Pack your bags, snowbirds.
Come February, flying down to some very popular Florida destinations is going to be a lot easier.
Last year, Florida was the most visited state in the country, according to Statista, followed by New York, California and Texas.
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An estimated 137.6 million people visited in 2022, state tourism officials said, up 5% over 2019, nearly 13% higher than 2021 and marking the highest visitation in Florida's history.
In addition, roughly one million people come to Florida for more than a month, but less than a year -- often referred to as snowbirds.
But whatever you want to call them, a whole bunch of people head to the Sunshine State and American Airlines (AAL) -) is setting up several routes exclusively for the Presidents' Day holiday weekend.
Service to popular locations
Got a hankering to see Lido Beach? Maybe you want to do some shopping and dining along Worth Avenue? Or perhaps Busch Gardens is more your speed? Don’t worry, American’s got you covered.
On Saturday, Feb. 17, and Saturday, Feb. 24, American Airlines will operate five nonstop routes from New York and Boston to a handful of popular Florida destinations
American will have once-daily service New York’s LaGuardia Airport to Palm Beach, Sarasota, and Tampa, offering mid-morning departures before returning in the early afternoon.
The air carrier will fly between New York and Palm Beach on its A319 aircraft, while its New York to Sarasota and Tampa flights will be on a smaller E175 aircraft.
In addition, American will operate once-daily flights from Boston to Key West on an E175 aircraft and Palm Beach on an A319 aircraft.
Tickets are on sale for the Presidents' Day holiday flights through American’s website or mobile app.
“We continuously evaluate our network for opportunities to add flying as warranted,” an airline spokesperson said. “We do often specifically add flights for higher-demand travel periods – such as the Presidents’ Day holiday for February.”
Flights to Las Vegas and Barcelona
The spokesperson said American also recently announced additional flights for the Super Bowl in Vegas and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, "where we will offer special service between JFK and Las Vegas, which we typically do not operate, and Dallas-Fort Worth to Barcelona, which will only operate for two weeks in February before coming back as a summer seasonal flight in June."
"So these kinds of special flights do happen throughout our network," he said.
All five of these Florida routes are already operated on a year-round basis by JetBlue (JBLU) -), its former Northeast Alliance partner, with the exception of LaGuardia to Sarasota which will end in March 2024, Travel + Leisure noted.
Earlier this year, U.S. District Court Judge Leo Sorokin order both airlines to split up, citing “substantially” lower competition if the partnership were to continue.
Approved in the last week of the Trump Administration, the JetBlue-American alliance would enable the two airlines to pair up on schedules and share revenues and passengers.
American will also step up its Mexico routes on March 28 with year-round service to Tulum’s new airport from its hubs at Dallas-Fort Worth, Charlotte, and Miami.
Later in June 2024, American will increase frequencies to nearly a dozen flights to the Caribbean and Latin America.
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