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Getting to Bonaire: Looking for ALM travel stories
Bonaire Talk: Getting to Bonaire: Archives: Archives 1999-2005: Archives - 1999-06-02 to 2001-12-31: Looking for ALM travel stories
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Corney Ann Carter on Friday, March 17, 2000 - 8:58 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Would anyone please send me thier stories of travel on ALM. We recently had an 8 hour trip turn into 38 hours on our return home. I am trying to compose a file to send to the proper authorities on Bonaire and Curacao to help solve this problem. Thank you.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By michaelgaynor on Friday, March 17, 2000 - 1:04 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I certainly encourage you to send your report to the local authorities. Don't forget to file complants in the US as well. It seems ALM is quite "hard of hearing" when it comes to complaints and their mistreatment of passengers should be brought to the attention of US authorities.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mickey McCarthy on Friday, March 17, 2000 - 3:58 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hello Micheal
Given the huge cutbacks in government funding mentioned on this site in the past months, one certainly would start to worry about the conditon of ALM`s fleet.I of course have travled on ALM for years because in theory it was the most direct route. Now that AirJamacia is in the picture why struggle with ALM?
Within the next month or two I`ll make my reservations for the end of October! Then watch for changes in rates,just in case they go down.
Till then Mickey

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bill Wielbik on Saturday, March 18, 2000 - 9:48 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Just returned from Bonaire and will NEVER fly ALM again. We had a 4 an a half hour delay and didn't get to Bonaire till 2AM. On the return trip we had an hour delay and a crew that was not customer friendly. If ALM is the only way to get to Bonaire than we will not go there again.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By michaelgaynor on Saturday, March 18, 2000 - 10:14 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

fortunaely they are not the only way to get here. There is a negotiatgion with a Major US carrier in progress and you can limit your ALM exposure by taking American Airlines to Curacao then ALM for the short hop over. It is amazing how an airline can conitnue to mistreat people anc continue to stay in business. Their time will come....

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cheryl A. Roberts on Sunday, March 19, 2000 - 11:52 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Knock on wood, we haven't had any problems with ALM. The flight attendants and gate agents, etc, are usually aloof, but that doesn't mean they did a bad job. We usually fly to San Juan from Atlanta on Delta, spend the night then take ALM Dash 8 service the next morning early to Curacao then to Bonaire. Last year I think that fare on ALM was about $179 or so. This year we are getting 2 for 1 (valid on M-Th departure out oof San Juan).....$199 plus taxes for the first, taxes only for the 2nd....$241 total! We checked prices out of Atlanta and Miami and the range was $500 to $750 each! We have always had close to or on time departures, but we have never flown ALM MD-80 service, so maybe that is the difference.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Goodenough on Sunday, March 19, 2000 - 2:36 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

What is it about the attitude? Are the flight and gate attendant just tired of tourists? I've run into the same thing that Cheryl mentioned, "aloof". In our 2 trips to Bonaire, the flights have been on time, and no lost luggage, but the lack of information or answers to questions is really bad. Have the employees of ALM gotten bad treatment from travellers or is it a cultural thing? Why else would the "aloof" posture be so prevalent?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lorraine Meadows on Sunday, March 19, 2000 - 3:48 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We have never had a problem(knock on wood) with them and have flown about 1/2 the time in over the last 10yrs.with them. Not even an attitude thing in fact I have had some plesant conversations with them, they seemed very nice. So when I hear these stories it makes me wonder about my odds. Hope it's not up, have 2 tickets for May. We catch them out of Altlanta. Like I say," the luck of the draw":)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Goodenough on Sunday, March 19, 2000 - 9:31 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Your comments remind me of pleasant parts of our trips too. The inflight service has been really good. Most of my comments were regarding ground services like check in, security, etc. Once at the airport on Bonaire, my bag started going through the loading belt without having been checked. It sort of fell on the belt inadvertantly (sp?). Anyway, the counter person said not to worry about it, finished our ticketing, and walked out on the tarmack and got my errant bag. He was really helpful.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Anonymous on Monday, March 20, 2000 - 8:03 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

it is quite amusing. For weeks one can reed about how horrible ALM is - that one will never go back to Bonaire because of ALM etc - now somebody ask for bad stories and there comes nothing than positiv comments - so what is it???

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By De Etta on Monday, March 20, 2000 - 10:18 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

If you don't mind, I like to keep reading the positive. We fly ALM from Miami to Bonaire on Thurs. We are first timers to Bonaire and are extremely excited about our 2 weeks on the island. However, after reading several months of negative ALM feedback, I'm not very excited about our flight. I can't help but wonder if we and/or our luggage will be even close to on time or even same day! I'll pack the essentials in a carry on, but that's limited. What are the chances of our luggage never arriving?

Any last minute tips from the experts?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tony Paugoulatos on Monday, March 20, 2000 - 11:28 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

It's just the luck of the draw with Air ALM. Take the carry on with the essentials, keep a positive attitude and go with the flow..your chances are better than 50-50 that you and your luggage will make it to Bonaire relatively on time. I think the people who work for Air ALM are just as frustrated with that airline as the passengers are. I also think that what is interpreted as rudeness by Air ALM employees is actually a result of their own frustration with an unreliable airline. We have our share of ALM horror stories after 10 years of flying this airline as do many other people. Those who run the airline know all about them. The only way to solve the problems is head to head competition with another airline and may the better airline win.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By ann gross on Monday, March 20, 2000 - 1:46 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We would never go back to Bonaire mainly because of ALM. It took us ten hours (normally a half hour flight) to get from Aruba to Bonaire because of cancelled and delayed flights. We seldom found any representatives at the ALM counters and when we did they had no information. We would try to call them on the phone and get no answer. They were not rude they just did not have a clue.For the first time in all our travels we understood "airline rage."

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lorraine Meadows on Tuesday, March 21, 2000 - 8:47 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I totaly agree with Tony, Competion would be great.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Logan on Tuesday, March 21, 2000 - 8:58 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Michael: Care to share who the "major US carrier" is?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By michaelgaynor on Tuesday, March 21, 2000 - 1:13 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

hopefully delta

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tony Paugoulatos on Tuesday, March 21, 2000 - 1:50 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

In past years we were able to check in for our ALM flights out of Atlanta with the Delta counter and get seat assignments and boarding passes without having to go to the ALM counter. Delta has a major Atlanta hub and would add a great alternative to ALM. Bonaire would benefit greatly if it could swing a nonstop on Delta from Atlanta.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lorraine Meadows on Tuesday, March 21, 2000 - 4:35 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

That would be great, then I could use up my skymiles from Delta, we take Delta from NY area to catch ALM in Atlanta. When we first came down American had a direct flight from JFK, that was a dream. Sometimes we go out of LGA JFK or Newark whoever's price is best. The San Juan route has my attention, might look into it for next time.Getting there is always part of the adventure, the reward of a uncrowded beautiful place is worth it.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By thomas brossard on Tuesday, March 21, 2000 - 7:17 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

If we all never flew with an airline who screwed things up again, we'd never fly again, would we?

We've had many, many flights with ALM, most good, some not so good, only 1 bad. The people are "generaly" aloof, but that has always seemed to be "their way" (IMO).

If you're going, plan on having fun and try not to worry about things out of your control!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By john bressan on Tuesday, March 21, 2000 - 11:11 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I couldn't agree more, we have always used ALM,until this year, when we will be using Air Jamicia. We have had some really great flights where everything worked great, and some not so great flights were we were held up in Curasau (OK I don't know how to spell it). On our last trip we were delayed 4 hours in C?? and got the last flight out to Bonaire. We should have been there at 6:30 and got in at 11:30. So we missed our customary arrival steak bar-b-que and wine, but we met some nice people sitting around the airport waiting for a flight. You make the best of what you can't change. Bottom line, we got there, had a wonderful time and had our steaks and wine the next night. I have always considered the "aloofness" of the ALM staff to be one of more a language barrier than a lack of interest.

Have a great trip and don't expect things to be like they are in the states. If they were, I don't think most of us would return year after year.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Chmelicek on Thursday, April 20, 2000 - 2:16 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We visited Bonaire for the first time in November last year, had a very pleasant and uneventful flight there. On the return flght , the plane broke down, instead of flying to Atlanta , they flew us to Miami, ( about 8 hours late) . We then waited in Miami for 2 DAYS, before ALM got us to Atlanta,,they were rude , unhelpful and lied on several occasions.
I have tried by phone , email and letters to contact ALM and get some sort of compensation....I am only met by silence. I LOVE Bonaire, ALM sucks. We are returning in the fall but flying American to Curacao, then ALM hopper.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By De Etta on Thursday, April 20, 2000 - 5:21 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We just returned from Bonaire via ALM and we were extremely impressed with the flight, service, etc. Especially, after reading so much negative here. We had no delays, no lost lugguage and maybe some of the best airline food ever. We flew out of Miami. Someone told me it would be the "luck of the draw". Well, I guess we were lucky! If necessary, I would fly ALM again to Bonaire, but after hearing so many horror stories, I would prefer a different airline.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Brian J. Walsh on Thursday, April 27, 2000 - 11:13 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

We are just back we left BWI 4/19 and returned 4/26. We were booked American to Miami going and Delta Miami to Atlanta to BWI home. Miami to Bonaire and back was ALM. All flights were on time (within 15 min) except Curaco- Bonaire (30) min late. ALM's flights were roomy, service was great, all baggage arrived with us and they fed us well. We did get our seats and paid the airport tax the night before we left (you have to be there 8-10PM). I thought I might add some balance to what is here.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By irene belliveau on Thursday, May 4, 2000 - 10:27 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Any one else have there early afternnon flight cancelled and moved to the one arriving at 11:30pm. Big disappointment to us. At least we didn't get stuck at an airport. We leave directly from Miami. One strike ALM. Leaving in 2 days.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lorraine Meadows on Thursday, May 4, 2000 - 7:07 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

No, but our return flight has been changed, though not yet. We have a flight on May 21 out of Newark NJ to atlanta via delta atlanta ALM, but as of June1 ALM is no longer flying out of Atlanta and we are returning as of June 11, so they have to change our return, through Miami, but I don't want to stop in Atlanta if I don't have to JFK or LGA would be great.I call ever day, their very pleasant and even called at work to assure me not to worry their working on it.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Joel Roberts on Tuesday, May 9, 2000 - 1:50 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I just returned from Bonaire May 7th. I was supposed to be home the 6th. This was my second trip to Bonaire. My first trip last year was uneventful. This year it was a horror story. On the flight from Miami ALM was 1 hour late leaving. Then they made a unscheduled stop in Currea to clean the plane and pickup a few passengers. It took over an hour. On the way home we reconfirmed our flight 72 and 48 hours in advance, no problems. Then the night before we were to leave we called a third time, to find our flight was cancelled. We missed our three flights in the USA because of it. After three hours on the phone the best we could get was that we may get a flight 6.5 hours later. We showed up at the air port 5 hours early and just got a seat. The flight was overbooked. I think others we stranded there for another day. The flight was 2 hours late leaving, which for the second time made up miss our flights in Miami and Atlanta. We fought for 3 hours in Miami to get home and the best we got was two meal tickets and a room at Day's Inn. We only got three hours sleep after all the struggles. The tickets ALM gave us to get home were not valid according to US Air and United. We had to fight tooth and nail with both air lines to get us back to Pittsburgh. We were lucky, the good people at United and US air did us a great favor to over look our workthless tickets. I will never fly with ALM again. I could have flown to Micronesia earier. I also don't feel safe on the airline. I heard that all these problems were due to a plane with landing gear problems which forced them to cancel these flights.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By sharyn spray on Tuesday, May 9, 2000 - 7:09 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Next time try Air Jamaica,they fly from Balt to Montego Bay to Bonaire. Great flight, on time, no lost luggage. Best part is you get to Bonaire @ 2:30 PM instead of 6:30

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Anonymous on Tuesday, May 9, 2000 - 9:57 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Sharyn, what time does the Air Jamaica flight leave from Baltimore? We'd have to get to Baltimore first, and I don't think the first flight arrives before mid-morning.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By sharyn spray on Thursday, May 11, 2000 - 7:13 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

It leaves around 8:30am so that might be a problem. I think they also have a flight out of Newark. Don't know if that would be any better.

 


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