone happen to stay in a hotel in San Juan? I am looking for suggestions on that too.

 

Thanks

 

Last year my airfare for a direct flight to San Juan from Houston was $325 on United. I stayed in San Juan 2 days prior to the cruise. My cruise was October 2012.

 

This year I'll be on SW for July simply because my airfare was free (I won roundtrip tickets). But I think the rate on SW was $400-$500 and the flight isn't direct.

 

I stayed in Condado last year at the Conrad San Juan Condado Plaza (a very lovely hotel), but this year I'm staying in Old San Juan.

 

Is RDU the airport in Raleigh? $1200 is steep, but I agree with your TA; I'd wait before booking airfare. When I was looking at San Juan last year, prices were $700-$750 for October (I was looking the year before and earlier in 2012) and then the prices dropped.

[myacuna]

Have you thought about flying out of CLT? We checked both CLT and RDU for our flights and the flights from RDU generally changed in CLT. CLT was direct and also cheaper.

[dbd0512]

Sorry for the confusion but I meant it was $900 per couple. I was not clear on that. There are two couples going and that is what it is costing.

 

So how long before Southwest post it schedule for next April? Does anyone know?

[hillbilly73]

Below is from Southwest's website looks like you will have to wait to the next round.

 

 

We are currently accepting air reservations through February 12, 2014. On July 22, 2013, we will open our schedule for sale through March 7, 2014. This date is subject to change! Please check back frequently.

[dbrucern]

We did this cruise last year and are planning again next year. Flight for us on Delta from RDU to SJU was $1400 for 2 but we had first class tickets. The rest of our group each paid $400/pp. I too am watching the flights and prices seem to be much higher right now. If I remember correctly I waited until December before booking

[barbatkins]

Sorry for the confusion but I meant it was $900 per couple. I was not clear on that. There are two couples going and that is what it is costing.

 

So how long before Southwest post it schedule for next April? Does anyone know?

 

Supposed to be out by the end of this month..I read somewhere. Wait for SWA....it's reasonably priced to SJO

[Love Cruising With My Hon]

Booked Jet Blue direct flight round trip from Boston to SJU for Jan 25, 2014 for $453 each. From Boston to SJU is 4 Hours. From Tampa to SJU is guess what? 4 Hours plus the connecting flights from MHT to Tampa. Tried Southwest and the price was the same for 1 to 2 connections. I love Southwest for flights to FLL when cruising out of Miami. Have fun planning.:D:cool:

[kmcnamara68]

We always fly Southwest to Puerto Rico. We live in upstate New York and they are simply the cheapest and offer you 2FREE checked bags. I would wait for the schedule to come out. And if they are 1300 then your not paying anymore then you already would have.

[bruisin4cruisin]

To enjoy your cruise, and PR, try to fly in the day before and fly out the day after. When we did this itinerary, we flew in on Friday and out on the Monday after.

We flew Spirit, was $600 for me and the DW, total. I have no complaints about Spirit, take off and landings were all on schedule and the crew were friendly. Of course, I prefer American, but we saved a butt load.

[chosbor2]

We have southwest for our October cruise, from CMH to SJU, it is $645 and we fly southwest for the free bags, can not beat that!

 

We are staying at the Best Western Plus Condado Palm Inn, it gets great reviews and doesn't cost as much as the Hilton or Marriott!

 

 

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[cincycruisincouple]

I just wanted to echo about staying pre/post cruise. Our flight is about $300 cheaper to fly home on Monday as opposed to Sunday. With a good deal on Priceline we are saving money by spending an extra day in PR.

[Tasha4199]

Keep an eye out for flights to Orlando, because so far, Southwest flights to/from Orlando are running around $110 per person each leg. It's not bad at all! I definitely recommend waiting til Southwest releases the fares for then and be prepared to book the same day they come out.