Haiti travelers experienced sticker price shock this past week after seeing flights to the small island nation via American Airlines were priced in the thousands.
People took to Twitter to express their shock and frustration. One would-be passenger was quoted a ticket price of $1,748 for a coach fare from Miami to Port-au-Prince. While, another Haiti-bound hopeful was quoted at $3,000 for a round trip ticket from Miami to Port-au-Prince for a five day stay.
“Flights to and from Port-au-Prince are heavily booked this coming week due to Holy Week and there is limited availability,” American Airlines said in a statement to Jacqueline Charles of the Miami Herald. “As a result, customers looking to purchase tickets are seeing gates that are higher than usual.”
Flights to Port-au-Prince typically range from about $300 – $1,200, with the latter typically being the case during peak seasons such as Carnival and Christmas.
In February, JetBlue and Air Canada reduced their flights to Haiti following a level 4 travel advisory from the State Department in response to a series of protests that had the capital on lock down for 2 weeks.
The airlines’ decision to limit service to Haiti comes after the travel site Expedia and its subsidiaries Travelocity, Orbitz, Hotwire and CheapTickets blocked travelers from booking flights to the island.
As for American Airlines advice to those looking to travel to Haiti in the next few weeks, “Be flexible when booking and plan your travel.”