Overview
Sights And Activities
Planning Your Trip
Accommodations
Cultural Essentials
Beyond Tourism
Basics
When it comes to airfare, a little effort can save you a bundle. Courier fares are the cheapest for those whose plans are flexible enough to deal with the restrictions. Tickets sold by consolidators and standby seating are also good deals, but last-minute specials, airfare wars, and charter flights often beat these fares. The key is to hunt around, be flexible, and ask about discounts. Students, seniors, and those under 26 should never pay full price for a ticket.
Puerto Rico is the airline hub of the Caribbean and flights are relatively inexpensive year-round, especially from the US east coast. Only San Juan’s Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport has flights to destinations outside of the US. Most travelers will end up connecting somewhere on the US east coast, though Iberia also offers direct flights to Madrid.
Airfares to Puerto Rico peak between December and April; holidays are also expensive. The cheapest times to travel are September and October, during the height of hurricane season. Midweek (M-Th morning) round-trip flights run $40-50 cheaper than weekend flights, but they are generally more crowded and less likely to permit frequent-flier upgrades. Not fixing a return date (“open return”) or arriving in and departing from different cities (“open-jaw”) can be pricier than round-trip flights. Patching one-way flights together is the most expensive way to travel.
If Puerto Rico is only one stop on a more extensive globe-hop, consider a round-the-world (RTW) ticket. Tickets usually include at least five stops and are valid for about a year; prices range $1200-5000. Try Northwest Airlines/KLM (☎800-225-2525; www.nwa.com) or Star Alliance, a consortium of 16 airlines including United Airlines (www.staralliance.com).
Fares for roundtrip flights to San Juan from the US or Canadian east coast cost $250-600 in the high season (Nov.-May) and $250-500 in the low season (June-Oct.); from the US or Canadian west coast US$700-900/US$600-800; from the UK, UK£550-650/UK£500-550; from Australia AUS$3000-3400/AUS$2300-2600; from New Zealand NZ$2800-3300/NZ$2600-2800.
While knowledgeable agents specializing in flights to Puerto Rico can make your life easy and help you save, they may not spend the time to find you the lowest possible fare—they get paid on commission. Travelers holding ISICs and IYTCs qualify for big discounts from student travel agencies. Most flights from budget agencies are on major airlines, but in peak season some may sell seats on less reliable chartered aircraft.
The commercial airlines’ lowest regular offer is the APEX (Advance Purchase Excursion) fare, which provides confirmed reservations and allows “open-jaw” tickets. Generally, reservations must be made seven to 21 days ahead of departure, with seven- to 14-day minimum-stay and up to 90-day maximum-stay restrictions. These fares carry hefty cancellation and change penalties (fees rise in summer). Book peak-season APEX fares early. Use Expedia (www.expedia.com) or Travelocity (www.travelocity.com) to get an idea of the lowest published fares, then use the resources outlined here to try to beat those fares. Low-season fares should be appreciably cheaper than the high-season (Nov.-May) ones listed here.
Note that flights to cities other than San Juan (such as Mayagüez, Aguadilla, and Ponce) occur on an intermittent schedule. Standard commercial carriers like American and United will probably offer the most convenient flights, but they may not be the cheapest, unless you manage to snag a special promotion. You will likely find flying “discount” airlines like Jet Blue Airlines, Song Airlines, or Spirit Airlines a better deal, if any of their limited departure points is convenient for you.
Traveling standby requires considerable flexibility in arrival and departure dates. Companies dealing in standby flights sell vouchers rather than tickets, along with the promise to get you to your destination (or near your destination) within a certain window of time (typically 1-5 days). You call in before your specific window of time to hear your flight options and the probability that you will be able to board each flight. You can then decide which flights you want to try to catch, show up at the appropriate airport at the appropriate time, present your voucher, and board if space is available. Vouchers can usually be bought for both one-way and round-trip travel. You may receive a monetary refund only if every available flight within your date range is full; if you opt not to take an available (but perhaps less convenient) flight, you can only get credit toward future travel. Carefully read agreements with any company offering standby flights, as tricky fine print can leave you in the lurch. To check on a company’s service record in the US, contact the Better Business Bureau (☎703-276-0100; www.bbb.org). It is difficult to receive refunds, and clients’ vouchers will not be honored when an airline fails to receive payment in time.
Ticket consolidators, or “bucket shops,” buy unsold tickets in bulk from commercial airlines and sell them at discounted rates. The best place to look is in the Sunday travel section of any major newspaper, where many bucket shops place tiny ads. Call quickly, as availability is extremely limited. Not all bucket shops are reliable, so insist on a receipt that gives complete information about restrictions, refunds, and tickets, and pay by credit card (in spite of the 2-5% fee) so you can stop payment if you never receive your tickets. For more info, see www.travel-library.com/air-travel/consolidators.html. Some consolidators worth trying are Rebel (☎800-732-3588; www.rebeltours.com), Cheap Tickets (www.cheaptickets.com), Flights.com (www.flights.com), and TravelHUB (www.travelhub.com). Let’s Go does not endorse any of these agencies; be cautious and research companies before you hand over your credit card number.
Tour operators contract charter flights with airlines in order to fly extra loads of passengers during peak season. These flights are not hassle free: they occur less frequently than major airlines, make refunds particularly difficult, and are almost always fully booked. Their scheduled times may change or they may be cancelled at the last moment—some times as late as 48hr. before the trip, and without offering a full refund. And although check-in, boarding, and baggage claim for charter flights are often much slower, they can also be much cheaper. Discount clubs and fare brokers offer members savings on last-minute charter and tour deals. Study contracts closely; you don’t want to end up with an unwanted overnight layover.
 |
 |
 |
 |
For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
Facebook
Twitter
You Tube
Foursquare
Newsletter
RSS Feed
