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Getting to Bonaire: American Eagle aircraft
Bonaire Talk: Getting to Bonaire: Archives: Archives 1999-2005: Archives - 2005-08-10 to 2005-12-13: American Eagle aircraft
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Alan Pelletier (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #4) on Thursday, November 3, 2005 - 8:47 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Just wanted to know the experience some have had flying American Eagle from San Juan to Bonaire; mostly interested in the flight itself since as I understand it is a smaller aircraft (a 64 seat turboprop). Last year we used Bonexcel from Aruba to Bonaire and the aircraft was a small turboprop? that was very hot with very little ventilation. Just want to be prepared...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Susan Taft (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #536) on Thursday, November 3, 2005 - 9:03 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Yes, it is a turboprop from SJU to Bonaire. We too were very warm on the BE flight from Aruba to Bonaire but I am always chilly on the flight from SJU to Bonaire so make sure that I have a layer to add. You will need to check any large carryon luggage at planeside and be prepared for little overhead space and little legroom. It is a noisy 2 hours but since we have to connect from a very early flight from Hartford and then spend the day in SJU I usually sleep!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Debbie Babcock (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2425) on Thursday, November 3, 2005 - 11:59 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Susan, Boy, am I glad you said noisy flight! I thought the plane was coming apart my last trip and I looked out the window which I was next to,and saw that it had a hole like separation and was a nervous wreck I would get sucked out! I haven't flown AA in quite a while, must have forgotten about all the noise, I had to jam a newspaper in the above storage area to stop the loud vibrating sound! I used to always take AJ, but this last trip we decided to take AA due to AJ's problems. Glad it is norml for all that noise, as I was a little concerned on the safety and when I saw the shape of my window, well, I guess you can tell I hate to fly anyway, but will be doing it all over again on AA in a few weeks! At least I will be prepared this time around and yes, you sure do get a chill too. I usually take a lite jacket for the airplane.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By JIM KENNEDY (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #221) on Friday, November 4, 2005 - 12:17 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

You know you're in trouble if you see a 2x4 piece of lumber holding the pilot's window shut! That happen on a turboprop flight from San Pedro Sula in Honduras

jiminiŽ

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By pat murphy (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #309) on Friday, November 4, 2005 - 8:27 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

jim, your pilot had a window? you had a luxury flight...LOL. i remember almost taking off from san salvador in the bahamas with a wing storage hatch open.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By pat murphy (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #310) on Friday, November 4, 2005 - 8:29 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

allen, we use AE from sju to bon all the time. never had a problem. they are smaller planes and a little noisy depending on where you sit. but i don't remember being either too hot or too cold in them.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cyn Loo Hoo (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #15092) on Friday, November 4, 2005 - 11:56 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I have to agree with Pat...I've been on worse ;-) sometimes it's hot when you get on the plane, they ask you to close the window shades when you land to keep the plane cooler, but once you are in the air it usually cools off (and I am HOT most of the time). I usually take the flight emergency card and use it as a fan till it gets cooler...I bought those noiseless ear plugs that work with my MP3 player, and even without music on it blocks a LOT of noise out, I don't know how I traveled before without them! They were about a hundred bucks...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cyn Loo Hoo (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #15093) on Friday, November 4, 2005 - 11:59 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

They are something like this. I also use them at work when it's noisy and I'm trying to concentrate on editing content:-)

http://reviews.cnet.com/Sony_MDR_NC11/4014-6468_7-20604867.html?tag=box

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Susan Hughes (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Friday, November 4, 2005 - 6:03 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

My husband and I just returned on October 19th from Bonaire (it was our fourth trip and great!). We flew American this time and the last leg was on the American Eagle flight from San Juan to Bonaire. A word of warning to everyone. Make sure you are at the first of the line to board this flight. At the San Juan airport, there is a large waiting area for people traveling to a lot of the islands and it is very confusing as to which door you go through to get on your little bus that takes you to the correct plane. We ended up last in line and were told at the gate that the plane was overweighted and could only hold one more person. After much discussion in Spanish from the lady at the desk and much bad language from me!!!, we and this lady were put on a bus and sent to the plane. Then she got on the plane and talked to someone for about 10 minutes and we finally were allowed on the flight. We had booked this flight over 6 months ago and had our boarding passes in our hands. The plane only was about 2/3 full. I don't know if they had extra cargo on this trip.

So, when we left Bonaire, we went to the Flamingo airport around 5:45 am to check in for the 8:00 am flight. There were already about 20-30 people ahead of us. We did get checked in and had our boarding passes. I waited on my husband to return our rental truck (the truck rental did not open until 7 am). Three people went to the desk to check in and I overhead the American Eagle representative tell them that they could not get on the flight. The flight was overbooked! So, I recommend to be sure and check in early and be first in line! All our flights were on time and all luggage and dive gear arrived okay.

We used to fly Air Jamaica from Atlanta to Bonaire. We had actually booked earlier in the year on Air Jamaica and then our flights were cancelled (we had mid-week flights). It took getting the name of the lady in Jamaica in charge of refunds and 13 weeks and 3 days to get our total refund back for the Air Jamaica tickets.

So, next time we are going to try the Continental flight from Houston.


 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cyn Loo Hoo (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #15102) on Friday, November 4, 2005 - 6:23 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Susan...ah yes...the American Eagle terminal at SJ is "interesting" the first time...to say the least ;-)

It is good advice to get in the front of the line...guess we should add that one to folks that are taking AE for the first time. On 99.9% of the AE flights I've taken out of SJ to one of the islands, they have asked for someone/people to take a voucher for the next flight as it is overbooked or overweighted...and there are empty seats on the plane.

I think the weight issue is that so many bags weigh so much, and bags/people have to be adjusted. They weigh the bags (all bags, even the carry-on you give them before you get on the plane). Once they've done that, then they move folks around in their seats for better weight distribution. It will be interesting to see what happens on flights now that AA/AE have gone back down to the 50lb weight limit.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Alan Pelletier (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #5) on Saturday, November 5, 2005 - 9:17 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks to all for the information. In all does not sound to bad as long as you get to the gate early, do not over pack, and bring ear plugs or a MP3 player. Again thanks for the information especially concerning SJU. This will be our second trip to Bonaire and our first using AA/AE. Last year AJ cancelled our flight 3 days before we left and booked us on USAir, which I thought would be better considering all the problems AJ was having. Well our USAir leg to Aruba was late and we missed our connecting flight on Bonexcel and spent 6 hours at the airport waiting for the next flight. It only took 16 hours to go from JFK to Bonaire. Of course I seen worse posted on BT. Just hoping to improve on that this year....

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By pat murphy (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #316) on Saturday, November 5, 2005 - 10:20 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

alan, when we went to bonaire in february 2004, our flight from jfk to sju kept getting delayed later and later. finally i reminded them that if they didn't get us to sju soon, we'd miss the connection to bonaire and we'd be stuck in sju for three nights. they rebooked us on a flight to miami where we spent the night. then we flew aa to curacao the next day and had to buy a ticket on either BE or DCA to get to bonaire. in the end it worked out ok but if we were only going for a week we would have lost another day of vacation. all you can do is hang in there and hope for the best.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By C Poteet (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #344) on Saturday, November 5, 2005 - 11:02 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Alan -

I do hope everything goes smoothly and although you have been through SJU before, since this will be your first trip with AA/AE I thought a map of the airport might be helpful: http://www.aa.com/content/travelInformation/travelHelp/sjuairportdetails.jhtml.

All the AE inter-island flights go out of the gate 1-2 area. As others have described, it is a bit chaotic, but you're now aware of that and you won't have a problem.

Buen viaje!

Charles Poteet
Dallas

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cyn Loo Hoo (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #15113) on Saturday, November 5, 2005 - 1:54 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Charles, thanks for the map:-) Alan, be aware that when you get on the bus to go to the plane, they will tag your carry-on bag (if it is a suitcase) and when you get to the plane you will leave it by the stairs (or where they tell you to). They then weigh them (so when you see them taking your carry-on off don't be alarmed) and bring them back.

On your return trip, you will do the same with your carry-on...once at the terminal, go to baggage claim, collect ALL your bags, go through customs, then your bags will all be screened again, drag them to the custom agents who will take them, then go through customs again. So, if you have a lot of bags get one of those carts:-) you have to drag them a ways before they are on their way again.

How long is your layover?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Alan Pelletier (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Saturday, November 5, 2005 - 5:53 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for the map Charles. Our layover is 4.5 hrs. My other flight choice would give us only 1 hour, which I felt was not sufficient time. Trying not to repeat last year odyssey when we missed our connecting flight. We are flying out on a Tuesday, just wondering when AE flies to Bonaire? Want to know my options ahead of time just in case we get stuck at JFK or SJU.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jenna (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #5) on Saturday, November 5, 2005 - 6:26 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I've been worrying a little bit about this off and on for months since we booked our flight, and reading this thread is starting to confirm my fears. My husband and I are booked for a sold-out flight in December and our layover in San Juan is only 1 hour 20 minutes. Are we getting there way too late to have a realistic chance at getting on the plane? I'm going to make sure to get our boarding passes at the start of the trip if I can, but it sounds like that doesn't mean anything if we can't get in line at San Juan early enough. Should I be planning on several days in PR (we're on a Tuesday flight)?

Also, I have a question about carry-ons now that the process has been explained in a little more detail. What happens to your bag after you've left it at the side of the plane and they've weighed it? Does it get returned to you (sounds like it doesn't) or does it go in some kind of communal carry-on stowage area? The reason I ask is that I usually pack my laptop in my regular carry-on with the rest of my stuff rather than bring it in its laptop bag to save space. This works well as long as the bag isn't handled too roughly, but it sounds like it might not be the best idea depending on how the AE carry-on process works.

Thanks in advance for answers!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Susan Taft (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #540) on Saturday, November 5, 2005 - 8:58 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Jenna, if you are flying American Airlines for your first flight you should be given your boarding pass for the flight to Bonaire when you check in. If your originating flight is on time you will probably be fine. No one can really line up until the flight is called anyway as the gates for the island flights are in constant use -- one flight boards and then the next is posted. It can get loud and busy in that area so pay close attention to all announcements.

I would suggest you keep your laptop in its regular laptop bag and keep it with you. If it is in something larger it will be taken from you plane side and put into the luggage compartment and then returned plane side in Bonaire. On the flight to Bonaire you are allowed a small carryon that will fit under the seat or overhead but from personal experience can tell you to plan on having the laptop under the seat -- the overheads are just too small. My husband uses the laptop (in its case) as his carryon and I use a backpack as mine. The rolling carryon with regs and masks gets handed over at the stairs.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mare (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1163) on Saturday, November 5, 2005 - 9:03 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hmmm. Jenna, if the regular carry on is large, then it will be 'gate checked'. After you get off of the bus in San Juan someone will take your large carry on from you and hand you a red ticket. The other part of the red ticket is placed on your carry on.
I've never noticed my big carry on being weighed -- I do notice that it is placed in the forward luggage area. You can see it being loaded onto the plane as you wait to climb the stairs and enter the rear of the plane.
Once in Bonaire, the luggage from the forward area is unpacked and placed on the tarmac. You simply walk off the plane and then get your gate-checked carry on luggage, then bring it to the custom's area. If you deplane ahead of your gate-checked bag, simply wait on the tarmac for it. (Seb's large carry on is black and was mistaken for a crew member's bag. He asked for his bag and got it without a problem.)
Once you clear customs, you wait for your regularly checked luggage inside the small Flamingo Airport Terminal.
As for whether or not the gate checked carry on luggage is treated delicately enough for your computer, I'd say why risk it. Keep your lap top in a small enough case such that, once you have to surrender your larger carry on, you can simply get your laptop out before you get on the plane and stow it in either the very small overhead compartment or in the small area below the seat in front of you.
Case Logic sells a laptop sleeve for about $20. With the laptop envelope you can put your laptop in the big carry on and it will be a snap to take it out of the larger bag and take it with you into the airplane as the carry on is gate checked.

http://www.caselogic.com/neoprene_notebook_computer_sleeve/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=44291

Hope that answers your question.

Oh, and in the map that Charles Poteet provided (thanks Charles!), it is usually the case that the gate your airplane comes in is #19, and the American Eagle plane you need to get onto in a rush departs from gates 1. I think it is one of Murphy's laws.

mare

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By sharon mckee (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Saturday, November 5, 2005 - 9:18 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Jenna,
I'm in the same situation with 1 hr 20 min in the SJU airport. I leave tomorrow and will write you when I get back (week of Thanksgiving) and let you know how it goes. Charles, thanks for the map!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cyn Loo Hoo (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #15125) on Saturday, November 5, 2005 - 9:30 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Mare, I usually watch them put the carry-on's on the plane. This last time, they loaded all the carry-ons onto a cart, and it drove away...I was a little concerned so asked the flight attendant where they were taking the carry-ons. She pointed to where they had taken them, said they would all be weighed, then brought back to the plane. Once they did that, they started shuffling everyone around (got to sit by Norma that way:-)) for weight adjustment. I've never noticed them weighing the carry-ons before, but maybe if they think it's close they weigh them.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Susan Taft (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #541) on Sunday, November 6, 2005 - 8:02 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Cynde, two years ago we were returning from St John and had to fly an AE from St Thomas to San Juan. The handlers were loading all of the carryons that had been given over at the gate and then began unloading checked baggage to adjust the weight. They then needed 2 volunteers to get off which Mark and I did. While waiting for our next flight I asked about the luggage and how they knew which bags to take off. I was told that they have a formula they use (probably just eye-balling the bags!) based on the size of the bags and that sometimes they do weigh the carryons before removing checked luggage. The woman I spoke with said they can't leave the carryons behind which makes sense. Hence the stories about so much checked luggage getting to Bonaire after the passengers. I remember the first time I flew Air Jamaica and all the passengers had to get on a scale!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By T-Shirt Divers John and Sue (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #288) on Sunday, November 6, 2005 - 11:06 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Are cameras safe in the "carry on" bags?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By pat murphy (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #323) on Sunday, November 6, 2005 - 4:04 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

i have put my cameras in a plastic container and put that in my carryon. have had no problems with doing that.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jenna (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Sunday, November 6, 2005 - 7:47 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks so much for the helpful replies! I'm thinking that packing the laptop in the sleeve and removing it from the bag for the AE leg of the trip will be a good solution for us. I'm kind of trying to convince myself to just leave it at home, but it's the one bit of modern technology I find hard to live without when we're there.

That's good news about SJU too. I wasn't really sure what to expect with the lines - I was starting to imagine these crazy scenes of people camping out in tents days ahead of time like waiting for the midnight showing of a new Star Wars movie... Sounds like I don't need to worry too much, though.

Six more weeks to go!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cyn Loo Hoo (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #15131) on Monday, November 7, 2005 - 12:28 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Sue (t-shirt Sue), I put my reg, prescription mask, and camera in my carry-on and have never had a problem.

Sue Taft...get on a scale? I would DIE! LOL! I know in June, when we went from SJ to Tortola, most of our checked bags were red tagged as "heavy" (around 70 lbs each) and they arrived hours late...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Susan Taft (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #542) on Monday, November 7, 2005 - 8:11 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Cynde, I was just thankful that the scale faced only the woman from Air Jamaica and that it was metric so I could not read it!!!

T-shirt Sue, our carry-on that we hand over at the steps also has our camera, underwater housing, and Mark's reg and mask and we have never had a problem.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By T-Shirt Divers John and Sue (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #289) on Monday, November 7, 2005 - 9:48 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

On the 6 seater plane to Little Cayman, we had to tell our correct weight and all the bags were weighed. It was important so they knew how many people and bags could go on the plane.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cyn Loo Hoo (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #15137) on Monday, November 7, 2005 - 11:55 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Sue Taft...LOL...t-shirt sue...I would be whispering it in the attendants ear...or say "a hundred pounds"...sure that would make them do a double take...LOL!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kelly Baum (GDLW) (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3408) on Monday, November 7, 2005 - 1:39 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Cynde... lol... I would just hand them my driver's license for proof of how much I weigh!! LMAO !!!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cyn Loo Hoo (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #15143) on Monday, November 7, 2005 - 4:10 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Kelly, EXACTLY...that's how much it says I weigh on my drivers license! 12 years ago I did weigh 100 pounds...I have to use my miltary ID now for most things cause they look at my early 90's hair, and the weight and then look at me like "what are you doing with your grandchilds drivers license" LOL!

 


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