Blasted airlines, always making it tougher!

[Snoweman]

Funny, but those are the same reasons that I still fly Southwest and do the bag drag. I finally managed to get all my gear in my carry-on and back pack (small, under-the-seat item). I suppose I could check the carry-on but to me checked bags are a PITA. What are the airfares like to CZM (COZ is the Dominican Replublic) ? It would have to be comparable (including ADO and ferry) and not hundreds more for me to quit the bag drag.

I would normally do the bag drag when the airfares to CZM are over $600 (usually $700+ on Delta from ATL). I found fares for $405 and booked it. My wife nearly lost her dinner on her first (and last) ferry ride. She flew back to CUN while I did the bag drag back. $405 is $50-$100 more than ATL->CZM, but so much easier and worth it - especially with the wife not getting seasick.

 

[horn34]

Funny, but those are the same reasons that I still fly Southwest and do the bag drag. I finally managed to get all my gear in my carry-on and back pack (small, under-the-seat item). I suppose I could check the carry-on but to me checked bags are a PITA. What are the airfares like to CZM (COZ is the Dominican Replublic) ? It would have to be comparable (including ADO and ferry) and not hundreds more for me to quit the bag drag.

AA - 9:45am flight connecting through Dallas into Cozumel, total flight times about 3.5 hours.
$190 base fare + $25 (50lb checked bag fee) = $215

SW - direct 2.5 hour flight (but leaves at 6am so I have to be up at 4am).
$186 flight + $10 ADO ticket + $10 ferry ticket +$3 tip for bag help = $209

With AA, I'm in Cozumel at 3:45pm and very little effort.

With SW, I have to drag bags out of Terminal 4, get them in a shuttle to the bus, wait for bus, transfer to bus, sit on bus for 1 - 1.5 hours, unload from bus, find bicycle guy to carry bags, buy ferry ticket, drag bags rest of the way to the ferry, wait for loading and claim tickets, sit on ferry for an hour, wait for baggage unloading, drag bags to cab area. I would get to Cozumel at 2pm with a lot of effort and save $6.

I almost always fly SW, but I don't need to check two 50lb bags this time. I'll have one 50lb checked bag, one 35lb carry on and one small 10lb camelbak "personal item". I'll fly back on SW with two 50lb checked bags though (tequila, Kahlua and Chimay hot sauce).

 

[JamesBon92007]

AA - 9:45am flight connecting through Dallas into Cozumel, total flight times about 3.5 hours.
$190 base fare + $25 (50lb checked bag fee) = $215

SW - direct 2.5 hour flight (but leaves at 6am so I have to be up at 4am).
$186 flight + $10 ADO ticket + $10 ferry ticket +$3 tip for bag help = $209

With AA, I'm in Cozumel at 3:45pm and very little effort.

With SW, I have to drag bags out of Terminal 4, get them in a shuttle to the bus, wait for bus, transfer to bus, sit on bus for 1 - 1.5 hours, unload from bus, find bicycle guy to carry bags, buy ferry ticket, drag bags rest of the way to the ferry, wait for loading and claim tickets, sit on ferry for an hour, wait for baggage unloading, drag bags to cab area. I would get to Cozumel at 2pm with a lot of effort and save $6.

I almost always fly SW, but I don't need to check two 50lb bags this time. I'll have one 50lb checked bag, one 35lb carry on and one small 10lb camelbak "personal item". I'll fly back on SW with two 50lb checked bags though (tequila, Kahlua and Chimay hot sauce).

I'll have to see what their fares look like from here. That certainly is appealing. We're already booked for this trip with Southwest but maybe I"ll take a look anyway. We already cancelled our flights one time and re-booked at their sale price and saved enough points to go to Puerto Vallarta too. I don't know what they'll do if we cancel again.

Edit: I'll have to look some more but although the prices are pretty good (AA) the trip durations are terrible. The only reasonable one is a red-eye flight (about 7 hrs) but most are in the 20 hour range. The bag drag usually takes less time than many of the layovers I've had. The first time we went to Cozumel we took MAYAir and we spent an hour trying to get to the FBO terminal and a couple hours waiting for our flight and then about 20 minutes waiting on the runway for our chance to take off. My point is that we could have been there earlier, but not by a lot. Southwest does not fly to Cozumel so I can't really compare directly. We could petition for SWA to fly there but then we might end up with more crowds than there are now. I remember when people referred to "the cruise ship" and now there are a whole bunch of them. We have the same problem with Southwest and all of their Caribbean destinations--you can't get there from here. We would have to fly to Texas or Florida and book our own second flight to wherever. OTOH Costa Rica and Puerto Vallarta are very easy to get to from here Someday we plan to go to Bonaire but it will take us two days to get there so we'll have to be in the right mood.

 

[Bubblesong]

Here's a travel tip to share: I bought paper straws to carry in my car and use instead of cheaper plastic straws furnished by food establishments. A pain to carry, but I made a transport case out of 1" PVC. Last month I took it in my roll-on bag when I flew to Cozumel. It took longer to get thru TSA! I put it in checked bags for the return trip, and fortunately they didn't confiscate it.
View attachment 480464

You could fill the wasted space inside the straws with wood skewers suitable for fruit kebabs to sick in your drink too.
Sadly, I could not carry that device without all the security personnel smirking and winking at me.

 

[Hoag]

I know that you have indicated that you are looking at flights out of Lubbock, but have you considered flying out of Midland-Odessa or San Angelo? You would likely still have to connect through DFW or IAH, but it might be a better connection and/or price.

One of the advantages that I have is that both Air Canada ("Scare Canada") and WestJet fly non-stops from Toronto to a number of southern destinations and as a vet, I can take up to 3 checked bags for free.

 

[DandyDon]

I know that you have indicated that you are looking at flights out of Lubbock, but have you considered flying out of Midland-Odessa or San Angelo? You would likely still have to connect through DFW or IAH, but it might be a better connection and/or price.

Only long enough to uncheck them from the Search menu. I'm up on the High Plains or Central Plains between Lubbock and Amarillo, with those two being less than a hundred miles away, but almost all of my to & from airport driving is in the dark, at least for Cozumel trips. Midland is almost 200 miles from me, San Angelo further, and I just don't see either worth the trouble & risk.

I once drove over 200 miles each way to take a cheaper itinerary out Abilene, but that was with my Lubbock kids (I almost always leave my house ontime to pick them up on trips, but they are seldom ready an hour later - and most of our trips start in their direction), and we were headed to Vegas so the to & from airport driving was at least in the daylight. That one turned into one for the records as our first plane was delayed picking us up to go to DFW, then the next few planes were canceled for weather & equipment problems. The Vegas to Death Valley driving was all in the dark, and none of us knew how to use Gps tools then, so it took us several attempts to just get out of town on the right road. We were so glad the hotel left our keys taped to the bottom of their mailbox as promised as there were no other options in that area for our wee hours arrival. I can stay on alert easier in such times when I am responsible with my kids & grandkids traveling with me.

My local, original scuba instructor used to think it was fine to drive over 300 miles to & from DFW for cheap flights to & from Coz, but I never have. I could get there okay, but not driving home after a late airport arrival. Many of my camping & cemetery tour trips start with middle of the night departures, I'm leaving for the big Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta next month around midnight, but I always crash for an afternoon nap, then am always able to arrange daylight returns.

 

[flyboy08]

Think how easy your life would be if you just moved to Cozumel

 

[DandyDon]

Think how easy your life would be if you just moved to Cozumel

And fly back monthly to see my kids, grandkids, and now great grandkids?!

 

[JamesBon92007]

And fly back monthly to see my kids, grandkids, and now great grandkids?!

Half of my grandkids moved to Montana so I hardly ever see them anyway. The other half is the problem

 

[horn34]

Think how easy your life would be if you just moved to Cozumel

or even Dallas