Bahamas Air FLL - MHH

[l'il gecko]

Has anyone flown or booked the FLL - MHH non-stop service on Bahamas Air (only available on Thursdays and Sundays)? When I went to book for July, it was showing ALL seats as available and when I checked it for the up-coming Sunday, it was not showing a non-stop flight - which kinda makes me unsure if the non-stop is going as scheduled?
Thanks!!!!

[toledopirate]

For our trip to GGC this past month, our original flight arrangements were Detroit DTW on Northwest to West Palm Beach PBI and then PBI to MHH via BA. Our return trip was MHH to FLL via BA on a Thursday and then FLL to DTW via Northwest. Just before we left for our trip, BA ended up cancelling our Thursday return flight. Apparently it is normal for BA to cancel their flights for unknown reasons and with little warning. They did not notify my travel agent, she found this out when she double-checked our reservations. My agent got us switched to Continental for our return portion at no extra fee. Unfortunately, my agent had sent us paper tickets since we were flying internationally and on two different airlines (Northwest and BA). My travel agent told me to go to the BA counter to endorse our cancelled tickets over to Continental. It sounded easy enough. After all, BA had cancelled our flight. There is no BA counter in Detroit, my agent suggested I get the tickets endorsed by BA in PBI before coming to MHH. BA in PBI had no idea what I was talking about, they would not help us and they would not endorse the tickets. They told me to have BA in MHH endorse them. When we arrived in MHH, I figured I would be smart and have BA endorse the tickets right then and there, since our Thursday flight was cancelled, maybe the BA counter wouldn't even be manned on that next Thursday. The gentleman manning the BA counter in MHH would not wait on me. Because we would be missing the last ferry from Abaco to GGC, we left the MHH airport, praying that when we returned to Abaco MHH the following week for the flight home that someone from BA would help us; otherwise we would have to purchase 4 new tickets on Continental at $375/piece. The following week, after much discussion and at the last possible minute at MHH, BA agreed to endorse our tickets over to Continental. Long story short, there is no way that we will ever fly BA again. Just my 2 cents.

[johnrudy]

Wow! No kidding. I wouldn't fly with them now either! Whew!

[island daze]

If You Have Time To Spare Fly Bahamas Air.

[Cathy Arizona]

We just returned from Abaco. The lady who is the caretaker for the house we rented asked us on the way to the Hope Town dock which airlines we were leaving on. I told her American. She said that was good because American is pretty reliable. But she had quite a number of people arriving and departing on Bahamas Air lately and there had been all kinds of problems with cancellations and late flights.

[l'il gecko]

Thanks, folks - we have flown Bahamas Air often from West Palm Beach and never had a problem, but it is the non-stop from FLL that is concerning me - sounds like it might be questionable.

[Nancy H]

AA called us to ask if we would volunteer to change our return flight… since our return schedules were flexible we said yes. Our original return flight was MHH to Miami to DCA via AA. The change was MHH to Nassau to Miami via Bahamas Air then Wash. DCA via AA. AA gave us each a $200 voucher, no restrictions, to do so. AA sent us paper tickets but the couple with us got e-tickets…don’t know why. We had no problems at all. But the other couple had problems in Nassau because they did not have a paper coupon that could be validated by BA. A little bit of hassle but they were allowed to go and had $400 voucher for future travel on AA. I did notice that BA did not pay a lot attention to flight times. It seemed that when the plane was full they took off.

[keywestgigi]

We got our tickets through Orbitz for Continental. Getting to MH was an absolute nightmare!!!! We got there a day late and after the ferry had quit running to Guana so we had to pay $150 for a ferry to get to Guana. Thank goodness the people who own Harbour View were nice enough to let us cancel our originally scheduled first night stay there. Coming home, we were on BA even though our tickets were through Continental. We left MH early, left Miami early, and got home to Key West about 30 minutes early. YES..they leave when everyone is on board which didn't bother us at all! I'll have to say, BA was MUCH better than Continental but we will never fly Continental again!!!!!!!

Just as a note!!! My nephew is a pilot with American and when I told him about the nightmare trying to get to MH he told me that their pilots (for the puddle jumpers) actually have to pay Continental to fly so they can get their hours to get on with a better airline. Most of their flights are subcontracted to Gulfstream and my nephew checked with them when he first got his pilot's license and they told him he would have to pay to fly their planes. He's now a Captain with American.

Just my 2 cents worth :)

[tillmantiger]

Unfortunately, we are flying Continental. Our flight is supposed to arrive at MHH at 3:05. We have family members who are arriving around the same time on another flight. We hope to catch the ferry by 4. 5 is the last ferry so they better have their ducks in a row! :0)

[Beachgirl247]

Have to laugh because this brings back the ummm "wonderful" memory of our flight from Treasure Cay to Ft Lauderdale (Outbound to Marsh Harbour was fine). HOWEVER, on our flight home, Mr. W decided to land Air Force One at Ft. Lauderdale airport instead of a military base (some silly expensive dinner to attend). THEREFORE, he shut down the airport and we had to circle FOREVER. Then, after landing, we entered a nightmare of a situation at immigration. We actually had to enter at the EXIT and wind down the ramp. The line was OUTSIDE OF THE AIRPORT. ? can I go back to Treasure Cay?? please?

LOL. Our plane was one of the 1-1 setup so we could see inside the cockpit. The co-captain was given the opportunity to land and it was an awful crunch of a landing!! When we deplaned and said, "hm some landing there", he laughed. He said he was fine until he saw AIR FORCE ONE on the tarmak in front of him. lol. Poor guy.

I've been lucky and no bad experiences on Continental (knocking on wood right now).

[abbyliz]

HOWEVER, on our flight home, Mr. W decided to land Air Force One at Ft. Lauderdale airport instead of a military base (some silly expensive dinner to attend). THEREFORE, he shut down the airport and we had to circle FOREVER.

I think that's actually pretty common. it's often best closer because the logistics for the SS getting him from point A to B can be a nightmare. When it's on a lot of roads at rush hour, that's a lot more disruptive than shutting down an airport! Plus, I think AF1 is big enough or heavy enough that some military runways aren't equipped for it, but I only vaguely remember having that discussion, so I can't be certain.

[Don]

Remember who is considered important when you vote. We have been using BA for over 10years from West Palm Beach. Never a problem. May be the size and useage of the facility.

[Ed]

With reference to Bahamas Air

When everything is working ok and things are mostly on schedule, Bahamas Air is ok. Nothing to write home to mother about but ok. Actually, you could fly almost any airline for a short period of time and not have any negative experiences.

When things go wrong is when an airline, or any company for that matter, either shines or fails. In this respect, it has been my sad experience that Bahamas Air responds horribly when things go awry. Their systems are unforgiving and a lot of their people are somewhat inept, or at least uncaring. Whatever problem arose quickly becomes your problem to solve and they will volunteer no help. I have arrived at Marsh Harbour and found my Bahamas Air flight canceled and their clerk just gives you that “what do you expect me to do about it look”. You pay your money and you take your chance.

The good part is that when you finally get to the Abaco’s you chill out quickly and whatever went wrong melts into insignificance. If the problem happened on the way home, it is just another way to get you back into the run of everyday life.