Direct flights to Coz airport in late July - early August

[DandyDon]

To each his/her own, but all other things being equal or close to equal I would much rather have a connection in Houston than fly into Cancun. From Austin all the way to Cozumel all I have to worry with is my carry-on.

Me, too, generally. I only go thru Cancun when I need to see my dentist there (altho I may change that to a Cozumel dentist I now like), or my mid-Texas connection fails and I get rerouted. Going thru Cancun never saves me enough to consider the drag. I am rethinking, tho. I hate that 3pm arrival in Cozumel, puts me in a rush to get ready to go the next day, would rather start earlier in the morning and arrive earlier, and then the 4pm departure that gets me to Lubbock at midnight facing a the long drive home - if the flights all are ontime, which they weren't last return. So, I may go for Cancun so I get to Coz in time for lunch, then back before sundown - except it really only gets me there 2 or 3 hours earlier, then I have to leave so early. I may mix, flying in Cancun but departing Coz. It's always something.

He's coming from Oslo tho, and dealing with UK connections sounds much easier than our I&C and TSA since we don't have fully international terminals like much of the world.

 

[Ghosty]

Bad link. I think you meant Google Flights? I never could figure out how to get the variety of choices there that I do on the Matrix site.

Oops, typo. I think Google uses the ITX matrix now, I need to check. I use to love ITX, but now Google is great, except it doesn't have SouthWest. You have to go to SW's own site for their fares. I'm spoiled, Denver to Cancun flights are almost always super cheap. But I do the ferry.

 

[ReefHound]

The bag drag from Cancun is really not much trouble. I would think a traveler from Europe would rather do that than put up with I&C and TSA on connections in the US. Do be careful about using the term "direct" as that does not mean "non-stop."

This is true. I prefer non-stop of course but direct is not nearly the hassle and delay as a plane change. I once flew from Houston to SanFran once on Southwest and we had three stops. We joked that the pilot had to land whenever he needed to pee or get a snack.

 

[Charred]

I've done both: direct flight from Newark into Cancun and 1 stop flight from Newark into Houston and then to Cozumel. I've also go through Miami. That is a great route IMO but now I have status on United (3 free 70 lbs bags....) so I go through Houston.

Cancun is certainly cheaper but the bag drag and ferry is a pain in the ass compared to extra flight into Cozumel. It was rough and the whole boat's luggage got soaked. Each to their own here...

But the big deal breaker for me was how long the trip took through Cancun. I recall we were to our hotel at 5:30pm. When flying to Cozumel we land around noon and are at the pool that afternoon. I remember getting there after flying into Cancun and thinking I wasted an entire day traveling and I'm never doing that again. Actually after flying into Cancun I realized there is a bit of group think on SB and it's advice is highly situational.

If you are retired and have time on your hands you might view this differently. But my vacation days are precious to me.

FYI - there are direct flights in from Canada so you might be able to come from EU into Canada and direct flight from there.

 

[Snoweman]

Delta is dropping back to Saturdays only from ATL after April 23 of this year.

 

[ReefHound]

You have a lot more flights into CUN. From Houston, UA has one flight into CZM and about 8 or so into CUN. It is possible to take an early flight into CUN and be by your Cozumel pool earlier than flying into CZM. I'm not retired but I don't work on the day I leave at noon so leaving at 8am doesn't cost me any vacation time, it adds to it. The bag drag typically takes me about 2.5 hours. Which is spent drinking beer and relishing being back in Mexico. Maybe the "group think" is an evolved attitude that make the "bag drag" a few hours of fun not a journey through hell?

 

[ggunn]

You have a lot more flights into CUN. From Houston, UA has one flight into CZM and about 8 or so into CUN. It is possible to take an early flight into CUN and be by your Cozumel pool earlier than flying into CZM. I'm not retired but I don't work on the day I leave at noon so leaving at 8am doesn't cost me any vacation time, it adds to it. The bag drag typically takes me about 2.5 hours. Which is spent drinking beer and relishing being back in Mexico. Maybe the "group think" is an evolved attitude that make the "bag drag" a few hours of fun not a journey through hell?

There's nothing "evolved" about it, IMO; you look at the situation realistically and make your choice. For me, traveling from Austin with lots of equipaje and my 90 years young mother, flying in and out of Cancun is a non-starter. For others, the equation works out differently. And yes, I have done the bag drag myself, so I know what it entails.

YMMV and DSFDF.

 

[mediumone]

To each his/her own, but all other things being equal or close to equal I would much rather have a connection in Houston than fly into Cancun. From Austin all the way to Cozumel all I have to worry with is my carry-on.

I would agree. For us, it's the additional 2 hours from disembarking to our lodging, and of course, another 2 hours in "travel time" to return, making for a very tedious 4 hours added.

 

[ggunn]

I would agree. For us, it's the additional 2 hours from disembarking to our lodging, and of course, another 2 hours in "travel time" to return, making for a very tedious 4 hours added.

If the time were the only issue for me, the going there wouldn't be a big deal, but the bag drag returning home is a bummer.

 

[DandyDon]

If the time were the only issue for me, the going there wouldn't be a big deal, but the bag drag returning home is a bummer.

You could do an Open-Jaw: AUS-CUN, CZM-AUS, if the flights looked reasonable and fares appealing. Might not be worth it, but it is an option.