Mexico - New Years 2009 Cancun Trip

Hello All:

I am new to this forum, but you can usually find me trawling around the Amtrak Guest Rewards forum.

About six of us are planning a trip to a B and B outside of Cancun from Dec 29to Jan 3. We will need flights and a rental car and I could use some advice. I do a decent amount of travelling in the United States, Europe, and to the Caribbean, so I am not a newbie to domestic or international travel. But I have never been to Central or South America.

First, after doing some preliminary searches, it appears that airfare roundtrip from Philadelphia will be about $1300 dollars. This seems high to me. Any advice on what the average range of airfare is relative to the time of year we are planning on travelling? Any tips on finding a good fare?

Also, any advice on rental cars relative to the Cancun area would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help!

I can't tell from your message--do you already have reservations at a specific B&B? If yes, let me know what/where it is--then I can tell you what you will or won't need in terms of a car.

If renting from an international co., you will probably get into the very murky issue of whether or not your credit card covers your insurance, and whether that's adequate. FWIW, I've rented a car nearly a dozen times in the Yucatan and never gotten the insurance, and been fine. The roads are good, and people drive relatively sedately (though you should know the subtleties of road rules there). But your capacity for risk may be different.

I've also noticed that many internat'l cos now have started adding a notice stating that added insurance is _required_ when you book for Mexico online. Hertz does not, though, and I've never gotten any upsell pressure.

For airfare, I think you're on your own. I have flown US Air a lot recently for crazy cheap, which should be great for you in Philly. But during the holidays, all bets are off.

$1300 does seem rather high. You can fly Continental on those dates (and at reasonable times) for $951 as of this morning. Check Kayak or Continental.com