Information on Cape Air Flights

Cape Air is one of America’s largest regional airlines, operating a fleet of 9-seat aircraft to smaller cities from bases in Boston, San Juan, Chicago, and Billings. Cape Air has interline agreements with several major US carriers, allowing passengers to book their tickets with most large airlines with one ticket and baggage check to some of the country’s smaller regional airports. With smaller aircraft and short flights, Cape Air focuses on transportation, offering few frills, but relatively reliable flights to airports that otherwise wouldn’t have commercial airline service.

Fare types

Cape Air offers just two fare types to passengers who book directly via their website: refundable and nonrefundable. Nonrefundable fares are changeable, but not refundable in the event a passenger elects not to travel. That’s the only difference between the two fares. When booking through another airline, the fare rules of the fare published by the airline that sells the ticket will generally apply to the Cape Air portions of the flight.

Check-in

If you’ve bought your ticket from another airline and your Cape Air flights are part of that ticket, you can check your bags directly to your final destination. When connecting to Cape Air directly from another airline, they’ll issue the boarding pass for your Cape Air flight, but you’ll need to check in with Cape Air at their gate at least 30 minutes before departure because the agent will need to weigh your carry-on bags and ask your weight to perform the weight and balance calculations for the flight.

If you’ve bought your tickets separately, and you have checked bags, you’ll need to take them to the Cape Air ticket counter to be rechecked. If you don’t have checked bags you can go right to the Cape Air gate, although at some airports you may have to change terminals and go through security again. At Boston, for example, Cape Air shares Terminal C with JetBlue, but passengers connecting from other airlines may need to go through security at Terminal C.

Boarding

Because of the small size of Cape Air’s aircraft, the boarding process differs from larger aircraft. After performing the weight and balance calculations, the gate agent will tell passengers which seat they should occupy when they board the aircraft. At some airports, I’ve noticed the agents will line passengers up in order of their seat on the aircraft, while at others (generally the smaller ones) they tend not to bother.

Boarding times are also pretty fluid, because passengers must walk across the ramp to board, and aircraft or equipment movements can delay boarding. Cape Air flights can often board and depart early if all booked passengers are ready for boarding significantly before the scheduled departure time.

Small aircraft

Cape Air operates 9-seat Cessna 402, Tecnam P2012 Traveller, and Britten-Norman Islander aircraft. The Cessna comprises two-thirds of the fleet and is being phased out in favor of the Tecnam aircraft. None of the aircraft are pressurized, and when conditions are optimal, they can fly just a few thousand feet high, providing for exceptionally scenic flights. I had a flight from Rockland once that cruised at less than a thousand feet above the Maine Coast treating passengers to an hour and ten minutes of coastal vistas.

The aircraft has adjustable air vents and the cabins can be heated, but only the Tecnam aircraft have air conditioning. In hotter weather on the Cessna and Islander, it makes sense to dress for a warm onboard environment. The aircraft tends to cool off at altitude, but the aircraft can get quite hot while taxiing on the ground on hot, sunny days, like in San Juan or the Northeast during the summer months.

Seats and legroom

Cape Air aircraft have very little legroom compared to larger aircraft: 26” inches on the Tecnam and Islander aircraft and 27” on the Cessna. On the Cessna and Islander, the unused co-pilot seat, which has extra legroom, is sometimes allocated to passengers. The seats do not recline. The Tecnam aircraft has cup and device holders and a USB-A charge port. There are no other amenities onboard. It’s also worth noting that most of the airline’s flights are 90 minutes or less – a significant portion of its core flights are shorter than an hour.

Baggage

Cape Air charges fees for checked bags at its ticket counters for passengers who have booked directly with the airline. Passengers checking bags with other airlines, connecting to a Cape Air flight will pay the bag fees applicable to the first carrier in their itinerary. Cape Air collects bag fees for passengers connecting to other airlines, even if those passengers generally have bag fees waived on that airline.

Here’s where it gets tricky: Cape Air will not waive bag fees for passengers who normally get a waiver because of their frequent flier status, but will waive bag fees for passengers who purchase fares that include checked bags. For example, a United Mileage Plus Premier member traveling in Economy from Chicago to Nantucket will have bag fees waived checking in for their United flight in Chicago.

However, when they check in for their Cape Air return flight in Nantucket, they’ll be subject to Cape Air bag fees, even though they’re waived on United. However, if that passenger purchases a First Class ticket and can show a ticket receipt saying the fare they’ve purchased does not have checked baggage fees, Cape Air will waive the fees.

Cape Air’s smaller aircraft also have limited space for excess baggage, so overweight, oversized, or additional checked baggage incurs extra charges and travels on a space available basis. If there’s not enough room on the same flight, it will travel on the next available Cape Air flight with space. Space available bags are not considered delayed if they do not arrive on the same flight with you.

Cape Air has a standard carry-on bag allowance, but underseat stowage may be limited. Larger carry-on bags that would normally go into an overhead compartment have a designated stowage location at the back of the aircraft. Passengers stow their own bags here when boarding and collect them prior to deplaning. Checked bags are handled separately and delivered to a baggage claim area upon arrival, or transferred to their next flight if they are checked and tagged through to another destination.

Loyalty program

Cape Air does not operate its own loyalty program, and flights booked directly with Cape Air do not earn miles in partner programs. When you book through a partner airline and connect to Cape Air, you’ll earn miles in the program of the airline you book through, as long as the Cape Air flight meets all the eligibility requirements to earn miles.

American Airlines, for example, requires that Cape Air flights be booked as AA flight numbers in order to earn miles, while United and Alaska will credit miles for Cape Air flights when they’re ticketed on a United or Alaska ticket. Alaska will also count Cape Air flights booked on an Alaska ticket toward elite status in their mileage program.

Airline partners

In addition to booking directly with Cape Air, their flights can also be booked by partner carriers Alaska, American, Condor, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Qatar, and United. CapeAir flights can also be booked by traditional or online travel agents such as Expedia. Cape Air does not have interline agreements with airlines other than those mentioned on its website, so passengers connecting to Cape Air from other airlines will need to allow enough time to collect bags and check-in for their next flight.

I’ve always booked my Cape Air flights through an airline partner, but I’ve also had to check bags at the Cape Air ticket counter when connecting. I can say the process is much easier when all the flights are booked on the same ticket and the bags are checked through, so I’d recommend that you book through a partner carrier whenever possible. There’s also a benefit in having your reservation and ticket serviced by an airline you have elite status with or overall better familiarity with.