Cheap flights to Caribbean
Flights > Caribbean
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Featured countries in Caribbean:
Further details about finding flights to Caribbean :
Direct flights
There is an excellent choice of direct flights to the Caribbean from the UK.
Despite only appearing as tiny specks on the world map, many Caribbean islands have been able to sustain a dogfight between fierce rivals British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. More recently, BMI have also stepped into the arena, offering a small range of Caribbean destinations from Manchester. Flyglobespan's attempts to launch cheap flights to the Caribbean from Glasgow have been less successful.
Major home grown airlines include Air Jamaica, who offer regular daily flights from London to Kingston and Montego Bay; Cubana (Havana), and the newly re-branded Caribbean Airlines, who were formerly known as BWIA (Bwee). Caribbean Airlines' main hub is in the Trinidadian capital Port-of-Spain, meaning that their UK to Caribbean flights are always routed via Barbados or Antigua.
Charter flights
Charter airlines provide keen competition for British Airways and Virgin, with Antigua and Barbados proving particularly popular. Additionally, there are a huge range of charter flights to the Dominican Republic, as well as flights from Gatwick and Manchester (and sometimes Birmingham) to Cuba and Jamaica.
Connecting flights
Most people heading to the Caribbean, will take advantage of one of the many direct flights which are available. If you have a particular island in mind that does not have direct flights from the UK, then you will have to make a connection. There are three main ways of taking connecting flights in the Caribbean, which will depend on where you live, and on the island you are trying to get to.
Other European airports
Naturally, Paris provides the most comprehensive links with the French Caribbean - with flights to Guadeloupe and Martinique being particularly popular. Meanwhile, Amsterdam provides excellent links to the Dutch Caribbean, including the ABC islands, and St Martin, which also maintains good links with Paris. Meanwhile, Madrid is the best staging post for scheduled flights to Spanish-speaking Caribbean destinations such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic. There are also a few leisure flights to the Caribbean from Germany and Italy, but these generally just duplicate existing routes from the UK.
Flights to the Caribbean via the USA
The main US airports for onward connecting flights to the Caribbean are New York (JFK and Newark), Philadelphia, Atlanta and Miami.
We would not generally advise using this option - as well as involving needless extra flying time, flying through any US airport means that you have to go through tedious immigration procedures, even if you are just making a transfer connection. There is sometimes spare capacity on these flights, but they are never really a bargain, unless you also want to do some shopping in New York on the way back!
Note that San Juan in Puerto Rico, which is the busiest airport in the Caribbean, also has the same immigration hassles as the US mainland. Unfortunately, if you are trying to get islands like Tortola or Anguilla, then going through San Juan is often the most direct option.
Other Caribbean airports
If you are trying to get to any of the smaller, more exclusive Caribbean islands, then you will almost certainly have the transfer through one of the main Caribbean gateway airports, such as Antigua or St Martin (which itself can only be accessed from Paris or Amsterdam).
Our experience has shown that island hopping around the Caribbean can be both an immensely rewarding, and extremely frustrating, experience - take some good reading material, and always have a plan B!
Premium service flights
Whether you're looking for honeymoon flights to the Caribbean, or a well earned break, then a bit of extra space can make your journey go that little bit smoother. Surprisingly, premium service flights to the Caribbean are often available at extremely attractive prices. See our blog about finding flights to Antigua, including a review of Excel Airways and Virgin Atlantic premium services.
