cheap flight to coz

[Kat]

I do not work f/ Adventure Tours & I'm not sure if they are in the Chicago area or not.

I had the same thing happen to me w/ Apple Vacations, as far as a change of hotel goes. The bottom line was I still went to Coz stayed in an all-inclusive hotel. Did I deserve a full refund? No, I did not. I got 2 vouchers & can't remember if I used them or not.

My point about tax is that no one ever includes it in an advertised price. Not the grocery store, not the furniture store not United Airlines, Apple Vacations, Delta Airlines etc...How can you b!tch about one company, when it is across the board? Do your homework & it will not be a shock to your budget.

You sound like you have used Adventure Tours alot. Why? I'm pretty sure the price has reeled you in. If your unhappy with them, then don't use them. Your dollars will spend at any airline or tour operator. Shop around, do your homework. It's tough to have champagne taste on a beer budget.

Trolling on the first few posts.

 

[cxg31s]

...on air to Coz from TX:

MLT Worry Free Vacations only flies direct to Cozumel during the summer months. However, it does fly direct to Cancun year-round so it's still an option if you're willing to deal with the hassle of getting to Coz from Cancun.

Funjet and Adventure Tours are currently the only 2 charters that fly direct to Coz year-round. These charters are now owned by the same company so have pretty similar pricing.

You can book air-only through all 3 charters, however the airfare will be more expensive than if you book a hotel/air package.

Bay Adventures does have airfare specials sometimes, but if you read the fine print, you can only get those if you purchase a land package through them.

As a non-charter option, American Airlines is resuming direct service to Cozumel from DFW beginning in Feb. They are already booking flights so check their website for details. Granted, this is much more expensive than a charter but could be beneficial for people who have AA miles.

There is a rumor that Apple Vacations will be extending their business into TX so that would mean more competition for the Funjet/ATUSA monopoly and thus, better prices and flight options! Keep your fingers crossed....

 

[Don Anthony]

Thank you cxg31s for the informative & positive response.

Here is one more comment, I found that often the airfare will still be discounted from time to time but not be advertised. You are right that the sales are primarily in the off season. High season on these charters are often reserved years in advance. Off season or the rare occurance that a flight is not full is the only thing that triggers a sale in this timeframe.

If someone has a flexible work schedule and can respond to the last minute deals, they can have an inexpensive vacation in the off season.

Another tip, don't forget to consider the double occupancy issue. My dive buddy and I used to always debate the hotel package price vs. air-only and booking our own hotel and he would always forget to add the double occupancy. i.e. .....

Option A:
2 4day airfare tickets x ($175 airfare + $100 tax) = $550
1 "divers hotel" room for 4 days ($50 x 4 days) = $200
Total price for 2 vacationers = $750

Option B:
2 4day hotel packages = 2 x ($329 package +$100 tax) = $858
(choosing comparable hotel)
Total price for 2 vacationers = $858

<<Adjust per your own hotel preferences to come out with your own price>>

 

[cxg31s]

I have noted the same thing, Don Anthony, and that has always been my big problems with these charter packages. Granted if you take advantage of a last-minute deal you can save some big bucks, but without a sale, you're just paying twice for the same room at the large hotels and god help you if you're trying to get single occupancy! I always advise people of how much they can save if they just book air-only and then book a room at a bed and breakfast or a smaller hotel since they typically have the same rate for 1 OR 2 guests. 2 people can split that rate and save money, or singles don't have to pay extra just because they don't have a roomie. Either way, it leaves more money for diving!

Angie

 

[ggunn]

cxg31s once bubbled...
...on air to Coz from TX:

You can book air-only through all 3 charters [Funjet, Adventure Tours, and MLT], however the airfare will be more expensive than if you book a hotel/air package.

Bay Adventures does have airfare specials sometimes, but if you read the fine print, you can only get those if you purchase a land package through them.

A caveat about booking air-only through Funjet and AT (I don't know about MLT) is that you can book a stay for no longer than a week.

Bay Adventures only recently began requiring a hotel package deal for access to their air fares; they say it's the airlines' requirement, though I don't see why the carriers would care.

 

[cxg31s]

unfortunately that's the case with ALL the charters--they only offer 3, 4 or 7 day RT airfares. If you want to stay longer, you have 3 air options:
1) Book 2 one way airfares on the charter, which is more than twice the RT price
2) "Miss" the return flight and pray that they will have space on the next flight. But that's just it--you HAVE to go on the next flight out and my TA said the fee has gone from $50 to $150 to change the return flight and that's only IF they have space available and if you make your case to a compassionate airline person (hahahahahahaha). Plus if you wait too long (like over a week) they won't even let you use the return ticket. You're just SOL, out the money for the return ticket AND have to pay full price for another ticket just to get back home.
3) Book scheduled air via Continental and now AA beginning in Feb and again, pay more than twice the price of a charter. Then again, you're paying for more flexibility so it all depends on what your needs are and what you're willing to pay to get them.

There just aren't that many options for us poor TX folk, that's why I'll be glad if Apple comes here and throw a little competition into the pot!

I actually looked at Bay Adventures 3 years ago and they required land package purchase to get the airfare deals even back then. So either they discontinued that policy and just re-instated it or that's always been the case, I don't know. Maybe someone else who has used them can confirm this....

 

[ggunn]

cxg31s once bubbled...
[B

There just aren't that many options for us poor TX folk, that's why I'll be glad if Apple comes here and throw a little competition into the pot!

I actually looked at Bay Adventures 3 years ago and they required land package purchase to get the airfare deals even back then. So either they discontinued that policy and just re-instated it or that's always been the case, I don't know. Maybe someone else who has used them can confirm this.... [/B]

Two years ago Bay Adventures' initial response to me was that they had to book my hotel to give me their airfare deal, but a little wheedling and cajoling convinced them to come around. They eventually booked flights for seven of us. This year they told me that the airlines made them stop doing that.

That same year, Continental's website quoted AUS-CZM-AUS as $1150 per person, while it showed the round trip fare from Toronto (on the same HOU-CZM-HOU legs) to be only $602. I looked into driving to Houston, but it only made a $30 diff in the fare.

Yes, we here in Texas really get screwed when it comes to CZM air fares!

 

[cxg31s]

Isn't it weird how they charge so much less from a destination that's farther away? I think they know they can get away with it though because TX is so close to Coz and they know that we're going to go anyway, so they can charge us more and give deals to people who live farther away to entice them to travel to Mexico! What a ripoff for us--living close should be a benefit!

Interesting about Bay Adventures, too--I guess it's easy to put it off on the airlines since everyone's mad at the airlines anyway because of their ridiculous new policies, flight cancellations and escalating fares. But like you found out, everything's up for negotiation.

 

[Scubadude]

I have always used Bay Adventures when I go to Cozumel. What Al quotes me as the final price, is always the final price and there are no hidden charges or taxes. You can't go wrong, Good divin, George

 

[Kat]

ATA & Jewel Food Stores have some type of deal going on. When you spend $50 in groceries & use your Jewel card they give you a voucher for travel. Not sure if you only need 1 voucher or if you need to collect a certain number. But their ad showed Cancun f/ $169, Grand Cayman, Aruba, Ixtapa & Puerto Vallarta f/ $199 each. Honoulu f/ $329 & Maui f/ $349 All round trip. There are blackout dates & other asst'd restrictions but the prices don't sound too bad.