Is it possible to do Coz on the cheaper side around Christmas time

[loudives]

I would love to come to Coz over the Christmas Vacation but am blown away by the price of the flights and to a lesser degree the hotels around Christmas time. To some degree it almost borders on price gouging LOL. Typically I have been able to travel from Newark and stay at Casa Mexicana for around 2500 with a family of four and two rooms. The same trip in the week between Christmas and New Year is priced at almost $5000 with the bulk goingto the airfare. Are there any secrets to better pricing or is it going to be a choice between pay or dont travel. Will the airfare drop closer to the time or just continue to go up?

Thanks

Craig

Don't forget air only on a charter like apple, funjet, global, etc. They mostly deal with higher priced hotel resorts so the package is high. Most don't know you can buy air only and get a good price on an in town hotel.

Check all airports near you. I'm saving 200 a ticket out of Milwaukee instead of Chicago for for my Feb dates. The extra 45 min drive is worth 400 to me. I also save 8 a day on the parking.

 

[Craig66]

Thanks all for the advice, unfortunately even travelling Christmas day does significantly improve the price and travelling through Cancun also only marginally cheaper. Aaaah I will keep checking Kayak and if by some fluke something pops up I will snap it up to satisfy my Coz addiction but if not I guess it will be skiing in the pocono's until Coz prices return to a reasonable level

 

[kentmorrdave]

is/was 420 RT non stop from BWI to CUN 21-31, 2010. Add 60 each way for van and ferry to czm and that aint too bad

 

[Smurf Stomper]

wow, 5 grand?! Just a few months ago (June) a trip for two staying @ the allegro (all inclusive) and airfare ran like 1300.. throw in another 5-600 for two divers over 4 days and it was a great vacation for us for not even $2k!

 

[jennfl]

I was looking at budget hotels in Cozumel over Christmas and found this one to have a very good rate,only $55 per night. It's called Hotel La Casona Real. I've considered this hotel before. It gets solid reviews on Trip Advisor and still has some nice ammenities like pool, AC, cable, and king sized beds. Seems to be very clean from the looks of the pics and the reviews.

Hotel La Casona Real - Cozumel, Mexico

I'll probably stay here my next trip to Cozumel just for the great value.

 

[MMM]

Family members are joining me Christmas Day as that was about half the fare otherwise. If you can wait until the last minute to book, you can sometimes get great deals. That is what my husband is planning to do as he can be flexible work-wise. But high season, well, it's that old supply and demand thing.

 

[DandyDon]

"The same trip in the week between Christmas and New Year" - nothing happening in much of the US other than post Xmas sales and who wants to shop more? Hardly any other business can get much done and many scale back, even close. The holidays have been driving people crazy and now they want to escape, and the kids are out of school. And you are surprised that the planes are selling out?

"almost $5000 with the bulk going to the airfare.

"Will the airfare drop closer to the time or just continue to go up?"​

If it was known, then they already would - whichever. Did you set up Fare Alert daily emails at Kayak?

And you may also save big $$$ by doing the bag-drag from Cancun to PDC and then ferry over to Cozumel. It saved me over $400 this month.

Wow, really?! With advance planning I usually can't save $100 that way so don't. If the CZM planes are already sold out of certain dates, yeah maybe. At the moment, Newark area to Cancun for his dates are actually higher.

Investigate flying on Christmas Day.

Flying on Xmas Day & NYDay is better than the day after: $809 vs $1217. :shocked2: And that's from Philly. Hotels are reasonable enough tho. His fav @ $100/night and a dozen others for less, some much less.

I think I may go to the Grand Canyon. Maybe I won't drive into a blizzard this time.

 

[scubawife]

I used to go somewhere in the Caribbean over Christmas or btwn Xmas and New Year's every year. Sometimes leaving Xmas day and coming back on the latest flight there was on the 31st. (on the 1st, unless it was a pretty early flight there was no big savings. Too many people need to be back by the 2nd) That did make the flights a bit cheaper, but land costs were always higher over the weeks of Xmas, New Year's and the time in between. Schools are out, some business close, etc., all over the world, not just in the US. It's one of the busiest travel times of the year.

For many years now we've gone the 3 wks before Christmas, leaving just after US Thanksgiving. Reasonable air, no jacked up holiday pricing on accommodations, and best of all, no crowds. Unless I have no other time available, I will never go away those weeks, over US Thanksgiving or over Easter. Maybe with the current economic situation not all hotels are upping their prices, but there sure is a big difference when you look at condo and other rentals.