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We haven't used the BVI VIP club in years. We will be flying in and out of Tortola this year due to VG airport closure. What services are still available at Tortola airport? How do you access the services? We have our VIP cards. Thank you!

I sent them their form and all pertinent information in April as we were going down for our 10th trip in May. Never heard from them.

I have the card but don't know who to show it to and if the program still operates out of Tortola.

I had just been approved when the hurricanes hit, so did not ever get my card. I emailed asking about their status a few weeks ago, and received a quick response. They are not back to normal yet, but if you email with your travel plans, they will respond and set up whatever benefits they can provide.

I sent my form two days ago. Don't expect to hear anything as I haven't in years. Don't want to get on my rant since I have an upcoming trip but the message is and has been clear who the gov wants as visitors.

Don't quite understand your comment...

What email address do you recommend we use? Thank you!

I believe it's still khughes@bvitourism.com (Kevin Hughes)

My comment was referring to the general impression that many others have that the BVI gov is focused on luring the ultra wealthy to the islands as investors and not very concerned with the low life charter folks. I've always had a bit of an issue with the vip club program as a US visitor. More visits are required for US visitors than European visitors. Just my opinion, but I don't think it's a wise marketing plan to promote bias and preferential reward levels to one group over another. I could be totally wrong but I think US visitors far outweigh any others. I get the idea is to reach out to and encourage an increase visitation to a lessor market but don't shoot the other in the foot. It's like being a loyal cable subscriber for years and the new customer get's better rewards and discounts. I think it should be fair and even across the board for all visitors. I even suggested a one visit "quicker" bump up towards a benefit level for anyone that donated after the hurricanes. The tourism board thought that was a great idea but I haven't seen any results. Some are fortunate enough to visit the BVI 4 or 5 times a year. I can only visit once per year. Now let's say, the frequent visitor is a retired, wealthy husband and wife couple that travels alone, just the two of them. I bring a different group of friends at least 4 new people each time that have never been to the BVI and probably never would had it not been for my encouragement. Which is better from a tourism standpoint? It's a mute point anyway because the program is anything from sporadic to nonexistent.

I don’t think Kevis works there anymore. We are heading down tomorrow and I have been communicating with Tammi. See below. Send multiple communications if you do not get a response.

Tammi David​
Destination Host
The British Virgin Islands Tourist Board & Film Commission
Tel: +1 (284) 494-3134 | Mobile: +1 (284) 543-3747
Email: tdavid@bvitourism.com | www.bvitourism.com

Thank you!!!!

Call the U.S. number if you don’t get a response. They will stoke the fire for you. The number for NY office is online. Google

Thank you for this updated contact info. You are correct, she replaced Kevin. I re sent my form this morning and she got right back to me! On a Saturday! Wow, big difference, maybe things are looking up!

Well I spoke too soon. Sent my form to Tammi. She emails back saying she needs a photocopy of everyone's passport. I gather that from my crew spread out all over the country and email it too her. She replies a few hours later saying she apologizes but the program is on a limited basis right now and only at the airport and not customs at the ferry dock. When wasn't it on a limited basis!! I will never waste my time again! 3rd world government.

BVI VIP has worked well for us on many occasions.

Hit or miss. Saw there rep at Ferry dock in April/ May (They had not answered my email before trip so I had assumed they were not up and running).

Emailed re: upcoming trip and got similar response (Airport only).

Will try later for other trips.

Just got a response from them for our trip June 30th from Tammi David.
We cannot wait to get back to the islands!! We will keep you posted.

Thanks for the updated contact info. I emailed Tammi and received a response within a few hours. Her reply:

Good Afternoon Mr. Mason,

Please note that applications for the BVI VIP Club is on hold at the moment. As soon as we resume services, we will notify you.

Please let me know if we can be of further assistance to you.

Kind regards
Tammi David

They have a web site. Would it be so hard to update it and post the information that the program is limited to the airport, on hold or in my opinion non existent? Seems like it would save them a lot of hassle communicating with each request and save us from the same and more. Maybe job security?

3rd world government? You must be joking??

Yes Sheldon, that's sarcasm.

Definitely no sarcasm on my part. I don't see how the BVI government can be referred to as "3rd world".

They seem to be doing quite well given the circumstances.

Oh definitely not sarcasm on your part? Definitely don't care.

We used the VIP Club last August for the first time (was so proud to finally reach eligibility - like a kid, learning to ride a bike!) It seems that experiences vary, but for us, someone held a sign with our name and then waited in the customs line with us. That's it. She was friendly but I'm not sure why the program exists...we sent our passport pages in advance, but we waited in the same line etc. with all of the other peeps from our seaborne flight. Anywho...we didn't care at all because WE WERE THERE and that's what made us happy! Cheers!!

Wow, Tammi is on her toes. I sent in my arrival form today at 5:28 EST. Had a reply at 5:30 asking if we need a taxi.

TWB

Arriving by air? or Ferry?

I emailed yesterday and no reply(yet)

By air on the 15th.

We arrived in September and no one was there upon arrival. We had sent our info a few times and received a response that they would be there! Little frustrating. Kept looking around the terminal area. I emailed Tammi and they were not able to welcome us.

Instead of wasting money on this silly programme (that is apparently not available to those of us with residency) they should hire more C and I officers and get EVERYONE through the process faster and more pleasantly. If I was a first timer to the BVI's and saw someone getting that treatment ahead of me I would be pi$$ed. Put the $$ in uniform and put a smile on the faces of the snarlers with a "welcome EVERYONE to the BVI's"..

I must be one of the lucky few. Every time I have gone through Beef Island it was just a few people and maybe 5 minutes to get through CI. Even better when I am able to clear into Anegada. I will admit attitudes are better on Anegada than Beef Island. I do get a little perturbed when I say good afternoon and they don't even look at me. I know they get a lot of people coming through that don't really know what they are doing. But that is not an excuse for being rude. However, going through customs is the only place I ever encounter attitudes while in the BVI. I just smile and keep moving along. Having said all that it is way worse with C&I on St Thomas whether at the airport or the docks. One last thing, I do not get the value of the vip club since I am usually there for only a few minutes. Is it worth looking into?

They’re rude because they lack social skills and education.
Instead of putting on a smile and welcoming the tourists they have for most part an animosity of decent people who are happy.

We were some of the original members and that program has been a waste of time since Day 1.

This programme worked about as well as the Lifeguard programme and the Air BVI fiasco..just didnt cost as much.

In the early days of the VIP Club Program, it was wonderful! It was spearheaded by Kevis Hughes, and it ran like clockwork. As a Gold VIP Member we were greeted by Kevis or one of his associates with a sign after deplaning, like a limo driver at the airport. I and my guests were whisked off to the private lounge, and he took our passports and forms. We sat in the air conditioned lounge drinking beer, champagne, rum drinks and having light snacks. Kevis collected our bags and loaded them into our private taxi. Only them did he come to retrieve us, return our passports and wish us a wonderful vacation. It was awesome!

That was approximately 2011-2014. Then the lounge was leased to a private jet service company, to be used for their customers. So there was only the greeting and hustling us to the front of the C & I lines. It was still nice, but not the luxury treatment we were used to.

It was a great idea, and for a brief time it made me and my guests feel very special!

We have been bare boat chartering in the BVI for around 35 years. Next sailing vacation , all of our trips were two weeks of SAILING ( now with conch) , will be number 17 in May 2019.

Never head of , a VIP Card, why is it so important ? . How would it make our trips better ? For us, we arrive , no worries about customs, Entry has always been easy and fast and friendly.

We have had 100% fabulous sailing vacations in the BVI.

When with the moorings and sunsail, we would arrive at Beef Island, have our customs paper work filled out, pass ports ready, only one legal air line sized duffel bag each. Clear thru, walk out and have easy transportation , check into into our room
at the moorings or sunsail base. Then quickly into board shorts and swim suit. Go to the swimming pool and bar, order a painkiller each, swim in the pool, meet a few other people. Go to dinner at Charlies, get our briefings in the morning, and begin sailing.

This next trip , our first port will be Great Harbor, Peter Island and party down at the Willy T. ( that has become a tradition....hope they are still there )

Next morning up early, we will sail over to Cooper Island, pick up a mooring, dink over to Cistern Point to snorkel, then , the rum bar, and dinner at the Cooper island Beach Club. Always excellent. easy, and fun.
We make our own good times, not sure a VIP card is necessary.

After breakfast on board, we SAIL up the Sir Francis Drake Channel, jeanneau 36i, just Erica and I, double reefed , small jib, and pick up a mooring at Leverick Bay. Get free boat water and ice. Again, into the pool, Erica would take a long shower ashore, Then treat ourselves to Early Sundowners on board the 36i, and then dink ashore. Time to party down at the bbq, and dance to the band, and enjoy the mocko jumbies. The good times are ripping. The next evening, We mellow out a bit, and have dinner upstairs at the classy restaurant at Leverick, .
.

And this is just the beginning of our two weeks, trip # 17, and we just ride the wave, and let the good fun experiences flow easy and happy..

New for us, This trip next is SCRUB ISLAND, and hopefully a slip, for a couple of days, hiking, kayaking, swim up pool, dinner at Caravel , and enjoying the beaches. Then Marina Cay, and then snorkeling Monkey Point. . And we still have plans for Jost Van Dyke, mooring at Diamond Cay, and Little Jost . Then Cane Garden Bay, Nanny Cay, then over to snorkel the Pelicans and Indians, and pick up a mooring at Norman Island and have a fun time at Pirates.

This is what our BVI sailing vacations are like, Hard to believe that any card could improve our BVI experience.

We have come to love the BVI, and have very fond memories of each and every trip . Guess that is why we keep on coming back, again and again.

.

captdennyj

Some things have changed.

Obviously you are getting to BVI by different method from me (Airport a few times, ferry into RT mostly) as the line is slow and frequently rude officers.

VIP card really did not extend beyond this point.

And Leverick.... no more free ice//water. Some things have changed. However, if you are spending a couple nights is $lip at $crub I$land, your budget is not tight.

The one thing that has not changed is you should have a wonderful time in a beautiful location.

Enjoy!

We were/are VIP gold. We received a bunch of trinkets, but twice sent arrival info and weren’t met, so gave up.

I think the airport Immigration folks confuse rude and serious. But the Customs folks have gotten a lot better. Over the years, we ran into some really bad apples there, but haven’t experienced that in the last couple years.

Denny, you need to catch up with the times: Scrub now calls their outside restaurant Donovan’s Reef and the inside one Cardamom. The food hasn’t changed much, but the prices are a lot higher!

I have one but have never used it. After experiencing lines at JFK nothing in the BVI will ever seem bad!

Thanks for the updates......good scoops.

Our last trip was may , just before Irma. Our plan is to compromise and happily work with any new changes post Irma, and keep life easy and fun, and in some cases new .
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Rude C and I .

the only place that we ran into rude customs people was when we sailed over to Cruz Bay, St. Johns from Tortola. It was very bad,

. That was USVI officials. This was a few years ago. We never had a problem with flying into Beef Island. ( We are both pilots, myself as a profession, Erica private and aerobatic, and we liked to fly Cape Air from San Juan, Pr. I would sit up in the right seat with the pilot ) That was fun flying. . Our Customs experience had been BVI, We were always prepared for Beef Islands customs.. We treated them all with respect, Another thing is, there are only two of us. Not 10 to 14 people in our group . We cleared in, and walked thru the swinging doors. The taxi, open air vehicle was there and we tossed on our duffels and boarded. This is BVI,

Oh, and before leaving for St, Johns, on that trip, we cleared out of the BVI at Sopers hole. The gals did not have to be with us. We just presented our four passports, we had another couple on that trip. Bill and I were drinking Red Stripes, and walked into the BVI Customs office there at sopers hole. Gave the customs officer all of our passports, and sat our beers down on his counter. He reached over and picked up Bills beer and took a couple of swings and set it back down. We were in and out and off to the USVI. At St. Cruz Bay, St. John, U.S.V.I. customs was ecxtremely rude. No other we clearing in, but it was near lunch break. I just told them we were just going to over night at Leinster bay, snorkel, not go ashore, and could they please just clear us out for tomorrow, and we will be headed back to the BVi.

Thanks for the the warnings as to Customs, we will continue to be smiling, efficient, and respectful, and do our best to keep everything smooth and easy.
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SCRUB ISLAND .....scoops from you all are appreciated.

As to SCRUB , the rates for a slip were more than the moorings at other BVI anchorages, but the slip fees were reasonable at our time of the season, month of MAY., Our time on SCRUB was to be active and explore a new island for us. Point being, we
are not okole sitters or resort roosters, We we wanted to experience the fun ammenities of SCRUB. That trail up to the high view point looked great, plus the other activities and the beaches. And one special dinner out. However, we do pre plan,, and have learned that the slips are pretty much filled with DYC boats, But. we thought our 36 monohull might be able to get one of the 35 ft. slips.

Actually, with your information and possible lack of a slip available, we can always go to plan B, and pick up a mooring at Marina Cay, and dink over to Scrub, or jump on the hourly dock banger . Explore SCRUB , make our own good time, and the dock bang it back to Marina Cay for happy hour and dinner there.

To us the BVI is not okole sitting, or resort roosting, or drinking bubbly and be fawned over in an airport lounge . The BVI are great sailing, fun adventures ashore, plus ' snorkeling, good times, and being very active. Again, we do not need slaves or servants to get an arrival rum at Beef island, airport. We just walk over the the airport bar, order our own welcome to the BVI ' drinks to go, and then board the transportation to the charter base, and sip way, under way and enjoy the drive.
Others prefer a different type of BVI vacation.

as to our provisioning, we no longer have that arranged by the base. But, again, there are only two of us . And, we are now chartering with the friendly Conch Crew, and no longer bbqing dinners on board. We even make make a fun adventure out of provisioning.

No matter what, we try to keep life fun. So, we push one of Conchs wheeled dock carts over to Riteway. A hundred yards along the busy road. We load up our breakfasts, snacks, fresh water jugs , drinks, beer and ice. Now , comes the fun.
We run like crazy with the slight breaks in the fast moving road traffic, and duck in between parked cars on the side of the road to escape the fast moving locals. We have earned those bloody provisions, and have not had to rely on delivery or missing items.

Tanks again , to this forum for additional scoops .


This will be our first STT to Road Harbor trip. Never took a ferry before in 35 years. We do not have to clear out of the USVI, after a hotel on arrival day. the next morning we will be arriving early for the 08:30 am ferry. Also, we will be holding on to our one each carry on for the 45 minute enjoyable passage.

You all on this forum have also given us good tips on getting to the ferry early, and not checking our bags, and how to possibly get thru C an I at Road Harbor a little quicker. However, we are not in any rush since our first night on Tortola will be a hotel. Lots of wiggle room before boarding at 4:30 pm , the next day at Conch for the sleep aboard .
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THANKS ALSO for the scoops on Leverick,

We will just have to pay for the ice and boat water as we do at other harbors. Just part of the price of sailing those wonderful islands. We were thinking of reserving a slip at Leverick, should the moorings be filled. From this forum, and learning about lack of mooring availability in Gorda Sound, ,due to Irma, We are Planning ahead for Leveick Bay. We love sailing the entire distance up the Sir Francis Drake Channel, and have to tack a few times. Levericks moorings have a good chance of being occupied before we get in, at about 2:00 to 3:00 pm. Having a slip reserved seems like a good plan.

Oh, and we are going to pass on that VIP Card.

You all have been a great help.

Denny and Erica

In STT beware of a "lady" Immigration Officer named Montgomery. If you see her get in another line..she can be, lets be very kind, a little "awkward".