VIP Fishing Charters

We booked a charter in Nassau Bahamas, our travel plans got delayed, which anyone who has ever traveled and understand this happens, I called the boat captain let him know the situation, asked if we could reschedule. He let me know that he had no available openings. I said that I understood and told him that I understand and realize that I would forfeit my deposit……..
His reply was that I would have to pay for the entire charter including fuel charges plus an 18% gratuity on top of the charter!!!!!!!!
I am in the service industry I own a tow truck company and realize how frustrating it is when you schedule a service and it is canceled but you don’t charge for the full service plus gratuity……. REALLY!!!!!!!

You didn’t spend any money on fuel ….. the biggest expense……. no labor……. no bait….. no drinks…… no food…….. you had no expense I agreed to forfeit my deposit that was 25% of the charter I believe that was fair……. they charged my card the FULL CHARTER PLUS AN 18% tip!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for nothing ………… I really appreciate being charged $800.00 For absolutely nothing ……….

I would avoid this company like the plague …………

Although, a great idea with this fishing charter concierge. Try your hardest not to use this company. They take $300 off the total price of the charter you’re booking and that adds up with the charter company you booked. That charter company starts off with $300 less in their pockets. They will find ways to recuperate that money by not giving you the best experience by not taking you out further than normal due to costs in fuel. They might take you out in the middle of the day, when fish don’t really bite. That being said, I booked a fishing charter with VIP and had a terrible time with the LADY PAMELA II and Captain David. We booked a 13-14 passenger boat for my family to go on, some coming from California. Captain David never picked up his phone and never returned my calls. He did call me the night before to say that the boat I booked had engine problems and it was going to be hard to take us out at 8 am. He gave me an option for 2 boats and hey what do you know, he could take us out at 1 pm, but 2 of us weren’t going to be able to go. His crew was very rude and dry, especially crew member DAVID. Captain David shows up before we left to charge my credit card and then he left on another boat. He was supposed to be our Captain. They gave us bad service and were not professional at all. They didn’t take us out very far, wonder why. We left late, an hour later. We trolled for about an hour and spent 2 hours ” fishing for sharks”. 3 of us never touched a fishing rod. We were passengers on a boat. Don’t book through this company unless it’s your last option.

I called VIP to set up a fishing excursion for a corporate team building event.
They made it very easy. Clean modern boats, ready and waiting for us when we arrived. They set us up with two great charters…. Hooked Up and Hooked Up II. This fleet was great. Both teams had a great outing, caught lots of fish, and truly enjoyed themselves. So much so that my folks are already asking to make this an annual event.

Hats off to VIP charters and special thanks to the Hooked Up and Hooked Up II crew for making it a memorable event. I look forward to fishing with these guy’s again soon.

As an event planner this charter service is a god send. I had reserved a deep sea charter for 6 executives. It was a seamless event thanks to VIP Fishing Charters. The day before our fishing trip, I was called by my boss to find another boat for an additional 6 executives to go fishing. In a panic I called VIP stating I need an additional charter at the same marina. Not only did they find me another boat and captain. They made it a competition between the executives and the boats they were on. It is hard to impress this group. VIP Fishing Charters did just that. Thank you to all that made my event a truly great experience for our guest.

VIP Fishing Charters is nothing more than a website to solicit and arrange fishing charters. They guarantee the lowest prices but exactly what does that mean? What happens is they often solicit the area charter boat that will operate for the cheapest price. They then take a 15% percent deposit by credit card to secure the charter. This 15% deposit then becomes their commission. After obtaining the deposit, this company then reserves a charter boat in the area where you are requesting to fish. The boat they hire not only has to provide the area’s lowest available price, they now have to operate at a 15% price reduction to pay the booking agent’s commission. This practice has lots of potential value for the charter boat as it provides him with a customer he previously never had and provides him with an opportunity to provide a good trip and possibility of a repeat customer. It all sounds good but there are pitfalls.

Charter boats often can and do offset the commission in several ways. 1. Don’t travel as far and makeup the costs in fuel savings, this often results in less fish 2. Don’t take a deckhand and make up the cost in labor savings, this often results in poor customer service 3. Don’t purchase more expensive live baits and makeup the costs in fuel savings, this often results in less fish.

There are better ways to book fishing charters than to blindly arrange a fishing charter with a booking agent who in turns blindly books your fishing charter with a charter company he has never met, seen their boat or visited their location.

Do your home work before booking a fishing trip and you will not run as a big of risk of being disappointed. There are many good charter boat operations and there are those with defeciencies and issues. A big question to ask before booking is why a charter boat would operate as the least expensive in the area and then pay a 15% commission to operate even cheaper? Many of the testimonials written about this company appear to be those the charter operators working for this booking agent.

Call your potential charter boat captain before booking, have an in depth conversation with them and make certain beforehand you are booking the services that will be satisfy your needs. In most cases a third party booking agent will not be able to answer questions regarding the captain’s reputation, abilities or the quality and condition of his boat. A good question question is why would any first rate charter boat discount their regular customer’s price by 15%? Maybe they don’t have any regular customers?