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Getting to Bonaire: Need Advice on Dealing with ALM
Bonaire Talk: Getting to Bonaire: Archives: Archives 1999-2005: Archives - 1999-06-02 to 2001-12-31: Need Advice on Dealing with ALM
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Julie Banks on Monday, November 27, 2000 - 12:52 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I have two questions on dealing with ALM:

1) I'll arrive Curacao on American (2:45pm) from Miami. I can fly out to Bonaire on ALM at 4:45pm. Should I set up my connection through American Airlines, and let them work out the baggage transfer to ALM, or should I claim my luggage from American, and transfer it myself to ALM? I would really like to arrive Bonaire with my luggage if at all possible.

2) Concerning my return trip: If I am scheduled to arrive Curacao on ALM, at 2:20pm, can I expect to make my connection with American Airlines at 3:45pm to Miami? My only option is a 3 1/2 hour layover at Curacao, but I'm fearful of ALM's horrible reliability reputation. Is there anything interesting to do at the Curacao airport for 3 1/2 hours?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dean Botsford on Monday, November 27, 2000 - 1:07 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We recently flew (last week) AA from Miami to Curacao with a transfer to ALM to Bonaire. No problem with our luggage showing up in Bonaire. Assuming you get on the flight from Bonaire at 2:20 you should have no problem making the 3:45 flight to Miami. One thing, we did not know we would have to go through customs in Curacao (instead of being in the transit area). No problem with customs, BUT, we had to pay an airport tax of $20 per person to get back into the departure area (the same transit room) to leave Curacao and go to Miami. This was totally unexpected.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Julie Banks on Monday, November 27, 2000 - 1:42 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks Dean,
Glad to know American and KLM have connected well recently. I'd rather not deal with the luggage. And yeah, the problem with the trip back is - what happens if there is a problem with the ALM 2:00 flight. If it's late, or if we aren't allowed on it for some reason, we miss our connection with American. THat would be a problem. Do we need to build in the extra 3 hour layover to help head off problems like those? I wouldn't worry about it with any other airline, but ALM sounds real bad.
Anybody care to comment on what the chances are of actually flying on-time (or at least within 20 minutes or so) with with a ticketed and confirmed flight on ALM???
Thanks,
JB

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Lorraine Meadows on Monday, November 27, 2000 - 2:40 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We traveled this Oct,out of JFK, on American to Miami then ALM to Bonaire, very uneventful arrived within 20 min. of schedual.I believe in "The luck of the draw" when it comes to flying anywhere lately. Have a great trip, getting there is part of the adventure sometimes.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Susan at Bon Bini Divers on Tuesday, November 28, 2000 - 7:25 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dean, FYI, if you had shown all your connecting tickets as proof that you were truly "in transit" you shouldn't have needed to pay the extra $20.00 departure tax from Curacao. The next time you fly AA, and am re-entering, just have all your tickets and boarding passes ready and you should be fine.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dean Botsford on Tuesday, November 28, 2000 - 9:07 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Bummer. The ticketing agent for AA at Curacao said we had to pay the tax, so we did. Thanks for the info.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By michael gaynor on Tuesday, November 28, 2000 - 9:09 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I have notified the Dept of Tourism and they will address the issue so it wont happen again to any unsuspecting visitors.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Peggy Bowen on Tuesday, November 28, 2000 - 12:01 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

When this almost happened in Aruba a while ago, we got a 'pass' from the booth where you paid the departure tax. All we had to do was show our connecting tickets and our ticket stub from our arriving plane.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kate Hickson on Tuesday, November 28, 2000 - 12:46 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Julie- Yes, you just check your bags all the way through from your departure city, then you won't make the mistake Dean did by not going to the "in transit" section to go to the carousel to get his bags and end up paying the departure tax. Even if you make that mistake, they should never make you pay...that's sleazy. I had great luck with ALM and all connections in early November (coming and going), but you just never know.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Linda Richter - NetTech on Tuesday, November 28, 2000 - 1:25 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

If you are flying ALM to Curacao and then connecting to AA, you do pickup your bags in Curacao and check them back in with AA. American Airlines does not like ALM's baggage handling and will not transfer the luggage for you.

You should pay the departure tax of $20 pp once either on Bonaire or Curacao which covers you for an international departure from the Netherlands Antillean. This fee is never included in the airplane ticket.

 


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