If your thinking of making a trip to the Bahamas to do a little salt water fly fishing or just to get out of the cold for awhile I might be able to offer a few tips to cut travel expenses.
I have been having very good luck booking my flights through Orbitz. For the cheapest flights go for mid week. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the best bet and don’t book right away, keep checking the rates every few days. I did that the last trip there. The rates from Butte, Mt. to Nassau were averaging around $600 and all of a sudden I checked it and saw a rate for $478 and jumped on it. To get that rate from here is about as good as you can do.
I go to Andros and there is no way I can make it in one day so I get a flight that get’s me to Nassau at a reasonable time in the evening and then get a room at the Orange Hill Hotel. I stay there because it’s only two miles from the airport and a eight or ten dollar taxi ride. The room with taxes is about a hundred bucks. They have a resturant and honor bar but forget about getting something to eat after 9:00 pm.
If your going to Andros you want to be at the airport at least by 7:30 am, to get the 8:30 flight, earlier if it’s in April or May when it’s busy. Western Air is the only service to Andros from Nassau and it’s a 19 passenger plane. There is no such thing as advanced reservations, it’s first come, first served and the round trip fare is $120. Even if the first flight is full and they have extra passengers they will turn the plane around and come back to get the rest later. The flight lasts no longer than 15 minutes. When approaching Andros you get a fantastic view of the barrier reef which is the third longest in the world. Try not to pay too much attention to the wrecked planes just short of the runway. These are from the drug running days and it’s typical in the Bahamas with any wreck, it stays there until mother nature gets rid of it. Western Air also fly’s to many of the other out islands. Continental has a direct flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Andros four days a week but it arrives and leaves around 3:00 pm which is no good for me. If your flying from the east coast, this is something you might want to look into.