We are flying UA to Aruba in Nov., spending a few days in Aruba then over to Bonaire for 2 weeks. I've checked with DCA and BE, DCA is quoting $103.00 RT and BE is $153.00, any recommendations who is more reliable? In the past we have always been ticketed all the way to Bonaire. Thanks for any tips.

Jon -

If you will go to the bottom of this page and keyword search on "DCA," I think you'll find a lot of information.

While there are a few who have had good luck with DCA, I think you will find the great majority who have used them did so only as a last option. Too many of us have had service problems, some very troublesome, with DCA and its predecessor, ALM. They just do not seem to have learned that the customer pays the bill.

But you be the judge by taking advantage of the postings you will find with your search.

Charles Poteet
Dallas

Hi Charles,

Thanks for the info, I'll look at the the DCA postings. I thought I remembered a hearing about a lot of problems with DCA.

Jon

On my way to Bonaire on June 28th, those of us on the Divi Divi flight were quite eager to get the hell out of the terminal and on the airplane. A group of travellers were about to start a riot.

The 28th was a Monday. This group of travellers had been trying to get from Curacao to Caracas since the preceeding Friday, and DCA kept delaying them. This is just a 1/2 hour flight, but DCA couldn't manage to accomodate them. It seems they are down to one aircraft.

I noticed when I arrived on the AA 737-800, the sole MD-82 DCA is flying appeared to be in bad shape. The thrust reverser cones on the engines were caked with soot. Now I don't think that's a safety violation, but it sure gives the impression of an aircraft that's not well maintained.

Apparently BE was not doing much better, with two of their three Dash-8 aircraft offline with technical problems.

I never did hear whether there was an all out riot after the Divi Divi flight left.

Daniel- Thats ridiculous, I would have been ready to riot too. I am traveling with my wife and 2 kids, I hope my experience is better than what you observed.

Please read my post in Everything else...this week, DCA is in the midst of chaos. The airport was a freak show today with masses waiting for flights and those who had flights cancelled and postponed..it was terrible..Fortunately I was able to refund my tickets for a small fee. No way will I ever fly DCA. Sorry..I need a reliable carrier for my transportation needs..My friends have waited two days to get to Santo Domingo. They are now in CUR and the flight was supposed to leave at 1:50 two days ago....not it's suppose to leave at 2 AM..ya, right

I heard that DCA has no aircrafts to fly with anymore.

What, more riots in the CUR airport over DCA non-service? I'm shocked! (not really).

On June 28th the Divi Divi crew quickly ushered us out of the transit lounge before any of us got hurt in what appeared was going to be a serious brawl. The passengers who were upset had organized themselves, and had at least one person video taping everything said to them. Not pretty. (Mentioned in an earlier post, apparently the group had been there 3 days trying to get a 1/2 hour flight to Caracas).

It's time for DCA to go away. It's also time for the major carriers to be invited in and allowed to run a decent, reliable operation. Of course given the politics on Curacao, don't hold your breath.