Rate Changes and Private vs. Shared Trips

What happened to the shared trips with per-person rates you ask? We’ve got to experiment with rates every once in a while so we’re trying a new pricing model. We think that this pricing model will appeal to a lot of smaller groups (groups of 2-4 for example) that didn’t want to have to pay the full price of a private trip for up to 6 guests, but also want to go on a private trip and/or keep the guest total low so that they’re not signing up for a trip with 48 of their “best friends”.

It was also time to increase prices a little bit. If you’ve been to St. john before you understand that thinks like soda, beer, butter, and juices can cost double what they do in The States. And just like everything else, prices have only increased over the last few years. Our per-person prices for a sunset sail were going to increase to $125/person. Our per-person prices for a half day sail were going to increase to $150/person.

Last but not least, this new pricing model is also being put into place in order to shift a little bit of the work, planning, and logistics of a shared trip with per-person pricing back on YOU, the guest. We’ll certainly help where we can. We’ll take your name and contact information and put it in our calendar for the dates that you’re looking to share a sail, but maybe you’ll be able to find a few people to join you and share the cost. Read on for a few tips.

Asante isn’t a large catamaran with seats for 40+ of your “closest friends”. The absolute maximum number of guests on Asante is 10, but she is most comfortable when there are 6 guests or less.

How were Per-person trips booked in the past?

Our challenge in past years has been that it didn’t make economical sense for us to run a charter at the per-person rates with less than 4 guests. For example, our pricing at our per-person rates for our sunset sails used to be $75/person. We certainly couldn’t afford to run a sunset sail for just $75 if only one person signed up. We also wouldn’t have made any money if only two guests were to come along at a total rate of $150. With all of the expenses and island prices, it just didn’t make sense to run that trip for anything less than the 4-person minimum of $300. With the per-person pricing increases that 4-person minimum would’ve been $500 this year.

So when we got a call for a shared sailing trip and we didn’t have any others looking for a similar trip with a similar schedule we would tell people, “I don’t have any other guests looking for a shared trip while you’re in town, but we will put notes in our calendar with your schedule and preferences. If we get any other guests with similar schedules and preferences we will let you know and try to get a trip booked. However, if we don’t find more guests interested in a shared trip, would you like to pay the minimum 4-person price of $500 for the sunset sail? If not, and other guests don’t share a similar schedule, then unfortunately, we won’t be able to get you out sailing while you’re here this time.”

Up until now, we would then scramble to put up social media posts, ask random people on the beaches and at happy hour, and do everything else that we could to fill the trip with enough guests to make it economically feasible to get you out on the water for a trip of a lifetime. Many times we would find 4 guests and be able to run the trip. Sometimes we would not and the guests would then make the decision to either pay the minimum price and go for a sail or not and miss out on a great time out on the water.

How has the booking process changed?

We have now set our rates so that it might be economically feasible to take only 2 guests on all of our trips instead of requiring a minimum of 4 guests at per-person rates. (Note that increased prices at grocery stores has possibly hit the islands even harder than mainland US, and that BOAT stands for (Bring On Another Thousand)…it’s expensive to run a boat business. ) If you are a party of 2 and you want to go out on a Sunset Sail you don’t have to pay the price of a private trip for 6 guests anymore. You can now pay the minimum of $400 for a Sunset Sail for 2 guests and keep it all to yourselves if you’d like. I know, that’s only $100 less than the $500 4 guest minimum with the per-person rates, but we just can’t afford to go any lower. Many of the sailboats that do offer per-person rates are priced at $125-$150/person for a sunset sail. You’d be paying $250-$300 for 2 people to go on a sunset sail, but you might be sharing that sunset sail with 40+ other people. For $400 you can have Asante and crew all to yourselves for your sunset sail!

You can also add guests to your Sunset Sail for an extra $50/person by contacting us at any time. Hypothetically speaking, let’s say that you already booked your sunset sail for two, and when you get here you meet a lovely couple at High Tide or Beach Bar and ask them if they’d like to join you on a sailing trip. We can certainly add them to the sunset sail at $50/person and the final bill goes up to $500. Your per-person rate has dropped to $125/person, you saved $75/person, and there are still only 4 total guests on your sailing trip!

Let’s do a Full Day Sail Example

You sign up for the 2 of you to go on a Full Day sailing and snorkeling trip.
You understand that you very well might pay $800 for the 2 of you to go on this sailing trip
To book the trip you might’ve discuss things with me directly so that I can get you into my booking system for your preferred date.
We make sure to add a note in your booking and confirmation email about sharing the trip.
A few days before your trip you’re up at The Windmill Bar enjoying the sunset and you start hitting it off with another couple.
You ask them if they’d like to join the Full Day Sail that you have booked and they agree.
You contact me to tell me that you’d like to add 2 more guests to your trip.
We log into our booking system and add the 2 new guests to your sailing trip at a price of $100/person.
Your total for the Full Day Sailing trip increases from $800 to $1000. But…
This also means that the per-person rate for this trip just dropped from $400/person to $250/person.
If you find yet another 2 guests to join your trip for a total of 6 passengers, the total for the trip goes up to $1200, but the per-person rate for the trip drops to $200/person.

In the scenario outlined above, you have your trip booked for the date and time that you selected. That’s the date and time that you’re going sailing! You don’t have to be flexible with your dates to share a trip with others because you signed up knowing that you might have to pay the 2-person minimum rate. We don’t have to scramble to coordinate dates and times between 2 or 3 different parties. However, if extra guests want to join that exact trip at that exact date and time, and you don’t mind others joining you, we’ll get them signed up and you’ll save a little money!!!

Some Helpful Tips for Finding Other Like Minded Sailors!!!

We’ve mentioned making friends at happy hours, bars, and restaurants. Maybe you meet some fun folks on the beach or hiking through the park. You can also try to get a group together to share a sailing trip before you get here.

Social Media

You might want to try writing a social media post about traveling to St. John and wanting to go on a sailing and snorkeling trip with Saiing Asante. Try something like, “We’re traveling to St. John and are looking to go for a sailing and snorkeling trip with Sailing Asante any day from mm/dd/yy to mm/dd/yy, but we’d love to share that boat day with other like minded sailors. DM me if you happen to be traveling to St. John and want to join a fun couple for a day of sailing, snorkeling, and enjoying some Pizza from Pizza Pi!!! We’ve been sailing with Asante on a past trip to St. John before and it was the best day of our vacation!!!”

You can even take that post, make sure your dates are accurate, copy it, and paste it in all of the St. John travel Facebook Groups. Here are some we suggest trying. Oh, and if you tag @SailingAsante in the post we will help share it too!

Facebook Groups:

Hopefully, a few salty sailors get in touch and you can set up a day of sailing on Asante for a group of 6! The total for the day is $1200 that you split at $200/person.