getting my big family to Little Cayman

[kathy miller]

Hello,

I am acting travel agent for my extended family of 12 (8 divers). We are visiting Little Cayman next July, and are staying at Pirate's Point Resort. It will be easy to get siblings from all over the country to Ft. Lauderdale cheaply via Southwest Air, but then what? Current fairs are very reasonable on Cayman Air because there are summer specials. Does CA typically run these? When do they become available? do they fill up quickly? We need to put a big deposit down in Jan., and I am concerned about not having flights booked; however, I also hate paying twice the price of a special! with a group this large, I was wondering about charters--any thoughts/experiences?

I love this board! thanks for all the advice--

kathy

 

[carlislere]

The last couple of times I was on LC in June, the cheap fairs with CA didn't start till July. They will have some deals in the late spring, but not as good as the July through Sept. from my experience.
Say Hi to Gay Morse for me!

 

[zf2nt]

Hello,

I am acting travel agent for my extended family of 12 (8 divers). We are visiting Little Cayman next July, and are staying at Pirate's Point Resort. It will be easy to get siblings from all over the country to Ft. Lauderdale cheaply via Southwest Air, but then what? Current fairs are very reasonable on Cayman Air because there are summer specials. Does CA typically run these? When do they become available? do they fill up quickly? We need to put a big deposit down in Jan., and I am concerned about not having flights booked; however, I also hate paying twice the price of a special! with a group this large, I was wondering about charters--any thoughts/experiences?

I love this board! thanks for all the advice--

kathy

Lots of luck on trying to get decent fares. I wish I could be encouraging, but just can't! I go through this every year myself, and am right now fighting the battle. The pattern I've seen is that you can never get a bargain if you try to plan far in advance. The real deals open up without warning and are only for flights in the near future. As you mentioned, Cayman Airways is right now offering some great deals, but you have to book before September 30 and fly before December 10. (Even there, though, you have to be careful. Their big advertisement claims Tampa to Little Cayman for $259, R/T. Check the fine print, and you'll learn that only applies if you fly on Thursdays and does not include taxes and landing fees. By the time you factor that in, the price jumps to $366.)

In past years, I've held out as long as I could before plunking down cash. And invariably as soon as I do, somebody comes up with a sale price immediately afterwards that makes me kick myself. I remember last year I finally gave in to $545 R/T from Miami to GC, then two weeks after I bought one of the airlines started offering tickets for around $300.

So I'd say the longer you can wait to make reservations, the better your chance of getting a good deal. But then you run the risk of not getting the dates you need/want. The basic strategy the airlines follow seems to be to change all the rules of the game just about the time people start to figure out how to win with the current strategy!

Bruce

 

[divenut2001]

Hello,

I am acting travel agent for my extended family of 12 (8 divers). We are visiting Little Cayman next July, and are staying at Pirate's Point Resort. It will be easy to get siblings from all over the country to Ft. Lauderdale cheaply via Southwest Air, but then what? Current fairs are very reasonable on Cayman Air because there are summer specials. Does CA typically run these? When do they become available? do they fill up quickly? We need to put a big deposit down in Jan., and I am concerned about not having flights booked; however, I also hate paying twice the price of a special! with a group this large, I was wondering about charters--any thoughts/experiences?

I love this board! thanks for all the advice--

kathy

You might want to try letting the resort handle the air portion (if they do that). I am going in late Nov to LCBR. Going thru the resort I saved $90 off the internet fare plus I didn't have to pay for the air portion at the time of reservation...

The resort notified me when the fares were about to be raised so I could still pay for them at the lower rate. It could work in reverse for you if the rates go down before you've paid for them and locked in your rate...

 

[sharkdiver00]

Couple of other options would be:

1. do an internet search for a 'wholesaler' that does Cayman. It may take you a while to find and most of them do not deal with the public, but through travel agents. It is worth the try.

2. for a group that size, I would go directly to the airline and negotiate rates on a 'group basis'. You'd be surprised how accomodating they are when you bring them groups. Also, depending on your negotiations, either the 11th or 16th passenger is free (airlines and resorts), so you can pass the discount to the other members of the group.

Just a thought. PM me if I can give you further help.

good luck,
Maria

 

[Drew Sailbum]

In past years, I've held out as long as I could before plunking down cash. And invariably as soon as I do, somebody comes up with a sale price immediately afterwards that makes me kick myself.

Bruce

CAL has a fare sale each year in August for their anniversary. Travel dates are invariably limited.

Otherwise, they simply wait around for Bruce's reservation to get entered into the system and then go on to lower the rates.

 

[zf2nt]

Otherwise, they simply wait around for Bruce's reservation to get entered into the system and then go on to lower the rates.

Well, just to prove my point what a crap shoot it is dealing with the airlines these days, let me cite my experience today...

I'm trying to get from Tampa to Little Cayman on October 20, then from Little Cayman back to San Jose on April 5. The dates are a long story...October 20 gives me enough time to drive my new PU truck to Houston for the DEMA, then press onwards to Tampa, spend a day loading it with canned food, then put it on the boat for Little Cayman. And April 5 lets me stay through spring break in the Lee Cty, FL school system, which is where my sister-in-law teaches and who wants to come down to Little Cayman to learn to dive during spring break.

So...I first tried the Cayman Airways special, thinking I could toss the return half of the ticket and then worry about next April when next April comes around. The surprise: The $259 advertised special jumps to $376 once taxes and landing fees are factored in. Can I really count on that being less than half the total? Not so sure, so I pressed on.

Then I tried to use a Delta frequent flyer coupon, good for R/T from San Jose to GCM. The problem there is that if I don't board in SFO, and try to get on in ATL, they will invalidate the ticket. Pay to fly all the way from TPA back to SFO, just so I can use a frequent flyer ticket? Nah, I'll save it for next time.

So then I tried the 3 city route of Tampa to Little Cayman to San Jose. Expedia.com says the cheapest possible price is $1106. Travelocity.com says the cheapest possible price is $948. And Orbitz.com says the cheapest is $807! (Try it--you'll see these results are reproducible.) So I went with Orbitz, only as soon as I say "book it" they come back and say, "Oops, we made a mistake. The price is actually $817. OK?" So I grumbled, and said OK. Then they explain there is a $6 service fee. "OK?" "Yes," said I through gritted teeth. Then they went on to say that it had to be paper tickets, with a delivery fee of $21.95. "OK?" So now I'm up to $844.95, and being really weary I punched the "yes" button. Two minutes later I realized I had accidentally put down October 5 and April 5, rather than October 20 and April 5. Aha! Now we're talking change fees! Sure enough--it cost me another $27.95 to change the date from October 5 to October 20. And I should feel lucky it was so little!

Did I tell you how much I hate the airlines? No, I mean I really hate them all!

 

[carlislere]

Bruce,
You should write a book about dealing with airlines, like Gay Morse of Pirates Point wrote about working and living on LC.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

Did I tell you how much I hate the airlines? No, I mean I really hate them all!

What a mess! For that price you could probably drive down to Miami, hop a cruise ship, and just get off in GC and not re-board the ship. Ugh!

 

[tvictory]

I just booked two round-trip MIA-GCM tickets using American Air FF miles. The tickets are free but the "tax" is now about $49 per ticket.