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With clear, aqua-blue waters perfect for swimming, snorkeling and sailing, St. Thomas offers many diversions.

It’s also the most visited island of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Given its many upscale resorts and vibrant nightlife, it seems fitting that airlines have cut fares to St. Thomas in half. Fares as low as $223 are available from 13 different U.S. cities.

The travel dates for these cheap flights to Charlotte Amalie — the capital of St. Thomas — are primarily from December through March, with some availability from May through September.

Seats on these flights are almost certain to fill up quickly, so we highly recommend purchasing your tickets as soon as possible.

Deal basics

Airlines: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue and United Airlines.
Routes: Los Angeles, Newark, New York City, Orlando, Tampa, Washington, D.C., and other cities have marked down routes to St. Thomas.
How to book: Use Google Flights to determine your availability and then book directly with the airline of your choice.
Travel dates: Generally from December through March, with some availability from May through September; holidays are excluded.
Book by: Within the next two days.

Thanks to Scott’s Cheap Flights for finding this deal. Sign up for the site’s Premium membership, which comes with a 14-day free trial for $49 a year, to receive discounts of up to 90%. The Elite Tier membership also bookmarks premium, business class and first-class deals.

Sample flights

Many of the routes in this bundle of bargain flights are clustered around New York and Florida. You can fly to St. Thomas from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), as well as from spots across New York state including Buffalo, Syracuse and Rochester. If you live in Florida, you can fly to St. Thomas from Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Tallahassee and Tampa.

Here are some highlights:

• JetBlue: Tampa International Airport (TPA) to Cyril E. King Airport  (STT), starting at $223 (includes a layover in San Juan, Puerto Rico).
• American: Orlando International Airport (MCO) to STT, starting at $255 (includes a layover in Miami).
• Delta: John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to STT, starting at $264.
• Delta: Syracuse International Airport (SYR) to STT, starting at $269.
• Delta: Burlington International Airport (BVT) to STT, starting at $275 (includes a layover in New York City).
• JetBlue: Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to STT, starting at $275 (includes a layover in San Juan, Puerto Rico).
• Delta: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to STT, starting at $299 (includes a layover in Atlanta).

When booking your flights, we recommend searching through Google Flights to find your ideal dates and then booking directly with the airline’s website. Airlines provide a more reliable cover if your flight faces a delay, cancellation or booking change.

If you’re booking a May 3 flight from Burlington, Vermont, to St. Thomas, a $275 Delta flight is the lowest option. American, Delta and United have other options, but each is at least $500.

For a return to Burlington, Vermont, Google Flights shows a May 10 flight at 1:40 p.m. for $275. Both flights have a layover at JFK. However, the May 10 flight has a 4-hour and 36-minute layover in JFK, so you’ll reach Vermont at around midnight.

Despite the lengthy layover, the $275 price tag is a hefty discount. The cheapest tickets to St. Thomas range from $450 to $2,650, according to Google Flights.

The offers in this collection of discounted fares are for basic economy only. In Delta’s basic economy, passengers cannot select a seat. Passengers must upgrade to Delta’s Main cabin fare for an additional $80 to select a seat. Passengers who fly basic economy are also the last to board and cannot make changes to their tickets without paying a fee.

However, Delta’s basic economy lets you bring a free carry-on and the first checked bag costs $30 one-way.

According to information on Delta’s website, there were only three tickets left at this price point at the time of publication, so if you’re interested in visiting St. Thomas, we recommend booking these flights as soon as possible.

Maximize your purchase

When it comes to purchasing flight tickets, use cards that earn bonus points on airfare purchases like The Platinum Card® from American Express (5 points per dollar on airfare booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel), on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year, Citi Prestige® Card (5 points per dollar on airfare), Citi Premier® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve (3 points per dollar on airfare), American Express® Gold Card (3 points per dollar on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through Amex Travel) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2 points per dollar on travel). See this post for more on maximizing airfare purchases.

The information for the Citi Prestige Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Bottom line

St. Thomas is an ideal island getaway with its scuba diving, pristine beaches and many golf courses, and such significant discounts don’t come often.

Even though these reduced fares only apply to basic economy, which can be restrictive, many of these tickets are discounted by at least 50%, so it’s still worth booking.

As shown with the Burlington flight to St. Thomas, seats are filling up fast. We don’t expect this deal to last long.