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Travel to Roatan

Posted: Fri May 10, 2019 11:54 am
by JJHACK
Hi folks,

I've booked my next trip to Roatan for October this year. Now the travel to get there becomes the challenge. If I fly from PDX I can park at the Raddison and get free parking with an over night before or after. Is there such a parking deal in the Seattle area to give me another departure airport option?

We live near Walla Walla so it's gonna be a drive to PDX or SEA either way. Leaving from Pasco is possible but usually a few hundred bucks more and far less connection options without huge layovers.

I don't do dive trips anymore without 90min layover times or more at any connection point. Even though we have global entry to zip right through, collecting the bags is now the bigger holdup. Getting my bags in Dallas last week on our way home form Cozumel was 45 min added to the 25 min just to get off the jet. 70 min alone without the hella long walk to the next gate! Any departure delays from the origin adds to that 70 min total even more!

I find plenty of flights that have 4-9 hour layovers at various airports along the way which seems a but much. Roatan and Bonaire are very long travel destinations from the PNW!

Re: Travel to Roatan

Posted: Fri May 10, 2019 2:30 pm
by Sharkb8
A bunch of the Sea Tac hotels have the same long term parking deals. I wouldn’t wait too long to book though. We tried two months out for our upcoming trip to Florida and they were pretty much all full.

We flew to Bonaire through Vancouver BC last year because it was $600 cheaper a ticket. It was also a 24 hr travel marathon through San Francisco AND Houston. As much as it sucked I’d do it again in a heartbeat!

Re: Travel to Roatan

Posted: Sun May 12, 2019 4:18 pm
by BillZ
My wife and I love Roatan - We've done CocoView three times and Anthony Key once. We used to be able to get flights there through Houston or Miami for around $500.

Now-a-days the flights to RTB from the PNW have gotten to be too convoluted and too expensive to make it worth our while. For the price and amount of time spent traveling we can get to Fiji, Egypt or Indonesia with less hassle..... and the diving is way better.

Re: Travel to Roatan

Posted: Fri May 17, 2019 7:38 am
by JJHACK
Agreed that the travel from the PNW is unacceptable in many ways. Egypt...... still not faster or cheaper travel though! The liveaboards are dirt cheap. Heck much cheaper than a retirement home or an RV park! The Snefro Love has 7 day trips for 900 bucks!

Re: Travel to Roatan

Posted: Fri May 17, 2019 9:21 am
by Penopolypants
The last time we went to Roatan, it was only $150 more to buy first class tickets. It was worth it! The redeye flight and long layover in Miami was made better by the excellent American lounge there - showers, food, alcohol, nap areas. Every penny counts, but sometimes a splurge is worth it.

Bill is right though, as much as I love Cocoview, other areas are getting to be/already are about the same from a cost and time perspective.

Re: Travel to Roatan

Posted: Sat May 18, 2019 8:21 am
by Gdog
Agree with that Pen. We went to Anilao Phillipines for about the same as it would cost to Bonaire. ....just a bit longer flight!

Re: Travel to Roatan

Posted: Sun May 19, 2019 11:11 am
by BillZ
JJHACK wrote:Agreed that the travel from the PNW is unacceptable in many ways. Egypt...... still not faster or cheaper travel though! The liveaboards are dirt cheap. Heck much cheaper than a retirement home or an RV park! The Snefro Love has 7 day trips for 900 bucks!
Three years ago I flew British out of Vancouver and paid around $950 round trip and it took about 18 hours. 5 Years ago I flew from JFK to Cairo for $600 - I used credit card miles to and from New York.

My flight to Egypt last fall was around $1350 but I also included a 3 day stop in Cyprus to dive the Zenobia

It;s been awhile since we went but I routinely get flight deal alerts from LAX to Nadi for around $600.

Flight deal can be had if you get creative.

Re: Travel to Roatan

Posted: Mon May 20, 2019 1:22 am
by KneeDeep
The wife and I love Roatan... ALOT. Been to AK and CC both... I personally like the south side (around CC)... I like the trade winds. We where just down about 2 months ago, and were planning to go in July, but decided to cancel for a 3-4 week stay in Sept-Oct. We fly out of Vancouver BC instead from Seattle... usually. Ends up being cheaper... even with parking and one night hotel (if needed). Almost everything from the states fly out of Houston.. so your screwed there.

United really has the monopoly on it... no real (US) airlines have agreements. Southwest I heard tried to get in... but were still more then United so they bailed. Not sure when during the week you plan to leave... but Wed or Thur seem to have the better pricing. We'll also look at booking one ways... sometimes they can end up being cheaper and can add up (in savings) if cheaper from Vancouver.

A few of the local instructors that have to visa hope or fly back to the states will take the ferry to the main land and fly back... they say it can be cheaper but a LONG day (not worth it to me).

Where ya staying?

Re: Travel to Roatan

Posted: Mon May 20, 2019 10:57 am
by JJHACK
I've already booked the trip to coco view. I like the dive schedule by far better than AK.

Now the air travel. I've accepted that it will be 800-1000 bucks each. But the layovers are brutal. 8-13 hour layovers are bad for several reasons. The main for me is having to collect your gear and recheck it again. This requires another checked bag fee on United. So you're paying for that checked bad twice each direction.

Before anyone debates this fact, I've been though this 100% of the time to Bonaire, the Caymans and now to Roatan with long connections. If the flight connection is over 10 hours, and in some cases they will allow 12 hours. You must collect and recheck your bags again within 2 hours of the flight time. They will only be tagged to the location you collect them. To get the proper tags you have to go to the ticket counter and get new tags. Those will be an additional Checked bag fee at that time.

I even had a United agent tell me they are free to check to the final desitination once you check them, no additional fee. I asked her to print that for me so I had it for the connection. I was very early to check in so I was happy to wait for this. She spent 20-30 minutes looking and calling people. Then said to me " I'm sorry I told you this because it's true you will have to pay twice with a 12 hour connection"

40 bucks for the checked bag twice for two people 160 bucks one way.... 320 bucks round trip additional for your gear! This is annoying but not a deal breaker. The main annoyance is now having to sherpa this stuff around the airport for 12 hours or back and forth to a hotel for the layover. The first class option may be a good one. Free checked bags and better conditions to fly round trip.