I need to figure out the best way to get to the Cayman Islands for
vacation.  By “best way”, I mean the best use of my money, airlines
miles, and time.  The facts are these…

-	I live and work in Las Vegas.
-	I have four days off work (Aug 5-8, 2003) and want to spend them in
Grand Cayman.
-	I will consider flights leaving Vegas anytime after 1:00am on August
5th.
-	I must be back in Vegas by 3:00pm on August 9th (yes, Saturday).
-	Red-eyes are acceptable.
-	I have a USAirways voucher for one free roundtrip ticket within the
continental US.
-	I will only consider using the USAirways voucher if it saves me more
than $200.
-	I will consider all flight options under $1,000 with no more than
one connection.

My goal is to maximize my time in Grand Cayman and not the airplane or
airports.  The question becomes complicated when you consider I could
use my USAirways voucher to fly to a city that has frequent, cheap
flights into Grand Cayman and simply book another ticket from that
city.  Ideally, the answer will include several itineraries from which
to choose.

Hello betsyross-ga:

Your's was an interesting question to research and thank you for being
clear with the requirements. I chose to answer your question because I
have worked in the travel industry and know the workings of the
various booking and ticket search engines. Here is what I found:

Depending on the airline and timings, you can get a round trip ticket
to Georgetown, Grand Caymen in the range of $550 to $900 with one
stop. A non-stop flight may cost you over a $1000. The best place to
look for the best options is http://www.sidestep.com. You have to
download the system on your computer first. It takes very less space
and BELIEVE ME IT'S WORTH IT. At the time of my writing, there were
nineteen different options available on this search engine for the
flights departing on 5 August and arriving on 8 August. Most of them
have one connection.

$564 Round Trip to $871 Round Trip
19 different flight options
http://www.sidestep.com

Other websites such as Orbitz (http://www.orbitz.com), Expedia
(http://www.expedia.com) gives you
one or two options to choose from. While Travelchase
(http://www.travelchase.com) provides you
with 6 options. All of these options are far under $1000 and have one
stop.

$652 Round Trip to $900 Round Trip
6 different  flight options on AA,US and United.
http://www.travelchase.com
* Please click on Lowest airfares and than click on online booking
engine.

$631 Round Trip or More
American Airlines (one connection from Miami)
http://www.orbitz.com

You can easily find a round trip ticket for under $1000 with one stop.

OTHER OPTIONS

Now if you consider taking a round trip ticket from Miami to Grand
Caymen while using your $200 voucher to arrive in Miami AND taking a
one way ticket back from Grand Caymen to Las Vegas............ It
wouldn't make a difference. Because a one way ticket from Miami or any
other major airline hub will cost you around $170 or more and a one
way ticket from Grand Caymen to Las Vegas will definitely cost you
more than $350. Meaning that you will at least ( at least spend $520,
possibley more ). Your voucher will not come on handy.

Another option is to fly to Miami with the voucher and than take a
round trip ticket from Miami to Grand Caymen. Than taking a one way
from Miami to Las Vegas. Again this will cost you the same amount of
money as above.

The point is that you will spend the same amount of money with loosing
your voucher as well as precious time to get another flight from any
of the major hubs.

TIME

Most of the flights that operate on this route start leaving on the
morning of August 5. Your best bet will be to take a flight early in
the morning and return late on August 8 so to have more time.

Coming back on August 9 isn't a viable solution because all of the
flights arrive late in the evenings.

CONCLUSION

I will advise you to take a direct flight from Las Vegas to Grand
Caymen. It will not only save your voucher but also give you a less of
a problem.

I hope this will help. Please clarify before rating. I will work with
you unitl we come to a solution. Thanks for sharing your travel plan
with us.

**** Once you download the sidestep on your system and go to any other
website after that, the sidestep will automatically open a window
beside the other booking engine. You can also look for fares
exclusively on the side step.

**** Fares and flight options may differ at the time of your reading.

Sincerely,
leader-ga.