Originally Posted by
kymbakitty
I'm trying to plan a two week vacation to Barbados next February. Now that we have gotten over the shock of the multi-stop, multi layover, land in BGI @ 11:00 p.m. (will definitely want to try and find a hotel at BGI if one exists as to not waste a really nice hotel room for the first night)....and 12 or so hours to BGI and about 17 hours return, now I need to know if the amount $$ is reasonable.
It is Feb 09, 12-14 days, and it is $850 per person. Is that pretty decent or is that awful and I just don't know any better.
We live 20 minutes from Sacramento, but can fly out of SFO (seems to have better flight times) or even OAK, which does not seem to be a good option.
Barbados is a beautiful, safe place to travel! It's one of only a couple of Caribbean islands to be completely free of malaria and snakes. It is usually unaffected by hurricanes because it is so far south and east. It has great breezes that keep the temperature perfect all year around. My family owns a house there, and we go multiple times each year. I'd be glad to provide some advice.
My strong recommendation would be that you fly the SFO-JFK red-eye, then connect to the morning JFK-BGI (AA 1385) non-stop to Barbados. That way it's only
one connection, with only a couple of hours' layover. You probably would get a cheaper fare because the domestic segment would be a red-eye (and therefore less desirable). Also, that way, you would arrive in Barbados in the mid afternoon, not the middle of the night. Be sure to choose seats on the left side of the aircraft for the JFK-BGI segment. The approach to BGI is from the northwest and gives you a good ariel overview of the whole island.
$850 is a little high, but not ridiculously. We usually pay $600-700 (for that time of year), but we originate at JFK. You could try to mess with the dates to find a cheaper fare, if your travel dates are flexible. Try leaving and/or returning on a Tuesday or something. Avoid Sunday if at all possible. Everybody's trying to get back to the States on Sundays!
In Barbados, there are no hotels located at the airport (Grantley Adams International), but there are plenty fairly nearby on the South Coast that are as economical as you can hope for at a Caribbean destination during peak season. The last time I checked, it was minimum $200-300 USD per night at the very cheapest places during February. Barbados is not an inexpensive place to visit. But it is a wonderful escape from the frigid North!
Don't forget to put aside Bds $25 or USD $13 in cash for the mandatory airport departure tax. Sometimes it's included in the taxes/fees of your airline ticket; sometimes it's not. Better to be safe than sorry.