TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Boat or airfare first?

Hi all...
Planning to head back down this Spring, this time WITH THE KIDS. I'm planning it during spring break, March 26 -April 2nd. Our past trips were with other adults so we travelled end of January, early February and it was easy to use miles for the journey from Chicago. Now with 5 on the itinerary, and being spring break, miles just won't cover it.
Question is, should I book the boat now and worry about airfare later?
I just read that best time to book the flight is 100-50 days out, BUT, being spring break, I'm afraid these guidelines might not apply.
Airfare is crazy now but don't want to be caught in the buzz saw when it's getting down to the wire.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

I'm of the opinion that airfare only goes up. My September trip just went from $700 to $1000. I bought the thanksgiving for $1100, now $1400. (From MSP)

Last year when I booked my flight with miles, the cash fare was around $1200.00 R.T. When we had some last minute guests book, the paid around $ 500.00 R.T.. Just don't know if this is the norm for spring break time or not. I'm looking at close to 5 grand for airfare right now. Can't think it could get much worse....

I always book the boat first.

The 50-100 days out is pretty much what we've experienced (about 12 data points) but I don't know about spring break. I've given up on the hope of lower fuel prices ever lowering fares. From what I've read excess capacity would be the only reason they'll lower fares. The extra revenue will be used to lower operating expenses which will increase profits. Basically, that means buying more efficient planes.

For last June-July, 6 months out we booked a big cat and were flying kids in from Europe (we were coming from the US) - we wanted everything to go as planned. We waited a little on our airfare, it went up, we chickened out and bought ($976/pp), about 60 days out they dropped to $746. I'd still do it again, the increase in airfare was a drop in the bucket compared to what the big boat cost us.

More stress with playing with air fare. I am always worried about the price changes and available space. Seats appear less plentiful than before the many mergers. Book the boat and then play the game watching air fares.

Not sure I can offer much advice, but I can relate. Just booked an Antigua > St. Martin charter for next June for my family of five and am currently hunting for airfare. It's not spring break, but it is the beginning of summer so similar situation. Right now we are looking at around $800-1000 each and that is with less than ideal routing - i.e. overnight and multiple layovers. I got excited when I thought I found fairly direct first class tickets for the return leg from SXM to PDX for just a bit more than the coach fares, but of course they weren't available when I tried to book them. Haven't had any better luck looking for the PDX-ANU leg either. JetBlue is still a month away from releasing their June tickets - they sometimes have good prices on one-way flights. Our charter company is also flexible as to moving the charter dates around a bit to accommodate our flight schedule. It almost looks like it might be cheaper to fly into and/or out of San Juan and book tickets on Liat to the islands.

In the past I have always tried to book the boat and tickets together for the most piece of mind. Most charter companies will hold a boat for you for around a week, which I find offers plenty of time to book airfare. Also, research one-way tickets. I have found that it can sometimes be cheaper and more convenient to fly different airlines each way. In theory waiting until the optimal time to book tickets (2-3 months out) will get you the best prices - until it doesn't. And when it doesn't it can cost you both in terms of price and convenience. I plan on buying tickets as soon as I see some prices that sound reasonable to me. And then I won't look at ticket prices anymore, because I can pretty much guarantee that they will go down the day after I buy them.

We booked them back to back for last spring. They'll hold a boat for you for 5 days while you look for fares. For our kids tix, we bought them in June 2014 for our March 2015 trip - $750 Columbus OH to STT. Never saw them go below that all year. In Dec 2014 we added in the fiancé to the trip -$950 for the same flight. Spring Break flights fill up. If you're working with a tight school vacation schedule I'd say get the flights first.

It's always best to find the boat first. You don't have to put any money down as the company will put the boat on hold for you while you find flights. That is the whole point of the "option" period.

Then go find flights to correspond to the dates you want. If you find a better fare a day or two on either side of your dates, then go back to the company and ask if you can change the dates. If the boat is available for the new dates, then Bob's your uncle.

The point is that if you buy your tickets first, you may not be able to find a boat for the corresponding dates. The airlines charge you to change dates, bareboat companies don't!

You could also lose the boat you wanted in the meantime if it isn't on hold for you. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

Boat first.
We put a hold on a boat (48 hrs) and then get the plane tickets.

If you do not book them together you have painted yourself into a financial corner. The worse case is the crew who is determined to work all the angles on their own chasing a few dollars in savings. Then leaving the rest of the crew sitting at the dock the first night waiting in vain for them. Just because it worked for them last time or they read on the internet how it works brilliantly for others is no guarantee it will work for all in your crew on your next excursion. Do the math on what the total cost of the trip is for the entire boat. From there it my help everyone see what the losses and costs of the delay waiting for someone or a bag can be. Penny Wise, Pound Foolish comes to mind and/or friends do not let friends ride the ferry is another.

I first find out which boats on my wish list is available. I then check into airfares and see if enough seats are available for all crew members. Once I find these available I put a hold on the boat I want for one week. Once that is confirmed, every crew member buys their air travel within one hour of each other. We don't put much stock in the best time to buy air travel. We either like or don't like the price upon checking. We've given up on getting everyone into Beef Island at the same time. We now fly into STT for nearly half the price and still arrive in Roadtown no later than if we flew into Tortola. Have a great time.

Book them together. I booked a boat for Thanksgiving week and then had a really hard time finding reasonable airfares for those exact dates.

If you see a good airfare from a USA domestic airline book it! You have a right to cancel within 24 hours. I once posted a long message here about the bucket system airlines use. There are 10 to 12 fare buckets for each flight. You can look at a flight quote for say 4 tickets and while you are thinking about it someone grabs those four seats in that bucket. You are now into the next bucket which will be more money.
If that happens check back in 24 hours because they may have canceled. Travel agents will often hold tickets on several airlines for one client so seats can come back. Trying to judge if tickets will go up or down depends on how well that flight is booking. The size of the buckets will be adjusted up or down as needed to fill the flight. That is why full flights often get dropped from route systems. The computer is making sure the flight is full but the revenue might be weak. Demand to the Islands is strong at the moment.
G

Air first,

We fly from CLT, a place with an airfare curse that should be unequal, and got good fare (for clt) on only on nov22. Prior days are almost double.

Whichever you decide, do it quickly! Granted we typically travel during Christmas and New Year's weeks but we book at least 10 months in advance to get any decent fares and schedules for our flights. I've never seen it go down.