September Air Travel

psufan · Post by **psufan** » Tue Dec 09, 2014 4:18 pm

We are planning a trip in early September. We usually travel in June so this is new for us. I have been tracking flights/prices since our timeframe became available departing from either EWR or PHL. 2 weeks ago all of the reasonable connecting flights were discontinued. Now our only choices are to take our chances on a connecting flight out of Atlanta with only a 35 minutes layover that woyuld get us in at 1:15PM or accept very long layovers and get in either at 3:00PM (expensive) or 9:30PM. Is this typical? I realize this is during the super low season but I was surprised when all of the reasonable connecting flights out of either Atlanta or Miami were dropped. Of course, we may just have to decide to leave the day before and spend a night on STT. What a hardship!

SamanthaL · Post by **SamanthaL** » Tue Dec 09, 2014 4:47 pm

Would you consider JFK? We usually go out of EWR or PHL but couldn't find any this past October so we, reluctanly, booked non stop flights out of JFK for only $320!!!
It couldn't have gone any easier. Our flight down left at 8:30 am, so yea, we had to leave our house super early but the drive there was a breeze!! At most, it was a 1/2 hour past Newark. In my opinion, that's a lot easier to deal with than a connection anywhere!

psufan · Post by **psufan** » Tue Dec 09, 2014 6:03 pm

We aren't adverse to JFK and have flown from there several times but on our preferred travel day, 9/2, they don't have any non stop flights and the flights leaving have the same issues with connections. We will figure something out. Mostly just wanted to vent and hoped maybe someone might have some suggestions or helpful tips.

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Thu Dec 11, 2014 3:28 pm

Mid-week is tough in September. I prefer mid-week travel, but there are not enough offerings for us out of DC in September. So, we just suck it up and take the United direct flights on the weekends. That's what we did in September. In October we had to get down mid-week and it made for a much longer travel day.

Going down a day earlier is what I do when I have sketchy connections. I got into STT after 10PM in May and June for mid-week travel due to blown connections.

Cheers, RickG

psufan · Post by **psufan** » Fri Dec 12, 2014 8:24 am

I am waiting to see Jet Blue's schedule. They have posted the 9/2 flights to STT but not the return yet (9/12). There is a longish layover in SJU but we would get in at either 3:00 or 4:00PM, depending on the connecting flight we take from SJU, which isn't ideal but far better than 9PM. I have never flown Jet Blue before. I seem to remember hearing some positive comments on the forum about them.

PA Girl · Post by **PA Girl** » Fri Dec 12, 2014 9:56 am

Have you looked into the direct PHL-SJU flights with a Cape Air or Seaborne connection? That's what we are doing in February. US Airways services SJU a couple of times a day from PHL.

psufan · Post by **psufan** » Fri Dec 12, 2014 10:15 am

PAGirl, unfortunately USAir doesn't run those flights in the low season. The best we can do from PHL gets us in at 9:29PM with a connection in Miami. Right now we will either take Jet Blue out of EWR, depending on price once they post the return flights, or leave the day before, get in at 9:29PM, spend the night in STT. We have stayed at the Emerald Beach Best Western before so it isn't a bad option. It just means taking an extra vacation day to essentially just travel.

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Fri Dec 12, 2014 7:43 pm

We ended up doing the mid-week Jet Blue in October and it was pleasant. We could have saved a couple of hours with a Cape Air connection, but drank beer in SJU instead.

Cheers, RickG

psufan · Post by **psufan** » Thu Jan 01, 2015 9:18 pm

So we are excited. Just when we thought our options were fairly limited Delta added a non stop flight out of JFK for our travel date. They also added a non stop return flight. We prefer to fly out of EWR but we couldn't pass this up. RT for $317! Now we have to keep our fingers crossed that the flight fills so it isn't cancelled.

ski2play · Post by **ski2play** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 8:25 am

We like midweek travel and Jet Blue. Sometimes the layover in SJU is longer than I like, but as Rick said, you can always drink beer.

With that being said, we have been taking notice of the Delta flights lately. The time saved is so worth the addt costs IMO. Just get me to the villa!

inuny · Post by **inuny** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 9:44 am

We flew on the nonstop from JFK on Delta last September. It wasn't a full flight (about 80-85% occupancy) so I don't think you need to worry about them cancelling the flight.

We are flying again on Delta in June ($320!). I don't like JFK but you can't beat the prices.

By the way, the water temps in September were 88! We had trunk bay almost to ourselves. It was great.

psufan · Post by **psufan** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 11:28 am

I had been watching the Jet Blue flights. We are flying down on 9/2 and returning 9/12. Jet Blue has only posted flights through 9/7 since well before Christmas so they weren't offering a return flight. Had to hop on the JFK opportunity while we could.
Inuny, any suggestions on parking options or park sleep fly hotels? I remember seeing pictures of the parking lots in September that were on the News of St John blog. Can't wait to experience that level of solitude. Buying trip insurance for the first time for this trip though. There's a reason for the solitude.

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