indirect flights to tobago

[HelenH]

e are hoping to book our flight to tobago in the next new weeks. Just a thought but has anyone been on a flight where they have had to change in eg the USA or another caribbean island.Any thoughts? We also find the journey back from gatwick a bit of a nightmare after a long flight
thanks
helen

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Helen

There may be some truly beautiful country around Derby, but you have to admit it is a bit of a b…… when flying abroad. Mind you, I’m only 90-minutes from Gatwick (or 3 days during the M25 rush) and that journey home is a sod after a night flight.

OK, so solutions: Firstly, as I read your message, you’re thinking of breaking the outbound journey somewhere. Is that right?

Manchester is obviously your nearest international airport – around 100 miles and half the driving time less than Gatwick, by my calculation. So, why not look at flights from Manchester? You have a couple of possibilities.

BWIA announced the start of twice weekly flights from Manchester to Tobago via Barbados and Trinidad. I don’t know whether these have started, but it’s worth checking. The flight time from Barbados to Trinidad is well under an hour, so I don’t know whether it’s worth stopping-over there, frankly.

BWIA offer direct flights from Washington, USA, to Tobago on Thursdays – I believe this is still the only direct flight to Tobago from North America. (if not, somebody please, please let me know). BWIA also offer flights from Miami via Trinidad. If you are set on breaking the journey, you could therefore fly from Manchester to Washington or Florida, stop for a day or two, and then continue to Tobago.

The Manchester flights would obviously partly overcome that horrible early-morning journey home from Gatwick. Mind you, all the above options are going to cost a lot more and you could find it cheaper to simply stay at Gatwick on the day of return, then drive home the following day. One final thought: the new Virgin flight is currently the shortest, most direct flight to Tobago from the UK and the departure/return times are much more convenient that the BA/Monarch flights. See our Airline section for more details of flight options.

[HelenH]

Thanks steve for all your help. They are all interesting suggestions and will look into them. Unfortunately we are restricted to flying on a saturday as we have already booked castara retreats for two weeks next easter. Also my oldest son will be at secondary school so harder to take him out for more than a day or two. we will also await more news on the changes to the monarch flights
thank you
helen