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Getting to Bonaire: St. Louis/Miami/SanJuan/Bonaire
Bonaire Talk: Getting to Bonaire: Archives: Archives 1999-2005: Archives - 2005-01-01 to 2005-05-01: St. Louis/Miami/SanJuan/Bonaire
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lori File (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #7) on Sunday, April 3, 2005 - 1:51 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We are heading to Bonaire in a few days on AA. Can anyone tell me about this trip? Is San Juan difficult to switch planes at? Do they have any fast food there like Mcdonalds? Any tips?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Davidson Mourillon (BonaireTalker - Post #21) on Sunday, April 3, 2005 - 2:16 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Lori, referenced to your trip to Bonaire you may have a bit of waiting to do at airports but otherwise you will get to Bonaire. About MCDonald's If you mean in San Juan PR - It is equal to the States no problem - In Bonaire there is no MC yet - but there is a KC

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By C Poteet (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #254) on Sunday, April 3, 2005 - 2:53 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Lori -

We have flown DFW-SJU-BON with AA a few times and, besides the length of the lay over and early BON departure, it has been an easy trip.

In my remarks below, I am assuming that you are taking AA/American Eagle round trip the entire way.

At SJU airport, the large jets such as the one you'll take from the States land in a different area than the small turbo-props of American Eagle, but it is not a problem to find each.

All the interisland flights (including to Bonaire) that we have taken out of San Juan leave from the gate 1-2 area. Here is a map of the airport to help you envision the layout: http://www.aa.com/content/travelInformation/travelHelp/sjuairportdetails.jhtml.

Since all of the interisland flights (there are a lot of them) leave from only a couple of gates, there is a lot going on in the waiting lounge. Just take care to know the gate from which your BON flight departs and don't be shy about double-checking with an agent about the departure time and location. Do keep a good eye and ear on the agent handling your flight; sometimes it is rather confusing to know which flight they are calling.

You will board a bus at the actual gate and be taken out on the tarmac to the waiting plane. If you have any doubt you are on the right bus, ask! We've seen more than a few folks ride the bus all the way to the plane and find out, low and behold, all the folks are going to Bonaire!

Coming home, when you check in at BON, you probably will be required to open every bag for individual inspection before it can be checked. Not a surprise if you know it's coming.

When you check your bags, take a minute to verify with your own eyes that your baggage is checked all the way through to your final destination. This will save you considerable bother in San Juan (see below).

When you arrive back in San Juan from Bonaire, you will go through customs and immigration, you are entering the U.S. From where the American Eagle planes land to customs and immigration is a long, long walk. There are some moving sidewalks, but they do not always work and it is still a good hike. The good news is you only have to carry whatever you did not check in Bonaire.

Going through customs and immigration in San Juan always has been quite easy for us. One reason is that the American Eagle flight from BON gets in relatively early so there is not a mass of flights arriving at the same time.

Since you are transferring from American Eagle to American, the procedure is that, after the long walk, you claim your luggage from a carousel right adjacent to immigration, pass it through inspection and then hand it over to a waiting AA representative who takes it to put on your States-bound plane. You do not need to recheck your bags if in Bonaire they were checked all the way through to your final destination.

If you are experienced travelers, you will wonder why I went into so much detail. If you are not, I hope I have given enough detail.

For questions that have not been addressed, that's what Bonaire Talk is for!

Bon bini na Bonaire!

Charles Poteet
Dallas

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By George Blanchard (BonaireTalker - Post #79) on Sunday, April 3, 2005 - 6:39 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Lori, were you asking about fast food in the San Juan Airport? I don't recall any such place but there is a decent restaurant with reasonable prices located in the main terminal. Be wary though, last time we were there you could not hear flight announcements in the restaurant.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom Cousino (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1712) on Sunday, April 3, 2005 - 6:53 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Charles, As a person who has taken the route you are referring to three or four times, I did not wonder why you posted sir. Rather I was quite impressed with how thorough your instructions were.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron Myers (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #110) on Sunday, April 3, 2005 - 6:56 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Off the subject, but if you care for alcohol buy at the duty free shops in San Juan Airport. Much cheaper than in Bonaire, and with a greater selection.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By C Poteet (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #255) on Monday, April 4, 2005 - 5:35 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Tom -

I did not mean to inundate Lori, but I do not know her travel history and I do remember the first time (long before we discovered Bonaire) we went through SJU it was a bit confusing, especially the business about claiming your bags right at immigration and handing them back to an AA agent.

Hope it helps make her trip easier.

And George (and Lori), I'm sorry for all those words I did not address the fast food issue. In fact last July we found a pretty fair pizza place not too far back toward the main terminal from the interisland American Eagle area.

Charles Poteet
Dallas

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom Cousino (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1721) on Monday, April 4, 2005 - 7:01 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Charles, I really was impressed. Your post will benefit anyone who wants to know what they might encounter in San Juan, I will refer them to your post or cut and paste it. Of course giving you credit. Again KUDOS are in order.

I too forgot to answer Lori's question regarding food. I have found that the Subway Sandwich Shop to offer "food" of similar quality to the two other Subway Shops I have eaten at. One being on Bonaire. Won't rate it as great, but it did sustain life;-{)}

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By monte pace (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 6:55 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

thanks charles. we will be there in sept via dfw,sj,bon.and have always had direct flights from dfw via alm. the info will help since i have never been to sj.
monte

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By C Poteet (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #256) on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 9:58 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Monte -

Glad to be of service.

Given so many of the travel woes and complications we read with this group, we actually feel quite fortunate to have such easy and direct routing.

While not fond of living in the big city, I must admit DFW is one of the greatest assets imaginable: we can go to any large city (and many, many small ones) in North America and come home in the same day. Not many places in the country can you do that.

Let us have a trip report on your return if you can.

Buen viaje.

Charles Poteet
Dallas

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kelly Baum (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2474) on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 10:44 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Charles, I've made this connection many times, and still I pulled up the terminal map. lol.

I found that posting to be a wealth of information ! Thanks !!

Also, right at the top of the escalator that takes you into and out of the 1 and 2 gates, there is a small hot dog/fast food place. It was horrrrendous... lol...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Davidson Mourillon (BonaireTalker - Post #22) on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 11:01 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dear Cahrles, you guys in true fact are fortunate when it comes to technology and logistics.
Living on an island after living in the Big Cities was not really easy - it was like going back in time - This is why I can understand all the difficulties you guys face when you have to come this way. When I lived in Cleveland and Chicago I had to take a plane to work and I just stood in line picked up my ticket went to work and returned at night same way same day.
A basic deficiency for the islands is volume - In the states the volume plays a big role whereas in the islands how many people communte every day. Check the fares in the states for a 39nm (Curacao to Bonaire) trip and a 104NM trip (Aruba to Bonaire)then compare it to the fares in the US - City to City or State to State. One thing is certain we are gradually getting there.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By monte pace (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #7) on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 2:43 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

charles, did you have any problem with getting your dive gear on the sj to bon island hopper. i have heard that they have a overweight problem sometimes and leave it behind till later. when traveling on ALM ( all luggage missing lol), we seldom got our dive gear the same day and became very resourceful on packing our carry-on.
monte

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By C Poteet (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #258) on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 6:51 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Monte -

Your question exceeds our experience because we are snokelers not divers.

I'm sure there are plenty of divers who have used the AA SJU-BON routing who can give you a better idea of what to expect. If you have to wait for the next plane, it may be day or more (depending on time of year) before there is another AE from SJU to BON.

I can say that the overheads in the ATR 72s (turboprops used by American Eagle on th SJU-BON run) are smaller than on jets and carryons that will fit in the overhead on jets might not fit in overheads on the ATRs. If the carryon won't fit, the standard procedure seems to be for the passenger to hand it over on the tarmac to an AE staff as you board the plane. They put it in the nose of the plane and you pick it up right on the tarmac after landing at your destination. Really not a bad arrangement if you don't need the carryon in flight and if you understand the procedure.

Charles Poteet
Dallas

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By monte pace (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #8) on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 7:19 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

thanks charles, you have been a great help.
monte

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By seb (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2109) on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 8:36 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Monte, unless your carry on is very small, they will gate check it as you go to the plane, and you can watch them load it on the plane if you like; I always did. A standard largest legal sized carry on will not fit in the cabin.

 


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