Originally Posted by
DaveInLA
The way I see it, for us to catch the 2:30 pm flight from MLE to CPT (via 2 stops), we have to get to the airport at 1(ish) pm at the latest. I remember reading that the sea plane ride is ~45 min. That would mean that we would have to catch the plane before 12:15 pm, and that is assuming that the sea plane drops off passengers right in front of MLE. Will we need another ride (like a taxi) from sea plane drop-off to get to MLE? Also, how punctual is the sea plane? Is it like a shuttle, ie, idles on the curb and waits (and waits) until full before taking off? If so, that would worry me.
Whoa! No need to overthink it. Forget everything you know about international airports and remember that this is an easy-going island country with a tiny airport. Usually, from standing outside the departures terminal to reaching the gate takes no more than 15 or 20 minutes.
We easily get people to the airport for flights that depart at 9am, so don't worry about a mid-afternoon flight. You'll be among one of the last seaplanes leaving the resort. The seaplane takes 35 minutes and drops you off at the seaplane terminal which is on the airport island. There's a short shuttle bus ride that takes you from the seaplane terminal to the airport terminal.
You'll be on the seaplane with 15 people and everyone is shepherded together to the right place. Just follow the person with the clipboard. We take care of luggage transfers and everything else.
There's an hour's time difference between our resort and Male so for a 2.15pm flight, you'll probably leave around 12 noonish.
How punctual are the seaplanes? No way of knowing this because there's absolutely no seaplane schedule. The seaplane company create a new schedule every single day depending on how many guests they have to get to and from how many islands and how many international flights.
We get the seaplane timings the night before (ie: on Tuesday evening we get the timings for Wednesday) and even these should be considered approximate.
It sounds chaotic but it works very smoothly and every guest is in the same position. The airport are well used to this (almost all guests are coming either by seaplane or speedboat which are always subject to vagaries of weather and mechanical issue).
Originally Posted by
DaveInLA
It seems that the resort will offer a "take your chances" with regard to free upgrade to water villa, as opposed to paying a few hundred up front for a guarantee.
There are three options and pros and cons for each:
1. Wait and hope you'll be upgraded free of charge when you get here. Pro: it's free. Con: it might not happen.
2. Pay for a guaranteed upgrade through the resort. Pro: you're guaranteed the room you want. Con: could be the most expensive option.
3. Pay for an upgrade through HHonors (e-standby) which will be confirmed or declined on arrival. Pro: it's an affordable way of upgrading. Con: it might not happen.
Your chances really depend on how busy we are and how many other HHonor redemption bookings and other special cases (honeymooners, anniversaries, 'big' birthdays, repeat guests) we have at the time.