Tips for dealing with Cayman Airways customer service?

[Gina Flacco]

Hi, my husband and I just returned home from a fantastic week of diving at Cayman Brac Beach resort. This was our 4th time to the Brac, we have also been to Little Cayman Beach resort. We really love diving both islands. But our return trip home on Saturday was extremely stressful and traumatic due to Cayman Airway's significant mechanical issues. I am not sure we will be going back to either of these islands for a while. I completely lost confidence in Cayman Airways. They were not honest with us the source of the delays, they did not offer us any vouchers or compensation. We ended up being delayed 10 hours leaving the Brac and they put us on a plane without our luggage. I want to try to follow-up and get reimbursed for at least some of the additional $800 we had to spend to get home. Has anyone had any success following up with Cayman Airways? I called and they just told me to send an email to a generic email address.

 

[KathyV]

Did you make the air reservations yourself or were they made through Reef Fantaseas - the booking agents for the Clearly Cayman Resorts?

Even if you made the air reservations yourself, I would reach out to the agent at Reef Fantaseas, they probably booked the resort stay (and all your previous visits to the Sister Islands). They really know all the nuances of the flights to/from the Cayman Islands and the airlines, and all the quirks of Cayman Airways, so they should at least be able to advise you.

I have never been able to put all my flights on one ticket when I try to book it myself and the trip includes flights on CAL. I now let the Reef Fantaseas agent book our flights at the same time we book the resort reservations. They charge a fee but it isn't bad and they are able to put it all on one ticket.

I've learned the hard way that when there are delays with one leg of your journey, it's better to have all your flights on the same ticket. The other airlines are automatically notified and they reschedule you as needed and there is a much better chance that your luggage will follow you on time.

You could also try contacting customer service at your credit card and see if they have any advice. Sorry you had such a bad trip coming home, how was your trip to CBBR in general?

BTW, did you take any trip insurance? Your policy might compensate you for the extra expense.

 

[Gina Flacco]

Thanks for the reply! I was thinking about reaching out to Reef Fantaseas for advice on this issue, especially since we have been to their resorts a number of times. We booked everything ourselves, well through American Express travel with points. We flew a different airline to Grand Cayman and then Cayman Airways to the Brac. I have reached out to American Express travel and they are looking into this as well to see what can be done.

We did not have trip insurance, unfortunately. We almost always purchase it, but for some reason did not for this trip. I am regretting that now.

Other than the trip home, we had an incredible week of diving at CBBR. We really love that resort. Everything was great - our room, the food, the diving. We had two great dive masters and a really fun crew on the boat. We saw sharks, turtles, eels, an octopus, a peacock flounder, and lots of other reef fish. There wasn't one bad dive!

 

[The Chairman]

I have confidence in Amex that they will resolve this to your satisfaction.

 

[Redfoot]

Sorry to hear of your airplane problems, but as they say its better to deal with them on the ground than have a mechanical issue in the air...... Not trying to minimize the headache by any means but hopefully they were being proactive about something. I am sure American Express and Reef Fantaseas will help all they can.

I am headed to CBBR after Christmas, so very happy to hear you had a great time and great diving!

How was the sargassum weed problem? Still very noticeable?

 

[Fathom044]

Good luck with this!

 

[morecowbells]

It looks like they have a Facebook page. What about posting your experience there?

 

[divezonescuba]

Yes.

Cayman Airways did the same thing to us. Do a search on this forum.

We contacted the then Minister of Tourism, Mr. Moises Kirkconnel. His staff contacted the then ceo of Cayman Airways Mr. Whorms on our behalf. It took months, but we were eventually reimbursed for our taxi and overnight housing costs.

 

[caydiver]

Happens all the time. And as a small airline they are more impacted by the loss of use of their new planes which they were among the first to ground when safety became an issue. Flights to between the Sister Islands are under the arm of Cayman Express and more like a shuttle service. On a recent day trip the outbound was delayed four hours. Which pretty much negated the point of the trip. On the flip side they left 2 hours late to come back so two hours were gained but unfortunately not at the time needed . It simply is part of travel and certainly not limited to anyone airline. Once you start with commuter flights it adds a whole new level into the quagmire. They never tell you anything largely because they don’t know for sure until they get the all clear. Surprised to hear they lied simply as they normally don’t tell you anything until they get the all clear. I guess we just take in as part of traveling nowadays. At least you weren’t on the plane boiling on the tarmac. Did that in Spain and Miami. It was awful. Don’t think any compensation was forthcoming from American or Continental in those instances. I don’t trust any airlines to necessarily get me there on the scheduled time, but I would rather be safe than timely truth told.

 

[Gina Flacco]

Thanks for all the responses! I agree - I definitely wanted them to fix the issues. I just wish they had been more forthcoming with us as to the extent of the issue. We found out later they knew, but mislead all of us and told us it was going to be a simple fix and the plan would arrive in an hour. They said this while the plane was parked in Miami. I totally understand this happens, but I feel like the way they handled it made it more difficult for us to line up contingency plans.

The sargassum was barely noticeable in the Brac. There were small pockets of it but nothing crazy. There was slightly more sargassum the day we dove on Little, but still nothing crazy. It has improved quite a bit based on what the dive masters were telling us.