My goodness,

It seems getting to the Caribbean from Toronto is getting harder every year. I mean I just want to go somewhere that's maybe 5 hours away and it's going to take 18 hours and cost an arm and a leg. I may aswell goto Tahiti or Figi for goodness sake.

Is there any short cuts? Any secrets...anything you can tell me???

Thanks

It may be easier to book two seperate flights. Either fly into a US hub w/lots of flights to the Caribbean, or fly to San Juan or St. Maarten & schedule from there. Depending on your island of choice, there may not be any short cuts.

To where exactly are you trying to go?
Air Jamaica has flights out of Toronto to some of the islands including Jamaica and St. Lucia. And they still offer their island hopping program. You can fly into Jamaica for no additional cost and then go on to whichever island to which they fly.
Check out their website.

Last I knew there were direct flights from Toronto to St. Kitts. That might no longer be the case, though.

I believe that there are charters that fly from Toronto to St. Kitts in season. They may also stop at another island.

If you tell us where you want to go, you may get more specific suggestions.

cw

To save time, at least, you might want to try flying Continental airlines -- I know they have direct commuter flights between Toronto and Newark, NJ. From Newark, Continental flies direct to a lot of Caribbean destinations.

Flying US Airways through Philadelphia would be a good option too, for same reasons.

Booking the two legs separately may be cheaper -- Yahoo Travel is my fave for doing a blanket search of the airlines, but once I'm booking, it's almost always cheaper to book direct through the airline.

Sorry,
We are looking at Anguilla.
Even Turks and Caicos is a pain in some cases to get to. It's so annoying. Some flights take over a day too. I've been looking at expedia.ca and it's just crazy in my opinion that some Caribbean islands are taking more than 15 hours to get to.

Thanks for your suggestions and keep them coming...

Luisa

Barbados from Toronto is a direct flight and clocks in at 5 hours, sometimes a little less.

I know but I've to Barbados 2 times.
I also bought cheap direct tickets to Bahamas and hated it there. Couldn't find a half decent place. I'll never buy airline tickets first again.

Tempted with the price of tickets to Barbados though....

thanks

Anguilla is aways difficult to get to as are islands such as St. Barths, Virgin Gorda, Barbuda, Nevis and many of the Grenadines. That's what makes them less crowded and it's the "price" you pay for something extra special. Depending on the time of year and where you travel from reaching these can often entail an overnight stay. You have to understand many of the smaller islands cannot handle the big jets so you have to switch planes somewhere during your trip. Connection times will always vary.

I can't offer any specific advice for someone travelling from Toronto since I live in a different country but I would guess there are some flights you can get that go directly to some of the larger islands like Puerto Rico, Jamaica, St. Martin, Dominican Republic and maybe Antigua which might take around 5 hours.

It is difficult. I visit the Grenadines almost every year and so far 2006 doesn't look promising. I fly from PIT on USAirways and connect either thru Philly or Charlotte then on to Barbados or San Juan transfer onto LIAT or Caribbean Sun/Star before I set down at ET Joshua airport. From the time I leave my house till landing 10-13 hours. Many flights this yr are overnighting to save money but then you have to pay for a hotel and used up another 1/2 day of vacation, so no savings there. Good Luck.

You are looking at flying to St. Martin (SXM) to get to Anguilla, aren't you? Getting directly to AXA is a pain even from east coast US cities because of the dreadful connections that AA offers to Anguila . There are lots of good connections to SXM that get you there early afternoon (USAirways from Philly or Charlotte); Continental from Newark). St. Martin is a 20 minute boat trip away (or a to minute island-hopper flight).

Saturdays, direct flight Toronto to Turks and Caicos (PLS) twice a day. (only on Saturdays) Lots of Canandians there, gorgeous beach, nice resorts.
Anguilla is gorgeous, but hard to get to from anywhere. I bet you can get a flight Toronto-St. Martin, then ferry over, or Toronto-San Juan, then St. Martin, then ferry, long day, but shouldn't be 18 hours!

We have been to Turks and Caicos and are looking to go again now.

Is the Sat. direct flight from Air Canada? I couldn't find any.

I'd love to experience Anguilla but it really is a pain not too mention extremely expensive. Alot of the villas we found were booked too. If I could just get to St. Martin or San Juan direct then take a short plane trip to Anguilla. But it's never direct. I'd have to stop twice before I reach them. That's when it's a pain. If there was a direct flight to the above it would be more better. And lets not mention the prices for these flights....