By Tribs, soon...very very soon. (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5815) on Friday, May 9, 2008 - 9:06 am: |
Ok...so I just reprinted my tickets for Sunday and noticed that AA moved my flights without notifying me. They had moved Wes' flights, but sent us a notification on that. I only reprinted my tickets so Wes would have a copy of my itinerary. I'm a bit disturbed as now I have a VERY tight connection in Miami, but it is on the flight home, so I am not going to stress over it. Has anyone else had this happen to them? In the past, AA has always notified us of changes, but then again, they have never done a change that actually put a connection in jeopardy before.
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By Jerry (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #10779) on Friday, May 9, 2008 - 9:13 am: |
Tribs, you need a strong two hours in Mia. Long lines at Customs.
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By Tribs, soon...very very soon. (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5817) on Friday, May 9, 2008 - 9:20 am: |
I know. I detest going through Miami. I should be clearing customs in San Juan. I have a 40 minute connection in Miami going to Chicago....grrrr!
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By Boat Chick************** (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5120) on Friday, May 9, 2008 - 10:28 am: |
Tribs, since you have time (as it's your return flight), I'd call AA and see if they can get you on a later flight out of Miami.
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By Tribs, soon...very very soon. (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5821) on Friday, May 9, 2008 - 10:47 am: |
Great minds....I just tried that. It is a $100.00 change fee to move the flight, but if I miss my flight due to a delay on their part, they will put me on another flight for free. Lovely.... They did assure me that there were flights after mine that I could get on if I miss my connection. I got stuck overnight once in Miami because of a missed connection, don't want to do that again.
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By Debbie Babcock (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #7175) on Friday, May 9, 2008 - 11:35 am: |
Tribs, I know that in the past when I have had tight connections at Miami, it has happened a few times, if you show the TSA guy when entering customs your ticket, they will get you through customs to make your flight. You do have to have a ticket, it doesn't work for standby vouchers. Good Luck, I have seen our "J" do this and get right to the front, boy, he knows all the ropes in getting to and from at airports. Actually, he was the one who told us about it, but since he had a ticket, he got through, we had standby, and didn't. Worth a try.
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By pat murphy (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1505) on Friday, May 9, 2008 - 11:43 am: |
yes, you'll clear customs in san juan. as long as the sju-mia flight is on time you should be ok (should???). like you said, it's on your flight home so you won't be as stressed. before the bon-sju-ord-cle route we used to fly bon-cur-mia-cle and had to clear customs in miami. that was one of the worst experiences in the world. it gave us an idea of what cattle in a stock yard feel like.
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By Edward Mizell (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #107) on Friday, May 9, 2008 - 12:51 pm: |
When airlines have changed my flights, they did not charge me to change it to suit my needs. You probably already did, but make sure AA understands they changed your ticket without notifying you.
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By Rog & Karen (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #485) on Friday, May 9, 2008 - 4:45 pm: |
Tribs...there should not be a change fee since AA made the change, not you!
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By Jan Klos - ( Hamlet Bonaire #10) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #631) on Friday, May 9, 2008 - 5:59 pm: |
I heard on the news yesterday that due to the jet fuel prices etc, AA was cutting back on more flights. One leg mentioned was 1 less flight per day each way Boston/ San Juan. Of course it was a Boston news station.
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By Diane Korzeniewski (BonaireTalker - Post #52) on Monday, May 12, 2008 - 7:12 am: |
AA changed our flights without telling us in Feb. Made our connection Miami to ATL with the door closing right behind us. It is a long walk from gate to gate in Miami, as well.
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By Tribs, Live From Bonaire (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5921) on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 4:45 pm: |
Well....AA just changed the flights again, but this time it is Bon-San Juan that changed. They moved the flight to 6:35 am! They better have coffee on that flight.
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By cr masheter (BonaireTalker - Post #14) on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 5:02 pm: |
Yes, they changed our Bon-SJ flight, too. So, how should we handle returning a rental truck with such an early flight...might have to return it the day before? I was considering AB Rental, but any advice? (Poppy is already fully booked).
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By Tribs, Live From Bonaire (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5922) on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 7:28 pm: |
I'm using AB and here is my plan. I will check in at the airport at 5:00 (park truck, check bags, get boarding pass, pay departure tax). Then, I will go to AB and wait until 6:00 when they open. Hopefully I will be first in line.
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By Boat Chick************** (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5329) on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 7:40 pm: |
AB might be open earlier if AE has changed their flights. I know that a couple years ago, they were open at 5AM for the 7AM flight.
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By Marcus L. Barnes (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1039) on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 9:24 pm: |
AB doesn't have to be open for you to return a truck. They weren't open last month when I returned from my 10th trip. I just parked the truck and dropped the key in AB's key drop.
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By Ann Phelan - www.bonairecaribbean.com (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3150) on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 6:17 am: |
I got notification the AA flight in the Fall departs 6:35 AM. YUCK
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By Tribs, Live From Bonaire (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5925) on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 7:25 am: |
I know you can pay AB to open up early. What I don't agree with is if several of us are paying to have them open early they make a fortune off of us because they still only have one person there to accept the cars. We did this once and there were 7 of us trying to return trucks to catch the early flight and it was tight because they only sent one employee. I'd be nervous just dropping the truck off. I like to be there to have them check it back in. I don't want any "surprise" charges. I'm not saying that AB would be dishonest, because I have used them 5 times and love them. I'm just saying things happen. My girlfriend once got charged for a totaled vehicle and after heavy litigation it was discovered that the employee totaled it after she dropped it off. She used one of those express drop offs at the Phoenix airport.
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By cr masheter (BonaireTalker - Post #15) on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 9:47 am: |
Ann, not just in the fall for the schedule change. We're coming in July, and just received notice.
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By Boat Chick************** (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5331) on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 10:18 am: |
6:35AM??? O...M....G....the fish aren't even awake that early!
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By A rose by any other name..aka RosAnne (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2436) on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 11:24 am: |
I rec'd 2 notices, the one mentioned and another one that AA will leave SJU at 6:15pm now, so you get into Bonaire a little earlier. I hate leaving so darn early in the morning so I add a few extra days into the trip to make up for it!
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By monte pace (BonaireTalker - Post #17) on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 7:06 pm: |
I can live with leaving early. I just hope they still have the flight in Aug.
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By A rose by any other name..aka RosAnne (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2444) on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 7:18 pm: |
Me too Monte!
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By Gail T. (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #2947) on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 8:55 pm: |
Three days after I booked our July flights, I received and E-Mail of the change in flight time. It works fine for us as we arrive in Bon a little earlier, and arrive home at the same time.... but just have to get up a little early that last Saturday morning.
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By monte pace (BonaireTalker - Post #18) on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 7:31 am: |
I noticed on A.A. website that big changes such as re-routs and discontinued flights to SJ and the caribbean will start in Sept. They said notification will be given to ticket holders in advance LOL. They did not give the islands effected so keep checking.
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By Bea and Marvin Jones (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #152) on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 10:35 am: |
Over the years sometimes we have gotten notification via email from AA, sometimes nothing.
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By Jake Richter - NetTech/Bonaire Insider (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #6294) on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 11:13 am: |
According to my sources, there's a big internal meeting scheduled in San Juan later next week for all the various island AA/AE offices/ground handling companies, so I expect we'll hear more details on how AA's cutbacks will or won't affect Bonaire's San Juan connection after that meeting.
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By Sandy Ruffin (BonaireTalker - Post #53) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 10:54 am: |
I called AA/AE yesterday regarding possible upcoming changes between San Juan/Bonaire, as we are scheduled for Christmas.
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By brad jenkins (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #6) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 11:56 am: |
We have had our tickets for our August trip since March and they have now officially changed our flight 7 TIMES!!! We were leaving KC at 8AM and it is now 5:30AM and we have connections in ATL, MIA, and SJU before we head to bonaire. It is going to be a 14 hour trip now. What a pain!
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By Sandy Ruffin (BonaireTalker - Post #54) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 12:11 pm: |
My main concern with AA/AE is the possibility they may cancel the flights from/to/ San Juan/Bonaire.
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By brad jenkins (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #7) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 12:36 pm: |
I have friends that work for the airlines and they dont think that will happen. They are just going to keep messing with routes in which they have multiple daily or weekly flights and not heavy loads of passengers and/or freight. I dont know what the passenger loads truly are to Bonaire but things seem pretty steady their so they wont give it up
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By Chet Wood (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #811) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 12:37 pm: |
Or go back to only 3, 4, or 5 flights a week. But, I suppose that's a whole lot better than NONE!
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By monte pace (BonaireTalker - Post #20) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 1:12 pm: |
The flight from SJ to Bon was almost full the 4 times we have used it in the past. It had divers and locals so hopefully the flight will remain intact.
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By monte pace (BonaireTalker - Post #21) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 1:24 pm: |
I remember the early days when we used ALM ( all luggage missing ) to Bon. You were lucky to get a flight and or luggage. The dive ops were setup to offer free gear to you if your's did not arrive. We usually got our gear on friday before we fly out.
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By Jake Richter - NetTech/Bonaire Insider (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #6301) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 4:47 pm: |
Last nights' AE flight to Bonaire had 9 people on it, according to friends who were on that flight (as responsible for one-third of the flyers).
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By Sandy Ruffin (BonaireTalker - Post #55) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 5:43 pm: |
Those AE flights to/ from/ San Juan/Bonaire seem to either fly with very few ( 9 passengers) OR, as we have experienced during the Christmas holidays---having to leave passengers and/or luggage behind due to overbooking/overweight.
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By Tribs, Live From Bonaire (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5971) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 7:42 pm: |
I just arrived on May 11 and our flight was full. Also, 2 women were on it that had been bumped from the flight previous to our flight. Isn't May low season?
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By Jake Richter - NetTech/Bonaire Insider (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #6303) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 7:55 pm: |
Technically, yes. Low season starts around April 15th. But weekend flights are traditionally a lot more full than mid-week flights, regardless of time of year.
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By Jake Richter - NetTech/Bonaire Insider (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #6305) on Friday, May 30, 2008 - 8:55 am: |
Here's the latest, with the good news that service to Bonaire from San Juan will continue, but not clear if on the same daily schedule or not:
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By monte pace (BonaireTalker - Post #22) on Friday, May 30, 2008 - 9:53 am: |
Thanks Jake for the update.
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By A rose by any other name..aka RosAnne (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2453) on Friday, May 30, 2008 - 11:38 am: |
Thanks for the details, it looks like we will just make it for the SJU-LAX flight since we fly home on 8/28! Unless between now and then they change again. Jake please keep us updated if you hear anything new.!
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