Flying to Cozumel

How do you save money on airline tickets? I have gone through FunJet, Orbitz, Hotwire, Apple, travel agencies, directly to the airlines, etc., and it still costs me at least $500 per person to fly to Cozumel and back? Aren't there any significant discounts?
Lena

Hi Lena,
Your question is a great example of the oddity of airline pricing, specifically how airfares are commonly uniform regardless of which travel outlet is selling the ticket. I spent some time researching various options and came up with a few suggestions. First, although I do not normally suggest package deals, Cozumel is one location that tends to offer fairly good value for air and hotel packages, from selected cites. These cities include, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, and Miami. So what you will want to do is book a separate inexpensive flight from your home city to one of the above mentioned cities and then book a package program available from one of these cities. You might consider that beginning January 31, 2004 American Airlines will offer non-stop service from Dallas to Cozumel, providing a number of special hotel packages, which can be found at this link. In addition, you might also consider Continental, Alaska, or Mexicana Airlines.

Another alternative is to use the contrarian strategy and travel to a different location that offers lower airfares. Such examples include Jamaica, other islands in the Caribbean, or Cancun.

Whatever option you decide—I wish you a great trip.