Tips for finding cheap airfare to Jamaica

[rastagirl777]

Clarity - you did well for your April trip. The round trip price you found from San Francisco of $685.00 is pretty typical.

I travel for a living and have posted most the "rules" you stated above several times. Its a crap shoot whether or not you'll get a better deal booking 3-4 months out or not....sometimes if planes aren't filling fares will drop significantly a month or even two weeks out.

When I book business travel I generally cannot until a month out. I also don't always have the flexibility to fly when I want. I use Kayak as a research tool but will also visit websites that don't do Kayak such as Southwest or Horizon.

When researching air be sure to look at the "hidden" fees - baggage, seat selection etc. Also take into mind taxes and airport fees - some sites don't list a "with tax" fare - Kayak does. They also have an option for you to calculate fares based on the number of bags you plan to check.

As far as Jamaica goes I'm out of touch only in that I fly on Frequent Flyer miles every year. My godson got about a $500.00 fare last year flying out of San Jose. It would be a stretch for me coming from Sonoma County but if you are actually "in" San Francisco or the East Bay you do have three airport options open to you. I've found Oakland is usually the most expensive and San Jose the cheapest.

When do you plan on flying? (season) That makes a difference too. Every airline knows every market's high season and prices accordingly. That and take into account holidays - even Presidents Day the fares shoot up.

Good luck - I'm sure you can find a fare lower than $685, give it time.

[Clarity]

Thanks everyone for your feedback!

So the Tuesday “rule” seems to have some truth in it after all! I just checked again and some SFO-MOBAY flight prices have dropped to as low as $527! – Unfortunately the times aren’t optimal. 6 AM departure – and late night arrival Montego Bay. I would lose an entire day. The red eyes flights are more expensive...

Ras Walleye and Mo – Lucky! How I *WISH* I could find prices that good! I would jump on them in a heartbeat! Thanks for the tip on Vayama.com. I’m going to give that a try too.

Captain Oil – Thank you for the link to www.itasoftware.com – I’ve been searching for that site! Someone had shared that with me a while back and I couldn’t remember the name of it! It's a really helpful site! Thanks!

Negrilaholic – I agree that right now American Airlines has the cheapest flights to MoBay. Better than Airtran! (which is surprising)

Rastagirl777- Thank you so much for the great tips and helpful advice.!

I didn’t realize that Southwest and Horizon don’t do Kayak. I’ll search those separately now.

I agree with you on the hidden fees! Now I only go with Carry-on because the baggage fees are ridiculous. I was also disappointed that there is a fee on Airtran in order to choose your seat on the plane!

...And all those websites that create false hopes by advertising a price that becomes DOUBLE that amount when taxes are added in. That is always a major disappointment.

The dates I’ve been looking for have been tentatively November -first week of the month- and late April 2012. I was hoping there was some secret formula for finding a super cheap flight but You’re right, it’s really luck of the draw!

Thanks guys!