November air travel/reservation question......

[gopbroek]

A year ago November AA shifted flight 1256 from 10AM to Noon from DFW to CZM, which allows for single day travel connections in both directions without a true 'Redeye', to the west coast cities. The west coast departures are still early (5-6 AM) due to the 2-3 hour time difference but no Midnight departures with a multi hour layovers are required. Imagration flows pretty quick in DFW now that they have implemented the kiosks and in CZM, since September at least, they man all the boths in so the most I have seen is 10 - 15 minute lines. That being said the AA DFW to CZM is usually priced at a several hundred dollar premium, when booking in advance. Like any airline seat if they have to much inventory several weeks out they may discount them but that is hard to plan for (I have been on low load flights to CZM with folks travelling to Cancun because the tickets were so much cheaper into Cozumel, go figure???). Airline load management is not science but, I suspect, a black art involving sacrifices to an evil diety.
The direct flights to Cancun off the west coast are limited, but available, and look to be about several hundred less CZM. If you are traveling with a lot of gear then most likely Mayan Air is not really an option due to the weight restrictions. If you do the bag drag the last ferry does not leave Playa until 11PM so as long as you reach CUN by 7:30 PM the bag drag is not a problem.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

No matter what you have experienced, even avoiding the red eye (does leaving home at 3 am qualify as a red eye), a non stop into Cancun vs a stop over will always get you to Cozumel with less travel time and no risk of missed connections or bad weather. If i am wrong, please speak up.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

PS DD Sorry there are no non stops to Cancun from Lubbock

 

[DandyDon]

I saw a family on the Cozumel airport shuttle get off at the ferry dock and wondered who goofed? Might have been the airline putting seats on sell.

It's just too early to know what will happen with these moving targets. On that Wednesday...

Delta has a flight leaving LAX at noon, arrives Cancun non-stop for $344. United and AeroMexico both want over $1,000.

Going to Coz, the airlines seem to charge extra to do only one connection, even more to leave at 5 or 6am and arrive the same day.

They know what people want to buy and bump those fares to encourage some to take the cheaper flights they don't really want. The planes arriving in LAX evenings need to turn around and fly east for equipment repositioning, so they try to fill them with people who want to save money.

More will be revealed in time...

 

[ChrisM]

Apologies if someone has already mentioned this, but the IRONMAN Cozumel is scheduled for November 27, 2016. That is the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The probable reason that there are no flights available on Monday is because they are already taken by the folks competing or supporting someone in the IRONMAN. Thanksgiving week is a bitch for Cozumel; unless of course you are competing in the IRONMAN.

That's the reason I need to be there Friday. Planning on doing the race. The Monday I am looking at is 8 days later, since we'll be diving after the IM

We've been there during IM week two or three times and never had issues. Our dive op always picked us up at Blue Angel so we didn't have to deal with driving to the Caleta or through town. Town and diving weren't shut down for us. ALthough I do know it's hard to get from the southern resorts to the airport on race day and can be a hassle. We just planned around it.

Interesting discussion as we've most always flown direct to CZM from LA, on the red eye. One year we stayed in that airport hotel (DFW?) but by the time we got to CZM still felt like a long trip, so we returned to the red eye to just get there. But DD makes a good point that CUN may be less time overall. Just seems like a bit of additional work both coming and going. It's simple easy just always felt like when I get "there" I want to be "there." Will have some additional gear with the IM so the bag drag would be a bit more work (on a day I don't really need to be doing any work, 2 or 3 days before the race).

Chris

 

[DandyDon]

That's the reason I need to be there Friday. Planning on doing the race.

​

Just seems like a bit of additional work both coming and going.

Even if you go thru Cancun, consider coming back from Cozumel. The bag drag, wait for ferry, and channel crossing takes time, but leaving - it seems longer. The airlines try to trick you into early departures, and getting to Cancun two hours before an early flight time is worse.

Will have some additional gear with the IM so the bag drag would be a bit more work (on a day I don't really need to be doing any work, 2 or 3 days before the race).

There are usually plenty of porters with big tricycles. Not so much late at night, but days & evenings yeah.

 

[ChrisM]

Looking at options thru CUN, but from LAX there just aren't that many nonstops, and if I have to stop I'm going direct.

 

[DandyDon]

Looking at options thru CUN, but from LAX there just aren't that many nonstops, and if I have to stop I'm going direct.

Careful with your terms. "Non-stop" is what you want, "Direct" is not the same thing as the same flight may stop on the way, and "One-connection" is the best you can get to Cozumel.

The choices are surely going to change, and currently Delta is the only one offering a serious fare. Here's are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday non-stops - click to open...

 

[cvchief]

Question about luggage on Mayair. If I have one suitcase at 50 pounds, one backpack (small size) at about 15 pounds, and a laptop, about how much might this be?
Would it still be worth it to fly Mayair or just bus/ferry it?
Do they count a backpack and laptop or just a suitcase?
I like Dave's travel plans of LAX-CUN, but only if nonstop and not a redeye, and arriving early in the afternoon to give enough time to get to COZ not to late.

The deal is 44# of checked luggage. AND you check anything you can't easily hold in your lap, so regular overhead carryons will be checked. Now you can COMBINE allowance for multiple passengers. If there are 2 of you, they weight all of your bags together and the total needs to be under 88#. I have heard of people sneaking a little extra through, but I would not count on it. And it costs $3 US per extra pound.

Here is the current schedule. Note that one 5 pm flight is HALF the weight allowance. Also if you book on the website, you will pay MORE. I buy at the office between Mega and Ched. I guess you can call there?

as long as you don't mind the bus & ferry and the crossing is nice or opt for the shuttle flight and are a light packer.

1. You can get a PRIVATE van from the airport for like 650 pesos or less (I know a guy...). (for the deal, you have to use peso, in dollars, 50-65)

2. #44 pound per person is not a light packer. It might be a not heavy packer. I have flow with just a back pack, lightly packed. That is a light packer.

 

[MMM]

Will you be travelling with a bike AND dive gear? That will get old fast if you are doing a Cancun-Cozumel bag drag.

That's the reason I need to be there Friday. Planning on doing the race. The Monday I am looking at is 8 days later, since we'll be diving after the IM

We've been there during IM week two or three times and never had issues. Our dive op always picked us up at Blue Angel so we didn't have to deal with driving to the Caleta or through town. Town and diving weren't shut down for us. ALthough I do know it's hard to get from the southern resorts to the airport on race day and can be a hassle. We just planned around it.

Interesting discussion as we've most always flown direct to CZM from LA, on the red eye. One year we stayed in that airport hotel (DFW?) but by the time we got to CZM still felt like a long trip, so we returned to the red eye to just get there. But DD makes a good point that CUN may be less time overall. Just seems like a bit of additional work both coming and going. It's simple easy just always felt like when I get "there" I want to be "there." Will have some additional gear with the IM so the bag drag would be a bit more work (on a day I don't really need to be doing any work, 2 or 3 days before the race).

Chris

 

[cvchief]

Will you be travelling with a bike AND dive gear? That will get old fast if you are doing a Cancun-Cozumel bag drag.

With tricycle guys and a van, it wouldn't be bad. Bus might suck a little.