I've been watching the prices for direct flights from Charlotte direct to Aruba for a summer Bonaire trip. It appears I can arrive in Aruba in the mid afternoon say on a Wednesday. The plan then includes DAE flights on to Bonaire that evening. I've used Continental, AE, Air Jamaica, even KLM for visits past. Is it worth the $$$ savings to go this route rather than say the Delta direct from Atlanta? Any experienced suggestions?

Claude,

In July a few years back we had a storm called Emily. I had two parties flying the US to Aruba and then on to Bonaire. They chose this route to save money. Long story short, they missed their flights to Bonaire and were stuck with about 50 other people in Aruba. One group paid DAE to charter a flight. The others came to Bonaire 5 days later.

I have a few other similar scenarios to share.

Been there done that twice. Once was nice the second time a nightmare. Since that trip I have not been much of a fan of DAE. Now if you can score some tickets on Tiara Air from Aruba to Bonaire you might have a better trip.

My advice is first Delta but if to high then AA to Curacao and Divi Divi to Bonaire, next would be Aruba/Tiara Air and last choice would be Aruba/DAE.

See what happened to us (a few threads down) when we used DAE. I would stay as far away from them as I could. I will never trust a Mickey Mouse operation like that again. Stick with the real airlines. At least you will be dealing with a reputable company that will stand behind there services.
I wish that we would have decided to spend a little more but we didn’t. It ended up costing us $2000 more.

If you need to fly into Aruba, Tiara Air is a pretty good option. We took it in November without too much trouble.

If you can't do that, I think you might be able to take Insel Air to Curacao, then Divi to Bonaire. From what I've heard recently, I'd avoid DAE if I could.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. You've certainly given me plenty to think about especially some alternative options. I so appreciate you taking the time to respond to my question.

When you are making connections, be aware that you go through US customs in Aruba. Thus, when you make your connection, you will have to enter Aruba (they are a different country from Bonaire), exit Aruba, and then enter the US. Allow three hours for your connection to make sure you make it.

US customs in Aruba?
You mean we've annexed it finally? Neato.
US ownership of most of the Caribbean would indeed help with many travel issues...

Here's more on the US clearance facility in Aruba:
http://www.allbusiness.com/caribbean/559220-1.html

Apparently in operation for 8 years so far, but I've never been there.

People say Aruba is a major line-standing bottleneck, especially on weekends, so maybe this isn't as good as it sounds?

Plus you have limited reliable options for getting to/from BON from AUA.

We should start a new AUA-BON puddle hopper airline, non-stop. How hard can that really be?

We've done that route twice. Both times US Air to Aruba and DAE to Bonaire. DAE performed well. last September they rushed to get us to Bonaire just an hour before Felix hit. We're planning to go again and will take tat route again.

Remember, you will have to go through customs in Aruba then check in for your flight to Bonaire. Leave enough time. We never take the last flight from Aruba to Bonaire, leaving another flight for problem recovery each way. AFter all, DAE is not a large US carrier. This can make for long layovers in Bonaire.

We've been through Miami to Bonaire and my wife refuses to make a connection through that airport again.