Best way to Cozumel from San Francisco?

[georoc01]

Have you checked out Frontier through Denver? It might be the easiest way to do it from the west coast straight to Cozumel. Flights are seasonal though and I am not sure how their schedule works for you.

After that I generally fly into either Dallas or Houston on my way over. It seems to be the best route and avoid the hassle of red eyes or the transfer through Cancun. If you can get a direct flight in Cancun, its probalby worth it, but if you have to change planes, I would just as soon fly into Cozy, even if its $100 more by the time you take into account the bus/ferry charges.

 

[parrotheaddiver]

Thanks Panchita, as far as the timing of booking your flight do you find you get a better deal booking early or do prices tend to drop more last minute? I am going early May which I beieve is a slow season (in-between Spring break and before summer vacation) so thought maybe holding out longer might result in better prices both for flight and hotel. Also have been looking at expedia and orbitz etc. for the flights. Do you find that to be the way to go?

thanks again!

May in general is usually a busy month...it is before hurricane season and before school is out...I would book as early as possible to get the hotel and dive op you like....FWIW

 

[bryanmc57]

- I saw r/t for $323 the other day -

That's a great fare! Where did you see it? My wife and I are going back end of June and I'm debating when to book. We usually fly Mexicana connecting through Guadalajara and DF...

 

[NudeDiver]

That really is a great fare.

Checking Alaska Airlines - a round trip ticket purchased today for a flight to Cancun in February is $1000. I realize my starting point is different than yours - but still......daaaammn, what a difference.

 

[driftwood]

For all of you on the left coast, you might look at flying into Austin and then taking Viva Aerobus on to Cancun. VA is a new Mexican discount airline that started service in May. Here is a link to their site, vivaaerobus.com - Fly to Mexico at the lowest fares

FWIW, if I could fly into Coz for $100 more than the flight to Cancun, I would hop on it. The bus and ferry will run you $70rt and I would trade the extra $30 for vacation time in a heartbeat.

 

[Panchita]

Thanks Panchita, as far as the timing of booking your flight do you find you get a better deal booking early or do prices tend to drop more last minute? I am going early May which I beieve is a slow season (in-between Spring break and before summer vacation) so thought maybe holding out longer might result in better prices both for flight and hotel. Also have been looking at expedia and orbitz etc. for the flights. Do you find that to be the way to go?

thanks again!

You know, it varies. I bought my most recent ticket (leaving tonight - wahoo!) about a month ago, and the price has dropped since then. I think you may be right about May not being high season, and you'll probably see prices start to drop two, maybe three months out - keep an eye on available seats though, so you don't wait too long and lose out on a particular flight. In my experience, anything under $500 gets my attention, so I'm hoping these prices in the 300's hold out for you. I look at websites like Kayak.com, but I usually buy directly from the airlines once I see a price I like. Good luck!

 

[bryanmc57]

Panchita...
Where are you finding fares in the $300's? Best I can find is Mexicana out of SF or Sac for over $600 per person on expedia.

 

[jayjoans]

Our group has made the SFO-CZM 5 times, and the last 4 times we have opted to go directly into Cozumel rather than schlepp from Cancun. It's worth it. Just like Panchita says, leave SFO on the redeye, have a nice rest to Houston, have breakfast and a short trip right into Cozumel. In the hotel by noon, have lunch, visit your dive op, buy groceries, hit the pool, relax. On the way home, it is SO much nicer to just get a taxi to the CZM airport rather then the ferry/walk/bus hassle of the Cancun connection.

We decided we'd just gyp the divemasters out of their tip to cover the difference in cost

For those of you looking for the Continental $338 flights SFO-CZM, she failed to mention that price is pre-tax, the total is actually $442. (I got excited too...) We've paid $365 all in R/T before, so $442 is not the best I've seen. Hope those days are coming back.....

 

[leadweight]

We live in Houston and fly direct into Coz. It used to be possible to save a lot by flying into Cancun, but not lately. However it seems to change daily. Good luck.

 

[sddiver]

KRL,

As another left coaster I feel your pain. Out of San Diego we have the same issues. The last few times we have been doing multi-destination tickets. On the way down we go SAN to CUN via Houston or Dallas. On the way back we go CZM to SAN the same way. It doesn't usually cost more than a roundtrip Cancun ticket and you don't have to do the bag drag on the way home. There is also now new service CUN to CZM on what I think is a puddle jumper plane for around $75. If your arrival is timed nicely with one of their flights that may also work for you. With the price of the ferry going up, the additional cash may be worth it to fly over.

Let us know how it works out for you.

Rich