Grupo Taca: Some Good & Lots of Bad
Written: Jan 30 '01 (Updated Jan 30 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Non-stop from Houston to Roatan
Cons: Expensive, Old Aircraft, Not so Friendly Staff
The Bottom Line: Be ready for anything with this airline.
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| dbhoutx's Full Review: Grupo TACA |
Grupo Taca Airlines is at home in Central America but lacks the competitive edge, based on service to compete heavily in the US market. On certain routes they hold a monopoly and as such can dictate prices to be paid as well as set the schedule and level of services based only upon what they want to provide. (Because their pricing can be very high I recommend using a ticket consolidator when buying tickets from this carrier.)
My recent trip was from Houston to Roatan, Honduras. I live in Houston and headed down to one of the top diver destinations in the world, Roatan. Because I wanted to get there with my luggage I eliminated the possibility of making connections from a US carrier such as Continental, in a Central American city. Many folks like to fly to Belize City and then connect to a puddle jumper for the remaining flight on to Roatan. Taca, however offers a non-stop flight to Roatan from Houston on Saturdays. They serve Miami on Sundays and I believe another city or two at other times of the week. Making a single hop eliminates some of the typical places where luggage seems to miss a connection, that being a connecting airport.
Taca prides itself on carrying tons of cargo on each flight. They can easily make more money carrying cargo than they will carrying passengers with cheap tickets. My ticket cost about $500 with tax so it was not cheap, but by the airline standards it was heavily discounted. The typical price from IAH-RTB seems to be $750-$1200 depending upon when you book the ticket. Cargo can easily cost $75 for a 10-25 pound package.
So here I am with a "cheap" ticket ready to go. I called ahead to reconfirm my seat and get a seat assignment. I was connected to a reservation agent who spoke good English. By the sound of the phone connection, I would not be surprised if the reservation center is actually in Central America. (You know with telecommunications the way they are these days it is possible.) He was efficient and helpful. He did not give the correct seat but oh well, I did get my aisle seat anyhow. He reminded me of all their rules, one is the fact you MUST reconfirm your return flight or your seat will be sold right out from under your rear.
I went to the airport the standard 2 hours ahead for an international flight. Thankfully, I was there when I was. They had a flight headed to Belize City as well as the flight to Roatan all leaving at almost the same time. Thus, the wait was long. There were plenty of folks behind the counter but as I have come to learn through travels sheer numbers of staff mean nothing about the efficiency of the operation. (In fact the greater the number of staff the less efficient the operation seems to be.) As I checked my two bags I was informed that only one could be priority. I was assured the other bag would be there but that it may take an extra day or two. Needless to say my scuba gear was marked priority.
Next the boarding process. It was a bit of a mess but that was more the folks handling that particular flight. On the plane we go and into our seats. I found a better seat and laid claim. No one objected to my reassignment of seats. (I didn't move until the aircraft door was closed.) The service on the flight was good. The food was OK, better than we get for domestic flights of similar duration. The booze flowed freely for those who wanted it. Best of all we arrived at our destination on time and safely. Too bad the weather was not so good in Roatan.
So off the plane we go and wow what an experience laid ahead. Clearing through Immigration and Customs was handled by the resort staff. That was something different but not bad. Both checked bags made it to the destination. I figured they would be there, considering there were about 30 empty seats on the flight down. Nothing had been damaged so that was another plus.
Reconfirmation of the return flights, as well as the obtaining boarding passes was taken care of by the resort staff. So all we did was show up at the airport and check in our luggage. Then we waited and waited for the flight to be called. We got an "All Aboard" signal and headed like a heard of cattle to the plane. So much for an orderly boarding process. We did get settled in quickly and ended up leaving for home about 10 minutes ahead of schedule. We had an uneventful flight and arrived home 30 minutes early.
Again we had ok food and free booze. The same bilingual and not too friendly cabin staff was on the homeward bound flight. They were not rude or anything, they just were not as friendly as I am used to seeing on other airlines. The flight was on a B737-200 which was probably removed from Southwest Airline's fleet 5-10 years ago. It was a really old plane but is was reasonably clean.
Taca has its own frequent flier program as well as provides miles on other airline programs. I took my miles in American's program. They do not offer Continental Onepass miles unfortunately, as those would be my preferred miles.
Overall this is a cheap airline with expensive tickets. Service lacks and the fact that they allow you to check two bags but will only guarantee to take one on your flight leaves something to be desired. The FAA should crack down on their carriage of checked bags on flights other than the one where they were originally checked. They do offer something no other airline offers, that is a nonstop IAH-RTB flight. If not for that, I would never fly on Taca since you just do not know what will happen. It is my understanding that I had a great experience by Taca standards.
Good luck if you should have to fly Taca.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dbhoutx
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: David
Location: Houston, Texas
Reviews written: 324
Trusted by: 223 members
About Me:
David loves outdoor activities, travel, breeding Registered Texas Longhorns.
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