Cayman Brac 737 Return Flight Schedule Warning

[divezonescuba]

Cayman Airways had decided to change the 737 return trip schedule times from CB to GC on Saturdays. If you were booked on the later flight check your ticket on line. Some of us that were scheduled to come back to GC on the 737 are now taking one of the PJs. And you know what that means.

 

[jdcpa]

Sorry, I do not know what that means. Can you elaborate please?

Didn't you have some problems in the last year or so with Cayman Airways Express connections from the Brac?

 

[divezonescuba]

It means that according to Cayman Airways it's standard industry practice not to be their responsibility for missing any of your connecting flights that were not booked with them to your original destination regardless of why the pjs don't fly. There are not that many places cayman airways flys to in the US. So most people are in this situation.

So, if you book your flight with any other airlines and cayman airways have mechanical problems or any other issues, you are really on your own for cancelling/rebooking/paying for your new flight. In this case, they will hand you the phone that's what they mean by assisting you in finding another flight. If you contact the Ministry of Tourism, you may get Cayman Airways to pay for your hotel and cab fare.

This is not a problem normally because this doesn't happen a lot with other airlines and there are usually other airlines that fly the same route if there is a problem.

The 737 flies direct from Miami to CB. But on the way back, it flies to GC first. They decided to move the entire time for the 737 in the late afternoon, but put people on a pj on the way back to GC. Fortunately, some of us bought our tickets after the schedule change occurred. Unfortunately, some bought their tickets before the change.

 

[KeithG]

It means that according to Cayman Airways it's standard industry practice not to be their responsibility for missing any of your connecting flights that were not booked with them to your original destination regardless of why the pjs don't fly.

This is standard airline industry practice. Since your next flight is not part of the single flight ticket, they have no knowledge of any additional travel arrangements that you may have made.

Airlines sometimes will not help you even when the ongoing flight IS part of your original ticket.

One a recent trip our first flight on Air Canada (Star Alliance member) was late getting into Heathrow for our next flight on British Airways (oneworld member). Air Canada customer service directed us to BA customer service in order to rebook the second flight. We stood in line with the majority of the passengers from our flight waiting to rebook. We were fortunate in that our next flight was a common one and we only had to wait a few more hours. Lots of people had to wait until the next day to catch their once-a-day ongoing flight.

 

[KathyV]

I have no issue with booking my own domestic flights using a single airline; but when I fly internationally using different airlines, I have a travel/booking agency make the reservations, because they are able to book all the flights on one ticket. That way, if one of the flights changes or there are delays, none of the airlines on the ticket can say "it's not our problem". I learned that one the hard way, when one of my connecting flights changed and everything started to unravel.

 

[divezonescuba]

Cayman airways said you did not book the other flights directly thru us, so we are not responsible. i am not sure you can even do that with Cayman airways. My travel insurance for my connecting airlines would not honor the claim because it was cayman airways fault.

If you use a travel agent, I don't know how that would work with a problem where the airlines just decides not to fly.

Nobody wants to get stuck holding the bag, because it's going to cost somebody something when there is a problem. I can see where one airline will book thru themselves and then onto another airline that they have a code share or other agreement with. In that case they would possibly help you.

So, we choose to minimize our exposure by flying on the 737. Unless they roll another fire truck, we hope we have a better chance of getting in and out than on the pjs. As an added bonus, we don't have to deal with that strange security system at GC on the way in. We are also putting in an extra day in Miami just in case. Last year, we ended up going to stingray city while we waited for the plane back the next day, so at least we had an unexpected opportunity to do that.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

One of my trips back home to GCM involved an interline ticket. I bought the ticket through Travelocity. Return was PEI (Periera, Colombia) to PTY (Panama) to MIA to GCM.

Due to some hangup in the maintenance of one Cayman Airways jet there was no plane available for the MIA to GCM leg at the time I booked. This was clearly Cayman Airways' fault to deal with. But because I bought one ticket for my entire trip, Cayman Airways knew I was already traveling when they made the decision to cancel the MIA to GCM leg.

Even before I knew of the problem, and without my needing to ask, Cayman Airways rebooked me onto an American Airlines flight to get me home with minimal delay. They could have simply delayed me onto the later Cayman Airways flight the same day, but they didn't (perhaps that was now full?). And Cayman Airways even reimbursed me for checked bag fees I had to pay at American which would have been included on Cayman Airways.

Lesson learned. Buy the entire trip on one ticket. Doesn't matter much who the seller of the ticket is. While an airline could have told me to speak to Travelocity to rebook they did not require me to do so.

 

[divezonescuba]

Well that was certainly nice of them. How long ago was that? Did that involve the CB people working for cayman Airways?

They didn't help a single person that I am aware of, do that on that day last august where the airport was full of stranded customers. There must have been somebody in a similar situation as you were. In fact, they wouldn't even admit that the flights all day were cancelled. When I got the worker to hold up my hand written flight cancelled sign, a number of people came up to us to take pictures for their trip insurance. The most I saw them do for anybody was hand them the phone.

 

[jdcpa]

The policy you speak of is an airline industry policy. If you book separate legs, you are responsible for your own connections.

And finally, what is a pj? Private jet? I can't figure that out. Cayman Express flies the Saab and Twin Otter, both of which are prop jets.

So what is a pj?

How are Tampa to Houston connections?

 

[divezonescuba]

There's a saying, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

Pj is puddle jumper.