United Airlines Is Planning a Big Expansion of Its Nonstop Cayman Islands Flights

Seven Mile Beach. The buzzing culinary scene. The shopping. The Sister Islands. 

There’s a bit of everything in the Cayman Islands, whether you’re looking for a foodie retreat to one of the Caribbean’s culinary capitals or a castaway-fantasy beach stay on Little Cayman. 

The destination is as popular as ever, with continued arrival growth and some sparkling new hotels, including the outstanding Hotel Indigo we reviewed last week. 

And now it’s about to get even easier to fly here, with a big expansion in service on United Airlines. 

United is adding more flights to Grand Cayman from Chicago, Houston and Washington, DC for the peak winter season and beyond, officials revealed to Caribbean Journal. 

That includes new daily service between Chicago O’Hare and Cayman beginning in mid-December — and continuing as daily service in March 2025. 

From Houston, you will soon be able to fly daily to Grand Cayman in November and December — a significant jump from what had been only once-weekly service. That route will also become fully daily beginning next March. 

From the nation’s capital, United will be increasing its flights to Grand Cayman to a total of four times every week, with service on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. 

United’s big ramp-up is part of a continued increase in air capacity for the destination in 2024, one that included an extra 365 flights in the first half alone. 

Are you planning your first vacation to the Cayman Islands? To start, we’d recommend a stay on Grand Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach, home to a large number of highly-rated hotels and resorts, from the ultra-luxe Ritz-Carlton and Kimpton Seafire to the aforementioned Hotel Indigo and the new, boutique wellness hotel called Vida. 

If you’re a repeat visitor, we’d suggest a trip to one of Cayman’s sister islands: the adventure rich but laid back Cayman Brac, where you can enjoy pristine beauty below the water and classic Caribbean charm above it; or Little Cayman, the tiny, lovable hideaway that’s the portal to a Caribbean you didn’t think existed anymore. 

If you’re going to book on United, seats are now bookable, for about $600 (according to a sample itinerary from Washington), for example. 

You can learn more at the Cayman Islands. 

Alexander Britell is editor-in-chief of Caribbean Journal, the world’s top Caribbean travel experts.