LIAT review : 31 December 2008 : by R Smith

Customer Rating : 2/5

SJU-SVD-SJU with a short stopover each was in SLU. I had heard many stories of luggage problems with LIAT, but they offered the only good flight to St. Vincent so we didn’t have much of a choice. On both flights, the FAs were friendly if somewhat robotic. Free juice, water, crackers, and chips were offered, with other beverages available for purchase. Dash-8-300 aircraft—same both ways—was old and the seats weren’t great, but legroom was very good, especially for such a small plane. That said, 2.5 hours is a long time to be on a propeller plane. Outbound, the flight departed and arrived close to schedule. However, half of our bags didn’t make the trip (along with that of many other passengers); they were returned between 36 hours and five days later. On the return, the flight departed about 45 minutes late due to required crew rest from the night before, although no announcement was made until the original departure time had passed. After the stop in St. Lucia, we made up some time in the air so we arrived about 20 minutes late and, fortunately, all of our bags made it with us. Despite this, I’m giving two stars for the delayed return departure and the extended problems with the bags; it is unlikely we will fly with LIAT again.

LIAT review : 21 September 2008 : by Michael Cox

Customer Rating : 2/5

Barbados to Georgetown. Had been warned about the possibility of "losing" luggage, but had no choice as the flight had been booked for me. My travelling companion and I arrived in Georgetown on time, he with his luggage and me without. My major gripe is that this seems to be a common occurrence with LIAT as they allow some passengers overweight luggage and then arbitrarily bump other luggage off of the plane as they are overweight. Of a total group of 7 who travelled over this period 5 had there luggage left behind in Barbados for periods of three to five days. The attitude of the ground staff in Georgetown was appalling, they really couldn't care less and seem to think that this was normal service for their airline. Even when collecting a payment for inconvenience and the cost of collection of the luggage when it eventually arrived, the word sorry was not used once. My advice would be to use any airline but LIAT if you don't want your holiday or business trip spoilt.

LIAT review : 12 July 2008 : by Kirsty Carter

Customer Rating : 4/5

We took a LIAT flight from Tobago to Grenada. After reading a lot of reviews I was very worried about the flight being delayed or losing our luggage. Our flight was due to leave Tobago at 18:10 (we flew BA from London arriving at 16:30). The flight arrived 5 minutes late and we all boarded (there were only about 10 of us joining). This is a small propeller plane (compared to the BA 777!) with little air con (I was glad for my mini electric fan). It is can also be extremely noisy. Still, it was cheap and we arrived into Grenada only 5 minutes late and with our bags. For the cost, I would travel with them again.

LIAT review : 30 May 2008 : by C Dalrymple

Customer Rating : 3/5

Regularly fly LIAT from BGI-POS. Do not make the mistake of opening your duty free you purchased before arriving into Barbados if you have a connecting flight. You will not be able to carry it with you as hand luggage. Officials will tell you to dispose of it or put it in your hold luggage. Difficult if you already checked in for connecting flight. LIAT service was ok as I didn't expect a premium service from a budget airline. You will get to your destination but you may end up going round the houses to get there. Dont fly LIAT if you are in a hurry to get anyway. They would take you the scenic route round the Caribbean - great if you want to do a whistle stop tour but not so great after coming off a 9 hour flight.

LIAT review - by David Statham

11 April 2008   Customer Trip Rating :

Antigua to St Kitts in March. We had a 5 hour wait in Antigua going out and a 4 hour wait coming back. For the outbound trip we found out by chance that our connecting flight had been cancelled by LIAT with no explanation given at all. On the way back, no Air Conditioning seemed to be working on the flight and for some passengers this was their second connecting stop already. We would only use LIAT as a last resort - just because you have booked a flight doesn't seem to mean that the flight will operate. On the plus side, there are roomy seats on the planes and check in at the airport was OK.

LIAT review - by D Pomeroy

9 April 2008   Customer Trip Rating :

BGI-GEO check-in slow as enforcing the 20kg limt and people repacking or paying excess charge. Have to pay attention as many flights leaving at the same LIAT gate. Open seating but still we still got reasonable seats despite not rushing. Dash turbo props about 2 hr flight - served juice and snack. Better than expected from previous reports - we will try LIAT again next year.

LIAT review - by K Savage

31 January 2008   Customer Trip Rating :

LIAT is the worst. We had 4 flights scheduled. SJU-Antigua-DOM and back. The first flight was cancelled a week before we left. They rescheduled it the following day, but this made us incur additional costs in San Juan and having to reschedule rental car and arrival time in Dominica. On the actual flight which had been rescheduled direct to DOM, due to "crew issues" we were taken to Antigua instead and then told our flight was cancelled. Upon 22 people rioting, a plane already in air, en route was returned to pick us up. On the way back to SJU, they put half our group on an earlier flight without notifying the other half of us. Then of course, delays in Antigua with no communication. When it came time to board, a large youth group was brought on. With 5 of the 6 of us yet to board, we were told we needed 3 volunteers to stay behind. This is really not a "volunteer" position. Though those of us who were left were rebooked on American Eagle, it took fighting and arguing to get hotel rooms and meal vouchers and were delayed an extra day. Very poor customer service - all the islanders know this and try not to use them. We heard the same stories over and over again, this was not a unique experience.

LIAT review - by S Ali

31 January 2008   Customer Trip Rating :

POS to SLU, check in at Piarco International was quick and easy. For anyone that travels with this airline it's known that they do not pre-assign seats so it's just a matter to run in the aircraft and grab a good seat. The aircraft on this route was a Dash8-300 50 seater. On time departure from Piarco - a surprisingly smooth flight, juice was served for this one hour flight and then arrival into Castries George F L Charles / Vigie airport. St Lucia's Castries airport is small, very small which I guess it should be since they only handle Turbo-prop aircraft. On the return same procedure really, served a juice and free seating I was able to get upfront since I rushed towards the aircraft and politely asked the FA for the emergency exit. Service onboard was simple - very, very simple.

LIAT review - by L Groves

22 January 2008   Customer Trip Rating :

Guadeloupe - Dominica - Guadeloupe. The thing to remember with LIAT is that this is not an airline as you would find in Europe or Asia; it "leaves the island any time" and often without your bags. However the staff are very helpful, the prices correct and the flights an experience of their own. Just remember to take necessities in your handluggage and not to rely on the advertised timetable closely.

LIAT review - by Mike Kirkman

15 January 2008   Customer Trip Rating :

Over 2007/2008 we flew four sectors with Liat and were very pleasantly surprised at friendliness and efficiency, both onboard and the check in process. Check in even got us (and our baggage) onto an earlier flight. OK, aircraft are old but it's a Caribbean thing!

LIAT review - by Max Johnson

9 August   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

San Juan - Antigua. A bit of a shambles really, with pretty disinterested crew. No real safety displays and although seats were pre-assigned, onboard we were advised it was "Open Seating". Elderly aircraft, and hopefully their merger with Caribbean Star will herald a new beginning. The region needs an airline, and LIAT should be the one, but they seem to need discipline and a sense of purpose