$1500 fares !!!

[original spanky]

have gone to Negril many years and have paid between 500 and 750 typically.
this year we are heading down the day after Christmas. the fare is over 1500 from Charlotte . are we all seeing sticker shock ???

[rjonsun]

Yeah, that is outrageous. I always look at a range of dates to get the best price non stop from Philly. Of course it helps being retired planning vacation dates.
Regards,
Bob

[ol'yardie]

Sorry.. the 27th just went up to $772. That algorithm is making bank!

[ol'yardie]

I just checked Southwest and their rate is $1003 from Charlotte to MBJ. The day after x-mas is an extremely high volume day. On the 27th the rate drops to about $400.

[johng]

The days of a budget vacation in Jamaica, especially Negril, are a thing of the past. Gone are the days of cheap flights and inexpensive digs on the beach. Although I understand after Covid and now Melissa that the "locals" need to make quick money but what they don't understand is that tourists have many destinations like Cuba that offer as much if not more than JA for much less.

I have no idea how airlines operate other than squeezing their crews while the CEO's gets huge packages so how they can charge $1500 for airfare is absurd!!

Way back when Negril was true Paradise I flew RT from NYC to Montego Bay for $150 and pitched a tent at Gloria's Sunset Cottages for $4 USD per night. Greed hadn't entered the equation, yet.....

5 bucks bought a huge brown paper bag full of Collie Weed and Red Stripes were 85 cents a pop. A full Ital feed of veggies, rice and peas was less than $4USD.

Long gone are those days when teenagers and twenty year olds were the "Crowd" at The Wharf Club, The Yacht Club, Rick's Cafe. No American chains like BK or KFC were even a figment of the imagination. We went there to escape that scene. Key West had grown restrictive and Negril offered 7 miles of white sand, plenty Ganja and Irie cheap Red Stripes.

Those of you who were lucky enough to visit back then know exactly how fortunate you were!!

[phineasfreakears]

I hear ya johng, ATA (America trans air) had nonstop flights from Milwaukee to MBJ for $169 round trip, and camping at Roots was $7 a night, including the use of their bathrooms and showers. Live music either at Roots, Alfreds or De Bus. If you wanted to get indoors, Errol's had cabanas for $20 a night with a shared bathroom. Always lively night life back then at Errol's. Later in the mid 90's we would fly nonstop with Air Jamaica, which was really fun. All the champagne you wanted while in the air, and flights were reasonable. A couple of years we stayed at T-Water, a nice place at the time, $40 per night with breakfast buffet included.

[gregandkelly63]

I remember when all this was farmland .....

[brownsd54]

But the reasonable flights are still there. You can't expect to flight anywhere during the holiday season on a budget. Kids are out of school and it's the start of the cruise season in Florida and the Caribbean. Jan 6th Toronto to MoBay $266. In fact most of January West Jet has decent prices. Sometime you have to pick your flying day. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best day to fly on a budget. Direct flights sometimes are best but not always and find a flight to Ft. Lauderdale and then Jet Blue to MBJ. Even if you have to overnight in FFL that's better than $1500 airfare.

[Irie John]

have gone to Negril many years and have paid between 500 and 750 typically.
this year we are heading down the day after Christmas. the fare is over 1500 from Charlotte . are we all seeing sticker shock ???

There are plenty of flights for 12/26/25 from CLT under $600. Some as low as $416. Not sure where you are loking for ticket prices. First class tickets are above $1100.
https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search

[Marianna Jacobs Singer]

Most of it is the date you are flying. I'm flying down from Charlotte on AA on Jan 3rd. I thought fares were high, but the ones I looked at were more like $800. I fortunately had enough rewards miles to fly down for $145.