More news about Playa del Carmen

[Themerrydiver]

Can you fly directly to Cozumel instead of the "bag drag" or are you making plans for another destination?

It's my understanding that there are a few airlines in the US that fly direct to Coz. You can also fly to Cancun and then take Mayair, a small plane company, over to Coz. We did that once and the flight was great fun but you can't take a lot of luggage with you. They have limitations on size and weight as I recall.

 

[nwflyboy]

It's my understanding that there are a few airlines in the US that fly direct to Coz...

The day AFTER the ferry explosion, I was riding the other ferry from Cozumel to PdC. During the crossing, I noted all the jets coming in on final approach for CZM. I saw several United and American flights during the ferry crossing.

It's generally true that fares to CZM are substantially higher than those to CUN. It's a shame that Southwest doesn't fly to CZM - that would shake things up a bit.

According to the airport's website, there are quite a few airlines flying to CZM (although the website has clearly not been updated in a long time - some of the airlines listed no longer exist and I think some listed routes are no longer flown). Looks like in addition to American and United, there's also Delta, Air Canada and Sun Country, maybe some others.

 

[KathyV]

The State Department is narrowing the restrictions on travel to PDC and the Consulate is reopening, but they still advise citizens not to take the ferry:

US Narrows Travel Alert for Mexico's Playa del Carmen

 

[JamesBon92007]

It's generally true that fares to CZM are substantially higher than those to CUN. It's a shame that Southwest doesn't fly to CZM - that would shake things up a bit.

According to the airport's website, there are quite a few airlines flying to CZM (although the website has clearly not been updated in a long time - some of the airlines listed no longer exist and I think some listed routes are no longer flown). Looks like in addition to American and United, there's also Delta, Air Canada and Sun Country, maybe some others.

I've only been to CZM twice and it was a few years ago so things may have changed, but I seem to recall that there were only a few airlines that had signs and counters and one of them was MAYAir. It didn't look like there was room for any more! SouthWest had some problems with permissions when they started flying to PVR (Puerto Vallarta) but managed to get it straightened out and we've flown with them twice down there since they did. I've said it before: if enough of us suggest a new route to SW they might do it. They are beginning flights to Hawai'i but so far the only passenger flight is Oahu. I'm not sure if they began their flights yet or not.

 

[gopbroek]

According to the airport's website, there are quite a few airlines flying to CZM (although the website has clearly not been updated in a long time - some of the airlines listed no longer exist and I think some listed routes are no longer flown). Looks like in addition to American and United, there's also Delta, Air Canada and Sun Country, maybe some others.

Wiki seems to do a pretty good job of detailing the service in and out of most airports.
The page for CZM seems pretty accurate, looks like the charter operator Vacation Express is planning on starting a number of charter routes in a few months.
Cozumel International Airport - Wikipedia

 

[Streydog]

Sun Country flies to Cozumel but only in the Summer. To me this shows that the airport can support more traffic but the demand might not be high enough during the winter months.

 

[driftwood]

The day AFTER the ferry explosion, I was riding the other ferry from Cozumel to PdC. During the crossing, I noted all the jets coming in on final approach for CZM. I saw several United and American flights during the ferry crossing.

It's generally true that fares to CZM are substantially higher than those to CUN. It's a shame that Southwest doesn't fly to CZM - that would shake things up a bit.

According to the airport's website, there are quite a few airlines flying to CZM (although the website has clearly not been updated in a long time - some of the airlines listed no longer exist and I think some listed routes are no longer flown). Looks like in addition to American and United, there's also Delta, Air Canada and Sun Country, maybe some others.

Be real careful what you wish for. I live outside of Austin and SW has two (2) daily direct flights to CUN. We are taking a week in Coz in the middle of June and it is roughly the same to fly American to CZM (through DFW with civil flight times/layovers).

SW sets me back $628pp and AA gets me to CZM at less the $610. Call it even money with one checked bag on AA.

Also looked at San Antonio for SW flights and it gets worse ($688rt).

Really prefer to go through Customs and Immigration in CZM vs CUN and who cares when we are back in the states.

 

[Streydog]

I just looked at flights from DFW to CZM in June. Sun Country has some direct flights for $374 while AA show nothing under $700.

 

[driftwood]

A lot of times it is less expensive to fly into a hub and make a connection than flying direct out of the hub. I know it makes no sense, but that is the happy world of airline pricing.

 

[ggunn]

A lot of times it is less expensive to fly into a hub and make a connection than flying direct out of the hub. I know it makes no sense, but that is the happy world of airline pricing.

Claro. I live in Austin, and Houston is a hub for United (used to be Continental and I miss them!). Some years ago I figured we could save some money by driving to Houston, parking the minivan at my sister-in-law's place which is 15 minutes from the HOU airport, and flying from there. I figured wrong. It turned out that the plane tix from Houston to Cozumel were $75 per person (there were 3 of us) more expensive than the tix from Austin to Cozumel, even though we would change planes in Houston and be on the same flight as we would have been if we drove to Houston.

The miles flown have virtually no correlation to the fares charged.