6.5 hour layover in Grand Cayman Airport - looking for advice!

[dmoore19]

I really don't mean to be a wet blanket, honest. I might do the lunch thing but I get my bags checked and all of that taken care of before I left the airport. That's just me. Missing a flight or a connecting flight and all that would be entailed in that makes me willing to sacrifice an extra hour or 2 of fun and sun seem like nothing.

I recall the airport mayhem and my husband was randomly selected for "extra" screening the last time we left GCM. I got picked for extra screening when we came back from Provo last year; so I am nervous about cutting it too close. But it just seems like a poor end to (hopefully) a great trip to be sitting around that departure lounge for hours. Thanks.

 

[AggieDiver]

Coming from LC you can't check bags to the US. They have to be reclaimed and rechecked in GC. That may not be the case with bags coming from Brac. I believe I heard they either had added or had plans to add the capability of xraying bags on CB, so they might be able to check them all the way through.

 

[divingjd]

I've done this a couple of times coming back from the Brac. We had to claim our bags at GCM and re-check them for the flight to the U.S. Once my wife and I hired a cab to give us a tour of Georgetown and the Seven Mile Beach area, then ate at some expensive crappy place in Georgetown. That must have been a shorter layover, because we checked our bags, then left the airport. Another time there were four of us and we decided to visit the Botanical Gardens, which was worthwhile. Rented a Ford Expedition for the day because we needed space for all the luggage. It was too early to check the bags and there was no place to store them. It's doable on your schedule, but you'll probably have to drag your bags, which can lead you to do crazy things like rent an Expedition for the day. [emoji1]


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[caymaniac]

You have to "recheck" your bags in GCM from the Brac or Little Cayman as divingjd said, but you also have to get yourself through the line with carry on or without (the security line can be quite long and the interior can be a madhouse) then if you get chosen for a extra security check it can mean an extra half hour. Plan for the extra security check and if it doesn't happen then congrats!

 

[mikeycanuk]

This brings back some boring memories..... I know our issue (Air Canada) is that the check-in desk won't open for 2-3hours before the flight. Pretty sure it's 2. You can't compare Provo to CGM, that is TRUE madness!!!! And we left on the Sat just before the end of the Christmas holidays so I know PLS insanity.

As for CGM/CYB we've done the layover. Coming back to CGM I paid the change fee for the later twin otter flight. I didn't want to have to get up at 4:30am to get ready to take the jet, like we did the year before. That being said I just realized I was taking a huge risk. On the way to the Brac our flight got delayed when there was an issue with the parking brake, 3+hr wait, so much for trying to save time waiting for the jet. We did that the year prior and what a looooooong day. 7hr layover. Tried to walk around CG and kill time. Eventually went back to the airport and just sat and sat. That $60 for the change fee was worth every penny and we went to the hungry horse for a few hours.

We have a super long layover this Jan in Barbados. Nowhere to park our bags. I do have lounge access with my Amex card but might just go bags and all to the Waterfront Cafe, it's a 7hr layover too.

 

[KathyV]

This brings back some boring memories.....

Thanks, I am enquiring about the possibility/costs of changing flights. It seems like the entire travel industry is still in crisis because of the sabotage at the FAA air-traffic control center for ORD and MDW last week.

The airline phones are all jammed up with long wait times, so I will wait a few days and try again. The people who are stranded right now need to get their questions answered first.

We were in Provo last Oct/Nov and PLS is the worst Caribbean airport that I have experienced; talk about Saturday departure mayhem! Plus I had the random ZZZZZ designation on my boarding pass and I was treated rudely and roughly by the security staff. I know that they were doing their jobs but they were very unpleasant!

Thanks, you've convinced me that it will be worthwhile to try and change flights if that is a reasonable option!

 

[mikeycanuk]

The odd thing was that I was trying to change to a later flight (8 or 9am originally) from the Brac a few weeks before our flight. There was no availability (10:30am flight I believe). There was however when I called on island a few days before we left and there were empty seats on the plane, quite a few in fact.
Don`t despair if you find no availability.

PLS is soon to or might have finished the renovations. Won`t do much unless they increase the size inside the terminal. The first year we checked in our bags, went back to the condo and showed up with 45mins!!! Didn`t count on the security line, made it with just enough time for duty free. The year after we came from Grand Turk (early) and ate a crappy breakfast at the terminal and decided to stay at the airport. Quick breeze through security but still had to sit upstairs and outside. Didn`t take long before a trip to the washroom was a battle of whits. Didn`t help that a jetblue flight was 2hrs late. Just what the terminal didn`t need, another 150+ people. Sheer chaos with lines that blend into one another and somehow we were in the wrong line and ended up being the last people to board....ugh.

 

[AggieDiver]

I think Cayman Airways must always holds a number of seats for Caymanians, at least on the inter-island flights. I have never been on a full flight between GC and LC, coming or going, but it always seems like flights were not available for purchase in the weeks leading up to the trip. I wonder if they realize how many people decide not to make a trip to LC because the flights show as full on the dates they want to go...even though they actually have room.