Air travel prices now

[lochrist]

Was looking at Travelocity for some airline fares to Grand Cayman from the Southeast US. Particularly the US Air daily nonstop from Charlotte and the Delta daily nonstop from Atlanta.
Given the economy and world situation, prices seem awfully high. I can`t believe that they are filling the planes at these prices. (Am referring to discretionary vacation travel.)
Has anyone been on those flights in the past week or so, and was the plane full?
-HW "Skip" Weldon Columbia, SC

[recently99]

I`ve been surprised by high airfares as well. I tried booking a vacation for spring break but all the flights were full no matter where I tried to go (and I tried everywhere from Europe to the Caribbean). I guess you can chalk it up to the fact that there are fewer flights these days than there were pre-September 11.

[Devon]

as well and found lots of flights and accommodations available for the last week in March, first week in April. Prices weren`t great but availability seemed easy. No seats left for Cancun/Coz (which from Denver is almost always the case anytime of the year), but the rest of Mexico and most of the Caribbean were easy to get to and book on.

[lochrist]

both the nonstop from Charlotte to Grand Cayman and on the nonstop from Atlanta to Grand Cayman. You`d think that if they couldn`t fill the plane they would either cut prices or cut the flights. Or maybe this shows why they`re going bankrupt. <grin>
Does anyone have a web site that shows "deals" on flights within a day or so? (I can`t find anything like that on Travelocity.)
-HW "Skip" Weldon Columbia, SC

[Mantyf]

preprogrammed "Weekend Specials", no more than 2 weeks in advance.
I also see that Travelocity is showing NJ-Grand Cayman for ~$380 which historically is a fairly good starting point for us; it will be just under $600 by the time we ask for a higher-demand weekend flight, and add the hop to the Brac.
And while this price might seem high in the supply/demand side of things, we should remember that fuel costs have been shooting up for the airlines.
FWIW, the flights I had over the weekend were down to the FL panhandle, thru Memphis weren`t empty, but they weren`t completely full, either... I`d SWAG it at 60-70%.

[CrazyMrLeo]

No seats left for Cancun/Coz (which least one third of the plane was empty (Charter)
That is why you can get low ticket prices then.

[Devon]

many people are interested in Mexico during the summer. Most of the tour companies Apple, MLT, GOGO etc don`t even offer packages or flights during that time of the year.

[Mjollnir]

make, as if that would apply today, when the airline rules, regulations and bookings are changing by the WEEK, and Ron was talking about last JULY -- and I`ve flown over 100,000 miles since then, with conditions changing on every trip! will find bucks to keep them flying by any means by which they can attract passengers. I get an email notice that Delta is offering roundtrips of $188 from ATL to CUN. Continental is changing rules about charging fees for change of booking for tickets booked in March (on account of the IRAQ war possibilities that deter travellers from buying tickets fearing a change fee of $100 per one-way). There are literally HUNDREDS of new fares/rules/conditions that are popping up everyday in view of the insane-Dubya-position on war!

[Devon]

I get e-mail updates as well, and when you get one from any airline about Colorado to Mexico, whose flights are full enough and priced reasonably enough that incentives rarely happen, let me know. comment about discount fares. People from Colorado (which was specifically the point of origination we were talking about) seldom choose Mexico for vacations during the summer, so most of the tour companies cease offering packages from here to there in late Spring. And they don`t start up again until Fall.
If you live in Colorado and have a different experience over the last 20 years, or last two weeks, please feel free to share. Otherwise I ain`t sure what Atlanta, Continental rule changes, or the oft changing pricing structure of air fares has to do with my comments specifically.

[Mjollnir]

ATL, but also about Denver, and about OTHER airlines, and packages to Cancun and other cities in Mexico!
I dive in Cozumel every summer for the past 15 or so years. The STATE from which most people I`ve met in the 1200 dives I`ve done in Cozumel were from COLORADO! Most of them from Denver, CO.
I don`t care if you live in Colorado over the last 20 years, or last two weeks. You`re just as ignorant about CO divers in Cozumel, those those fly on tour packages in the summer to Cancun, and the MOST relevant point I made was that the airlines and packages are CHANGING every week because of the IRAQ situation, and hence what you said about flights, tour packages, etc. fit what I said,
If you don`t get the point(s), it`s YOUR problem.