Has anyone else held off on their travel plans for next year? Our charter prices are at least 35% higher than they were at this time last year when we booked for this last February's TB trip. Industry forecasts call for jet fuel to climb even more this year. It was 78¢ a gallon in the year 2000 and it was $2.17/gallon this last Friday (7/14). I'm really afraid this may put a hold on a Jamaican vacation for only the 2nd time in over 20 years. I'm just sick about this. I realize for some, they have enough disposable income that prices are not an issue but they are in our house. I wonder how many others will feel the pinch? I'm sure petrol prices in Jamaica may cause a domino effect on transportation costs and then food good costs. I'm not convinced that our present leadership in Washington were truly elected, but I can only hope for such an overwhelming defeat for those inept and corrupt now in power than some semblance of sanity returns to our government. Sorry for injecting politics into this but imho they are intertwined.
Hoping to see everyone again next February.
Mike

I was at Treasure Beach last year--flew out of Des Moines, Iowa. Paid $521U.S. for my airfare. I am in the middle class--in fact I work in agriculture and work for farmers, so my disposable income isn't unlimited. Coming to Treasure Beach this year in September and paid $398U.S. This is for airfare only. I don't do charters or all inclusives--I go on the seat of my pants and common sense. Found out that is the cheapest way to travel. And Mike do me a favor get over your politics

I see some increase in airfare but checking some of the discount airlines and discounting sites you can usually still see a swing of many hundred dollars for most flights to MoBay.
I know that as of my last visit there, most costs had not gone up for tranportation from MoBay to TB or around to sites from the villa's. I typically just tip the driver a bit more to compensate for the additional cost of fuel. In the long run, I don't know that defering a vacation due to fuel cost is going to do any good given that it only appears to be going up

Bob, I'll try to be more ostrich-like if you think that will help:-).
As it stands right now, I find the air only prices for February out of Milwaukee to be beyond our budget. We don't do all-inclusives obviously if we vacation in Treasure Beach and we don't hold back on tipping. I'm happy for you. I must put my vacation requests in this year for next year as I can't go on a moments notice. I could have gone recently out of Chicago for less than $300r/t. I vacation in February so that's my quandry, but those prices are currently close to an extra $500-600 for my wife and I i.e. last year we both flew for what it'll run for one person next February. I'm hoping for the prices to drop somewhat. Oh Bob, in Milwaukee charters are much cheaper than scheduled air.

For this next trip I'll pay less than I have in awhile. $325 instead of $400+.

With a US$20 fuel surcharge added to all US airtickets last week, finding reasonable flight prices can still be done on-line. Major consolidators/search engines like onetravel.com,
mobissimo.com, expedia, orbitz and others often
change their pricing between midnight and 1am for starters and then throughout the day. Prices are fluctuating wildly, sometimes as much as US$1,000 up and down in 24 hours. Keeping track online can net best prices. Many villas in Treasure Beach are members of www.cvoa.com which often finds
wholesale pricing/discounts on 3 name-brand
carriers for guests who rent villas. Scheduling
flights midweek Tues/Wed/Thurs yields savings.
On the US East Coast, Spirit often does surprise
annoucements of promotional tickets as low as US$9.

Milwaukee Mike, I definitely sympathize with your concern about the cost of travel. I'm in New York, and the fares have been pretty consistent, but they are still not particularly inexpensive for me. I work for a non-profit, so my little salary doesn't go nearly as far as I might like it to. Last year, thanks to a hefty tax return and some overly generous birthday money, I was able to make a couple of trips to TB (hurray!), but without those perks, spending between $300 and $400 on airfare and then the roundtrip carfare is pretty costly for me.

I've found my best airfares through Travelocity.com ... they have Air Jamaica's non-stops sometimes for as 'low' as $305, though that may be because NYC is a hub. Even though you have to make your travel requests really far in advance of your February trip, do you have to buy your tickets so far in advance? Couldn't you block out your vacation time with your job and then take your time hunting around for good fares?

(As for the politics ... not sure why Blue Mountain Bob says you should 'get over' yours when he doesn't seem to be 'over' his own... How, exactly, do you 'get over' political beliefs anyway? And, too, aren't we all entitled to our opinions?)

GG

I have blocked off my time and I'm hoping for a drop in prices. The problem is booking my room; I'd like to stay back at Coconut Cottage but I can't commit without a plane ticket. I know there are other rooms available so I'm trying to stay positive.

Hey man check out what a Canadian pays to get to TB from Winnipeg,Manitoba,Canada.
The center of Canada by the way.

Keep in mind its 3000 miles away and its a 5 hour flight.
Last year(2006) I paid $1800 cdn for 6 weeks air only. The year before(2005) I paid $1500 cdn for 6 weeks air only.
Two years ago(2004) I paid $1350 for 6 weeks air only.

Can you see a trend here?
I can imagine what this years prices will be.
Its getting out of hand in a hurry.....

More airfare tips:
Other than charter flights (Apple from Chicago,for example, and others in US, plus many from UK) which often require Sun-Sun flights only and run only during the peak winter travel season, most airlines set their prices no more than 8-10 months ahead of your scheduled departure dates. So that's the time to start
searching. Wholesale/discount pricing is sold in blocks of 8 passengers, so if you're a large group, you have more leverage on pricing. Seasonal
sales, announced online by the airline sites and in major newspapers, generally for travel
until 14 December, are becoming rarer but still
occur, especially by Air Jamaica from major US
service cities like Atlanta. The bulletin boards on www.jamaicans.com often post these last-minute specials. For travellers who
use Logan/Boston, Air Jamaica no longer flies.
US Air, however, has, during peak season, now put
on Sunday direct/non-stop no-plane-change service,
Boston to MoBay;costs more, but it's the only non-stop direct flight for New Englanders. US Air, routing through Phily or Charlotte, and Spirit routing
East Coast (Providence is furthest point north) through Fort Lauderdale Fla are generally the lower price leaders. You can also
occasionally find package deals (air and Negril accomodations) that are low enough that you can
just chuck the accomodations and use the flight portion). Ohliz who sometimes posts here sniffed out this money-saver. Getting the rock-bottom price now requires luck and lots of
research. But coming back to or discovering Treasure Beach the first time well warrant the on-line effort.

We have used beachdestinations.com before which allowed us to do air + 2 cheapie nights' hotel (always in Negril or Ochi or Mobay) and either use the 2 nights hotel or just not use it, for less than air-only.

The nice thing about the beachdest outfit is that they'll allow you to fly in on, say, Monday July 1, use their hotel package for July 1-2, do your own accomodation thing for July 3-10, then fly back - for their air/hotel package price.

Not always the best deal though, it depends.

To those that I offended. I learned to get over my politics living in Jamaica. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Jamaica from Jan 1980 to Dec 82 (certainly rough times for the wonderful Jamaica people that I had learned to love). I worked for a farmers cooperative that supplied fresh vegetables to Kingston and I can remember many time encoutering road blocks and not being able to deliver those vegetables to Kingston, which hurt "my farmers" and the people in the city. And I thought over Politics!!
I went on to get my Masters in Soil Chemicstry from UWI at Mona. Contined to learn thats is all about the people and not politics.
I was certainly out of line with Mike and all inclusives and myself not looking at the broader view. Treasure Beach is such a great place, I would never want to deny anyone to visit. I apologize to those that I offended. It's all about people and the great relationships you can form, Which can form at Treasure Beach.

Blue Mountain Bob

Hey, Blue Mountain Bob, that was very gracious of you. Thanks. Have you returned to live in JA since your Peace Corps work (thus adding the 'Blue Mountain' to your name)?
GG

No apology needed for me.
I've often said that I wish that the South Coast could have a farmer's Co-op farm stand somewhere on the main south road. Travelers heading east or west would then have a one-stop to load up on the fresh produce from St. Bess. If the new organic farming takes hold, some folks might be persuaded to detour just for those items. Just a thought. Does the fish from Treasure Beach end up in Whitehouse? If not, where does it go? Is there any place to buy rasta brooms? Longtime visitors to Jamaica in general and the South Coast in particular might not need any more baskets or carvings to take home but something home made and useful might make a sale. My parents used to order home made blouses and shirts before boarding the train from Montego Bay south, picking them up on the return trip. Something on that order makes more sense than a hand carved staff or pipe that will never be used again. What about some decorative containers filled with pimento (allspice)? Home woven gift baskets but filled with coffee, jerk seasonings, dried scotch bonnet powder; that sort of thing? Someone with a camera and a color printer might make custom t-shirts with a visitor' picture next to a donkey or at the Pelican Bar?
Mike