When to purchase airfare?

[Hannah]

My husband and I are going to St. Martin in March. We have 9 nights booked at the Sunterra Flamingo Beach Resort. My question is how far in advance to you all book your plane tickets. The airfare seems to be lower today, $572 from approx.$700-$750, the only thing stopping me is possibly getting a 50% Sunoption "sale" in the 59 days or less. (Sunterra Owner) What are the chances of having openings in March to take advantage of the 59 days window?

[Spence]

I'd say, jump on the $572 air fare, most airlines will refund the difference if the price drops on an int'l ticket, if not they'll usually provide a voucher for the difference.

March is prime time for SXM, for fares and for TS accomodations, I wouldn't count on seeing anything in the 59day window with Sunterra, I've looked for that occasionally and not seen much.

Keep your booking, buy the tickets and have fun!

[Spence]

Now that's weird... OP's title has changed with no indication that a modification was made ... now it looks like I misspelled airfair , when it was the OP.

[Spence]

Oh, now I get it, Dave M transfered my response here from one of the duplicate posts that he deleted.

[Cathyb]

Can only speak from living in California: March is prime season in St. Maarten and waiting within 60 day timeframe you may be out of luck getting flights.

[camachinist]

Thursdays seem to be the cheapest right now, but only marginally...

Example...

$478.40 in US Dollars
1 adult @ $478.40
Hide booking details

This ticket is non-refundable.

Changes to this ticket will incur a penalty fee.

Airport legend:
EWR: 	New York Newark Liberty Int'l
SJU: 	San Juan Luis Munoz Marin Int'l
SXM: 	St. Maarten Juliana
	
Newark, NJ to St Maarten, Netherlands Antilles: 1803 miles 	7 hrs 14 min
American Airlines 	American Airlines Flight AA1857 on a Boeing 757 (jet) in coach class
     (breakfast, movie) 	
Departs Newark, NJ (EWR) 	Thur, Mar 8 	6:45a 	 3 hrs 45 min
Arrives San Juan, PR (SJU) 		11:30a 	
	1 adult in booking code Q, covered by fare (A1) below
	Layover in San Juan 	2 hrs 35 min
American Airlines 	American Airlines Flight AA835 on a Boeing 757 (jet) in coach class 	
Departs San Juan, PR (SJU) 	Thur, Mar 8 	2:05p 	 54 min
Arrives St Maarten, Netherlands Antilles (SXM) 		2:59p 	
	1 adult in booking code N, covered by fare (B1) below
 
St Maarten, Netherlands Antilles to Newark, NJ: 1803 miles 	6 hrs 36 min
American Airlines 	American Airlines Flight AA1968 on a Boeing 757 (jet) in coach class 	
Departs St Maarten, Netherlands Antilles (SXM) 	Wed, Mar 14 	3:04p 	 1 hr 6 min
Arrives San Juan, PR (SJU) 		4:10p 	
	1 adult in booking code N, covered by fare (B2) below
	Layover in San Juan 	1 hr 15 min
American Airlines 	American Airlines Flight AA1270 on a Boeing 757 (jet) in coach class
     (dinner, movie) 	
Departs San Juan, PR (SJU) 	Wed, Mar 14 	5:25p 	 4 hrs 15 min
Arrives Newark, NJ (EWR) 		9:40p 	
	1 adult in booking code Q, covered by fare (A2) below


Booking details
If you want to buy this ticket, contact the airline or a travel agent.  If you use a travel agent to buy this ticket:

    * If your travel agent is online and has an e-mail address, e-mail this itinerary to them
    * If your travel agent is not online, print out this page and fax/give it to them 

It is very important to use exactly the same booking codes and fare codes that we've used on this page in order to match the price we've found.

Fare (A1): 	AA EWRSJU Q7NC25O fare (rules) 	$99.00
Fare (B1): 	AA SJUSXM NOWC1C fare (rules) ,  psgr type ADT 	$84.50
Fare (B2): 	AA SXMSJU NOWC1C fare (rules) ,  psgr type ADT 	$94.50
Fare (A2): 	AA SJUEWR Q7NC25O fare (rules) 	$99.00
Tax: 	US International Departure Tax 	$14.50
Tax: 	Netherlands Antilles - St. Maartens Airport Departure Fee 	$30.00
Tax: 	Netherlands Antillian Passenger Screening Fee 	$9.35
Tax: 	US Immigration Fee 	$7.00
Tax: 	USDA APHIS Fee 	$5.00
Tax: 	US September 11th Security Fee 	$7.50
Tax: 	US International Arrival Tax 	$14.50
Tax: 	US Passenger Facility Charge 	$13.50
Total for 1 adult passenger: 	$478.40
(as of Tuesday, August 1, 2006 10:42am; fares loaded Tuesday, August 1, 2006 5:35am)

Some sample fares, NYC-SXM

Fare Details
 
Departing Airport 	NYC
Arriving Airport 	SXM
Departure Date 	03/01/07
 
Note:
The fares listed do not include airport and/or security fees.
 
Fare Basis 	Airline 	Booking Class 	Trip Type 	Fare 	Effective Date 	Expiration Date 	 
153 Fares Returned
LXSLW1 	DL 	L 	Round-Trip 	395.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
UXR7SNN 	CO 	U 	Round-Trip 	395.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
TX7ENR 	NW 	T 	Round-Trip 	395.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
LR7CR5 	DL 	L 	Round-Trip 	438.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
LWSLW1 	DL 	L 	Round-Trip 	445.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
VX7CRBSL 	UA 	V 	Round-Trip 	445.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
OWR7SNN 	CO 	O 	Round-Trip 	445.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
TW7ENR 	NW 	T 	Round-Trip 	445.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
VX7CRB 	AA 	V 	Round-Trip 	455.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
W7AN30 	UA 	W 	Round-Trip 	478.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
OR72SN 	CO 	O 	Round-Trip 	481.75 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
WMH7NY 	HP 	W 	Round-Trip 	485.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
QMH7NY 	US 	Q 	Round-Trip 	485.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
Q7CRB2 	AA 	Q 	Round-Trip 	488.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing

ALB-SXM....

Fare Details
 
Departing Airport 	ALB
Arriving Airport 	SXM
Departure Date 	03/01/07
 
Note:
The fares listed do not include airport and/or security fees.
 
Fare Basis 	Airline 	Booking Class 	Trip Type 	Fare 	Effective Date 	Expiration Date 	 
91 Fares Returned
KXSLW1 	DL 	K 	Round-Trip 	584.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
LX7ENR 	NW 	L 	Round-Trip 	584.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
VXR7SNN 	CO 	V 	Round-Trip 	584.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
KWSLW1 	DL 	K 	Round-Trip 	634.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
VW7ENR 	NW 	V 	Round-Trip 	634.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
BWR7SNN 	CO 	B 	Round-Trip 	634.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
KHXCRT5 	DL 	K 	Round-Trip 	688.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing
VHX21CRB 	UA 	V 	Round-Trip 	688.00 (USD) 			View Rules    View Routing

List your departure options and perhaps we might be able to do a bit better...

Pat

[Hannah]

Originally Posted by Hannah

My husband and I are going to St. Martin in March. We have 9 nights booked at the Sunterra Flamingo Beach Resort. My question is how far in advance to you all book your plane tickets. The airfare seems to be lower today, $572 from approx.$700-$750, the only thing stopping me is possibly getting a 50% Sunoption "sale" in the 59 days or less. (Sunterra Owner) What are the chances of having openings in March to take advantage of the 59 days window?

My departure dates are March 27-April 5

[TTom]

Hannah:

Where are you flying from? I think you should be able to do at least that well from the NYC airports, depending on your exact dates. I saw $462 on United, but the return was on Apr. 6 or 8. There are fares listed as low as $395, but not for your specific travel dates.

Thje most updated (and comprehensive) SXM airfare information seems to be from Jeff Berger's SXM web site. If you are (or intend on becoming) a regular SXM traveller, it's worth joining for the member updates.

If you are interested, PM me, as member referrals are encouraged.

Ciao!

Tom