Hi,
Over the last few years, we've been dying to take a trip to Bonaire but flights our of Vancouver, Canada were $$$. Well, we finally found a great price flying to Aruba out of Seattle and we will be spending the Xmas holidays in Bonaire. However, our only choice flying out of Bonaire on Xmas day is with DAE. We're scheduled for the 6 am flight with our connecting in Aruba at 2:00pm. From what I've discovered on this board, DAE doesn't fly until the plane is full. With that much leeway on the connecting, I'm not worried, but my question is, how busy is it on Xmas day?
Thanks for the help.

David, I am not a DAE frequent flyer but have flown with them enough to say they do indeed fly full or not. Their reliability factor is a concern but it's an island carrier. I find the same with LIAT. If you can get a seat book it and come on over. There is a 5 45 and 8 45 and midnight arrival from Aruba as I recall.

Hi David:
Like you, we too (here on the east coast of Canada, New Brunswick) hop over to Bangor, Maine and fly Delta to Aruba in March and save lotsa $$$$ as compared to Canadian carriers. Then we are booked (round trip) Aruba/ Bonaire on Inselair. Did it on line with no problem. We are new to the inter-island thing, so we are hoping it works OK for us. Have you tried them?

David,
Sounds like a great holiday vacation!!
My experience with DAE would have me leaving a day early out of Bonaire and spending the night on Aruba.--It would take the stress out of dealing with DAE?

Ronald, I was looking at Insel but their website is down and I never got through on their phone number. Tiara was my first choice but Xmas day is totally booked from Bon-Aruba.

Bill, we're staying one night in Aruba on the flight in and probably should have done the same on the return flight, but thought with eight hours between flights on one of busiest travel days of the year, we would be okay.

Anyway, everything is booked so I'm not going to worry about it. It's been almost a year since our last warm water dive in Kona, so we can't wait to finally get to Bonaire.

BTW, for those PNWers looking for a great price to Aruba in December, Orbitz has flights for $448 + taxes out of Seattle.

just check with DAE the day before for flight status.

Usually the 6am flight is a safe bet. Like the DAE rep told me... "the plane sleeps here at night so there's always a 6am flight".

Of course I showed up the next morning to find a sign stating that the 6am and 8am flights were cancelled and there would be a 10am flight (which there was).

Hi David and ROnald , If you would like to book the Inselair flight book it on the new Bonaire travel agency site www.cheaptripworld.com I would not advise you to go with DAE i had bad experience with them too many times

hey Deborah, Just one question......are you connected to this travel agency by any chance???

LaDonna

looks that way huh...??

Deborah, that looks like a regular travel website that doesn't even list Bonaire as an option. What is the connection to Bonaire? It surely does not look like a travel agency focused on Bonaire.

David...although I have heard of some bad stories, I have taken DAE several times with no problems.

I think it looks that way, very first and second post say exactly the same thing about this travel agency.....a bit suspicious to me!

L

Nope just read it in the newspaper a few days back so I thought I would give it as an option,seeing that the flights are very hard to find

That's great....thanks for the info

L

and I should have said

Welcome to BT!!!

L

When you are there try the garlic shrimp at zeezicht,LOVE IT!

Thank you Ladonna.
I was looking at the pictures on the site that I gave you i noticed one picture with a beautifull little beach does anybody know the location of that beach on Bonaire?

Hi Deborah, welcome to BT.
Are you new to Bonaire?

to Bonaire no, but to bonairetalk yes

Thanks Scott. Unfortunately, in any forum you always hear more bad stories than good experiences and DAE does seem to have its share of bad press on BT. I'm will be sure to check flight status before departure. Otherwise, no worries.

(Message edited by martineb on November 11, 2008)

David
As you can tell, more than a few people have had their plans altered by using DAE.--I wonder how they stay in business.

When it works, it's a great airline. I have had many snafus using DAE but eventually get where I am going. Most recently flying to Sint Maarten I stood in line 1 hour waiting for someone to run my tickets in Bonaire. The girl would not issue boarding passes in Bonaire for the CUR SXM leg. She told me to get them at the gate. Our plane was an hour late leaving BON. I was worried about making my connection as I was going to Anguilla for only 3 nights and had no time to lose. When I got to Curacao I was not allowed to enter the gate area without them. I explained I could NOT show them until I was allowed to enter the gate (as pass the security clearance). Meanwhile I could see the plane loading outside the window for SXM. It was a scene but I made it. On board chaos ensued bc a drunk lady was allowed to board, started making a scene and had to be let off the plane. That took a long time. Then mid flight some man decided he too wanted off and kept pacing the aisle with his luggage. At one point the pilot came out and the man and he started talking with the pilot's cabin door open. The man was standing precariously close to this critical area. Mags and I were on pins and needles until we landed in SXM. Island travel is fun.

One mention: I have had MANY clients miss their DAE connections in Aruba due to problems in bound from the US and Canada. As a result planes were full on DAE for days and my clients were stuck in Aruba. This is pre Tiara and Insel.

p.s. DAE has the most efficient professional res agent, Lucille who works the Playa office. I love her. She also answers most emails.

Okay, get this. I get an email from DAE last night saying my 10:00am flight from Bonaire to Aruba on Dec 25th has been changed to 8:00am. Then 20 minutes later, I get another email telling me my 8:00am flight has been changed to 10:00am. What's funny is that I booked for the 6:00am flight. If there's an icon for head scratching, insert here.

You have plenty of time to play with there. You should be ok even if DAE cancels a couple of flights.

What all flights are there from Aruba to Bonaire.
How many of them are there?
Are there any ships going from Aruba to Bonaire?

Do I need to book my tickets from Chicago only or I can go to Aruba and then just go to airport and take any flight to Bonaire. Is on the spot flights going to be expensive?

What about a ship? No ships?

Hi Atalinder,

Welcome to B T !
Tiara Air is the only dependable carrier from Aruba to Bonaire. -have heard nothing negative about them on this posting board.
I like most people have tried DAE Airlines, and have walked away shaking my head--not the most dependable!
Before you book your arrival to Aruba check Tiara's website so you don't have a big layover.