As a travel agent, I can get great deals to destinations all around the world. So, why would I choose to forgo some great deals and pay (almost) full price for a vacation? If you’ve been to St. John, USVI you may understand. My family and I have fallen in love with this tiny island in the Caribbean Sea. When thinking about our next family vacation, there was only one choice. But, we still don’t want to have to pay full price for everything. So, I will share with you some tips I have compiled for saving money on a St. John vacation.
Saving on Airfare
Getting to St. John requires flying to St. Thomas (STT), and taking a ferry to St. John. Driving to a major international airport instead of using a local airport will save us thousands of dollars, as well as offer us a direct flight. To get the best price on airfare, I bought our tickets nine months in advance and at the lowest price offered. We also paid for the tickets nine months ahead of our trip, which split the cost of our trip into two major payments (tickets and lodging), and allowed us to pay using tax refund money for both payments.
Saving on Lodging
The major hotels on St. John are beautiful (and expensive). Instead, we choose to rent a villa. Sounds expensive, but the nightly rate can actually be cheaper than the hotels and there are hundreds of villas on the island to fit every budget and style. An easy way to save a significant amount of money is to travel during low season, which usually runs from mid-April to early December, and can save you a significant percentage on lodging. Some villa rental companies and villa owners charge full price for children, and some offer a reduced rate. We selected a villa that offered free lodging to children under 5, which saved us half off our villa rate.
Saving on Food
Food on St. John is expensive since most items have to be imported from other islands or the mainland. We bring snack food with us packed in our bags in any crevice available (inside shoes, in between clothes). Another wonderful benefit of renting a villa is that is comes with a fully equipped kitchen. We save money by purchasing food items at one of the local grocery stores and prepare most of our meals ourselves and reserve eating out to only twice during our trip.
St. John can be a very expensive place to travel. Saving money on airfare, lodging, and food puts a St. John vacation within our family’s reach.