Has anyone had any dealings with Liat Airlines. They fly many short routes in the Carribean. I have tickets on them in May and have begun to hear horror stories about them. Any truth to the rumors?

LIAT is a fairly reliable carrier that serves about two dozen destinations within the Eastern Caribbean. I have flown on them many times, and although I have experienced occasional glitches, they are relatively reliable considering the number of flights and countries they deal with. For most of the routes they fly, they are the only outfit available.

All of their planes are either Dash 8 or Twin Otters, and LIAT's hub is Antigua, with service extending as far northwest as San Juan and as far south as Caracas and Georgetown, Guyana. The name LIAT stands for Leeward Island Air Transport, though anyone in the islands will tell you it really stands for Leave Island Any Time, or Luggage In Another Terminal. Despite the (usually) good-natured kidding, they're (usually) OK to fly, and they claim to never having a crash involving serious injury.

A couple recommendations. LIAT flights are known to take off a few minutes early. Just because they're small planes and these are sometimes small destinations, don't show up at the last minute -- you'll get little or no sympathy from (often) play-by-the-rules islanders.

Confirm and reconfirm your flight. I once had a reservation for a flight from Antigua to Montserrat and specified with the phone rep that I would buy the ticket when I arrived in Antigua. She knew that my Continental flight into Antigua was the same day because I checked to make sure the connection time was legal. I arrived in Antigua to find out that my reservation was cancelled for not being ticketed 24 hours prior to my flight to Montserrat -- and I had to wait three extra hours for the next LIAT flight.

If you are visiting several destinations within the Caribbean, LIAT has a couple island-hopper deals that are worth checking in to. The Mini-Explorer lets you visit 3 islands within 21 days (four separate legs) for $249. The Super Explorer allows you to visit all of their destinations within 30 days for $449. Only hitch is itineraries must be fully reserved prior to your first flight, and the ticket must be bought in the US. And "island-hopping" is the correct term -- it's not unusual for a flight out of Antigua to involve stops at four or five different islands en route to its final destination.

The (unlisted) toll free number in San Juan is (800) 468-0482, while their reservation office in Antigua is (268) 462-0700.

P.S. Try some roti while you're in the islands!

Thanks roti
Sounds like you know them pretty well. I'll sleep easier knowing what to expect. Noboby wants trouble when on vacation. Thanks again.
henwood

Just remember to say good morning, good afternoon and goodnight. If something goes wrong, don't get upset ... slow down and enjoy "island time." (This, I admit, is sometimes easier said than done.)

And, yes, roti is a must -- delicious!!!

I'll have to plead guilty. OK, I,ll try it, but what is roti?
henwood

Had to bring this up again. I did what was advised and confirmed and reconfirmed. Everything seemed fine until about 3 days ago. Now LIAT will not even answer the phone. Have called them about 10 times on the toll free number roti supplied. Same result. riiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggg. No answer. What is going on? Are they just too THRIFTY to pick up the phone? Any other numbers where they can be reached?
Thanks

Henwood, there have been some problems with 800 number service in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands for the past week or more (unfortunately, this is not too uncommon.) Here are two US Virgin Islands numbers you may want to try - 340-774-2313 or 340-778-9930.

Good luck ... and keep the faith!!