In the eyes of many travelers, the Caribbean is a very expensive and exclusive place to go on vacation.
This perception comes largely from islands such as Turks & Caicos, Grand Cayman and St. Barthélemy — one calculation found that a five-day visit to the latter French territory that has come to be associated with the rich and glamorous will set a visitor back an average $2,181 without the airfare.
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But the collection of 13 nations and over 700 islands known collectively as "the Caribbean" is a vast place appealing to all classes of travelers. While many of the more exclusive islands are expensive to get to precisely because they are so remote, certain large cities are on several airlines' radars.
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Act fast to score this $99 flight to the Caribbean
Puerto Rico, in particular, has become part of a push-and-pull between several airlines. In July, New York-based JetBlue (JBLU) -) debuted two new nonstop routes between the U.S. island territory and North Carolina's Raleigh-Durham and Florida's Tampa.
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Competitor Spirit Airlines (SAVE) -) also recently expanded its network to include new flights between San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport and Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth and Connecticut's Hartford.
Launched in 2011, Houston-based Avelo Airlines has also started to woo over Puerto Rico-bound passengers with ultra-low airfare.
Preparing to launch its first flight outside the continental U.S. with a new route between San Juan and Connecticut's New Haven on Nov. 15, Avelo is offering an introductory fare of $99 each way. While originally intended for those who book before Aug. 5, the introductory fare is still available online for travel before Feb. 14, 2024. The flight will run twice a week on Wednesdays on Thursdays on a Boeing (BA) -) Next-Generation (NG) 737 plane.
"With winter right around the corner, this Caribbean island treasure is the latest example of how Avelo is inspiring travel in new and exciting ways for Southern Connecticut," Avelo Airlines Chairman and CEO Andrew Levy said in a statement that the flight is meant to reach a "large and increasing number of Puerto Ricans calling Connecticut home."
Avelo hopes to tap into 'affordability and convenience' of new flight
The airline is tapping into a new market as the first to offer a flight from this particular part of Connecticut.
The strategy of offering low introductory fares has also been taken up by Denver-based Frontier Airlines (FRON) -). After launching eight new routes to Puerto Rico from many regional airports currently underserved by JetBlue and Spirit, the airline also offered some summer routes between the island and Baltimore, Dallas, Baltimore and Detroit for $59 — the summer promotion eventually ended and now the same flights cost a market rate of $100-plus each way.
Often, the low fares are also a marketing trick to put a given destination on passengers' radars and get them thinking about it for future plans.
"We expect the affordability and convenience of this new route will inspire a meaningful number of travelers to visit Connecticut from Puerto Rico," Levy said. "This is a win-win opportunity for Connecticut and Puerto Rico."
