I am the type of unhinged dog person that wants to bring my dog with me wherever I go. One of my life’s greatest regrets is not bringing him to France for our wedding… but we did end up finding ways to include Reggie nevertheless. Other than transatlantic trips, this dog is attached to us at the hip. We’ve brought him on road trips to Canada and Florida, ferry rides to Nantucket, and trains to Boston back when he was a full-time commuter. Wherever we go, he goes.
When we started to plan our winter trip to Florida this year (with Reggie, of course), I became fixated on adding the Bahamas to the itinerary. It’s so geographically close, I was sure there was a ferry from Florida that we could take that would be an easy ride for Reggie since he’s a natural on a boat. After many hours of research, we settled on booking a semi private flight from Florida to the Bahamas. The flight time would be minimal and, as a bonus, the “semi private” nature of the dog-friendly airlines we had found meant he didn’t have to stay in a carrier during the flight.
We ended up booking flights with Tradewind Aviation and the experience was five stars all around. Here’s a recap from start to finish:
Flight #1: Stuart, Florida to Nassau, Bahamas
This was Reggie’s first-ever flight and Bill was doing it solo. Between juggling all of the paperwork necessary to bring Reggie into the Bahamas (I’ll do a separate post on that soon) and dosing Reggie properly so he was sleepy for most of the flight, Bill’s nerves were wracked. There were only three people, Bill included, on the flight from Stuart to Nassau and it went by quickly.
Upon arrival in Nassau, Bill and Reggie were hustled through immigration and customs, handing over their extensive paperwork to make sure Reggie was street legal. From wheels down to being in the private transfer to his Airbnb that Tradewind had arranged, it was less than 10 minutes.
Flight #2: North Eleuthera, Bahamas to Stuart, Florida
Our time in the Bahamas came to a close and it was time to head back to the US, departing from the private terminal at North Eleuthera Airport. We pulled up to the terminal entrance, and our bags were loaded onto a cart while we returned our rental car across the road. A far cry from my arrival into ELH the week before on a commercial flight where I stood at the end of a 90-person line sweating in the sun while offloading from the plane on the tarmac.
Packed with the private jets of people heading to Harbour Island, the terminal was great people-watching. I overheard a bachelorette party lament a “return to the real world” in NYC, which meant a packed schedule of nail/skin/hair appointments and not a single 9-5pm workday in sight. An arriving jet owner was asked by terminal staff if he wanted to buy fuel and he replied, “I don’t know where I’m going after this, so will let you know when I leave on Wednesday.” What a glimpse into some very interesting lives.
When it was our turn to board, one of the Tradewind pilots went around to all eight of the flight’s passengers to review their passports and confirm their identities. She also asked if we had Reggie’s paperwork in order but didn’t ask to see it. We then walked out to the plane and loaded ourselves back to front, with Reggie, Bill and myself ending up at the front of the plane right behind the two pilots.
The flight was a little over an hour and was incredibly uneventful. Despite it being a tiny plane, it was a very smooth ride. Bill grabbed some snacks and beers from the serve-yourself cooler at the back of the plane about halfway through.
Upon landing at the private Stuart airport, we were led off the plane and through immigration as a tiny eight-person group. The agent did a cursory look at Reggie’s paperwork (an email confirmation of a CDC form filled out online in advance) and then it was back on the plane to ride over to the terminal. We offloaded, entered the terminal, picked up our bags and out the door to our waiting car. A truly civilized way to fly! We’re spoiled now that we’ve flown Tradewind once and we’ll try to seek it out if our plans every match up with a Tradewind flight again.
OK, But How Much Did It Cost?
The SUA-NAS flight was $257.40 per person; the ELH-SUA flight was $381.90/person. Dogs fly free on Tradewind. Valet parking at Stuart is listed at $15/day but I don’t think we were charged.
