I know the ALM issue has been beaten to death here, but they have had some real issues. I've checked out ALM's website and several other resources, but can't find any reassuring info. Would like to book a flight the end of Feb. but I'm afraid 3 months out for ALM might be a little too much for "luck of the draw". If ALM should bankrupt we are SOL. Would love to fly AJ, but from Minneapolis it's not very cost effective, 2 extra hotel nights, meals, etc. Any suggestions or comments?

Try American Airlines into Curacao or Aruba. Your connecting flights to Bonaire will still be on ALM but your ticket would be issued on American and they would be the one holding your money. Likely if something were to happen to ALM, our inter-island flights would be the first to be replaced by another airline.

I went to the AA website and suggested that they fly to Bonaire. I think that there is something political there (??) but maybe if others did the same, they would consider it.
Air Jamaica is going to be starting flights from Boston two times a week in February or March. I just hate to lose all those AA frequent flier miles !!

I just returned from Bonaire yesterday and did the ALM route from Miami to Curacao and then on to Bonaire ( and vice versa) . After several months of reading trip reports on ALM prior to my trip I must admit, I was on edge. However, the all legs of my trip were on time and baggage arrived no problem . By the way, I had a rather lengthy layover in Curacao on the way down and I must say that ALM planes came and went there like it was OHARE INTL or something . I observed them to be all on time. While I was in Bonaire , I came across an article in the Bonaire Reporter in regards to ALM. Yes they are in serious financial trouble. The article stated that serveral airlines are looking at buying them including AA. But , would you buy out an airline that is 261 million florins in debt , only to pick up only one additional island that is not in your route map already ? Might not be a sound financial thing for AA. So stay tuned .. Remember TWA Continental , and others were in the crapper financial in years past and they are still around.. In summary if you want a smooth flight on ALM , relax ,,,take an active role in your flight plan .. confirm your flights check in early , and watch your bags get tagged.. then sit back and wait for arrival on an island that will blow your mind.

Also just returned from Bonaire yesterday. The ALM flights all ran on time form Miami--Curacao--Bonaire and the return. The mix-up was that they had us on completely different flights than what I had in Print. They seem to rescheduled our IT at their whim. However we did get on the flights that we were suppose to. But the biggest hang-up was with AA. Miami--Boston. We tried to get an earlier flight( on standby) home but they had canceled an early am flight and that backed everthing up. Our original flight was 31/2 hrs late leaving. In all it took us 20 hours to get home. You must reconfirm your ALM reservations 2-3 days in advance and hope for the best.

Michael, Where did you get the info on Air Jamaica-- Boston -- Bonaire. I would like to check into it.

Go to airjamaica.com
At the top under "Where can we take you?", hit Bonaire. It then takes you to the page where you can enter your departure and arrival cities. I decided to try it because at the bottom of the home page, it mentions that they are starting Boston-Montego Bay service and I knew that all of the Bonaire flights went through M.B. It's not a bad flight - leave Boston at 7:45 and arrive Bonaire at 3:15. The print is very small but I'm pretty sure those are the times. Funny thing, though, if you do Bos-Bon, it only runs on Sat. If you do Bon-Bos, it runs Wed and Sat.

AA Miami-Boston: We've done the 7:30ish flight seven times and it has only left on time once. It's become a joke with us. We finally said something at the gate and the ticket-lady told us that whenever they need an extra plane, they seem to take that one. ?? It's always full though.

P.S. You did get the $12 food voucher for Burger King from AA because it was delayed, didn't you?
That's always a treat (sarcasm).

Michael-
Our flight was to have left at 4:45 PM the
7:30 ish left almost an hour before ours. As far as the Burger King Voucher-- no -- it was not offered-- but they did serve dinner on the plane an gave everyone free beer and wine. And Burger King-- we ate there at 11:45 am-- kinda brunch. Thanks for the info on Air Jam-- I will definetly give it a try in 2001. Our next trip is in Feb and we are already booked on AA and Alm. But at least it is a direct - nonstop from Miami to Bonaire.

Thanks to all for the input. After extensive research and much frustration, I've concluded that the only possible one day trip from Minneapolis to Bonaire is ALM out of Miami. No guts, no glory. We have been fortunate enough to travel quite a bit over the years, but we have absolutely fallen in love with Bonaire. Just can't imagine going elsewhere. ALM was good to us last year, so I hate to push the luck of the draw. However, it really sounds like ALM is trying to turn things around. I guess they'll get another chance with us. The worse part, 3 months to go! But who's counting. And from Minnesota, that's snow flake, by snow flake.

All you fans of ALM may rejoice now that ALM is no more. Not to worry for something to write about, though, since the airplanes and wonderful staff now comprise 'Dutch Caribbean Airlines' to be known as 'Dutch Caribbean Express' (sic), minus only the 250M Guilder debt absorbed 'under the table' by the government in Curacao. The only change listed in the Bonaire Reporter article is the use of 2 Dash 8's vice 4. As my daughter said, no change since only two have ever been servicable at once anyway. Apparently this has been in the works for a while, according to bank and travel people. New thread at DCA (or DCE for the optimists among us!)(Or those with advance tickets!!!).

Dutch Caribbean Express is not operating yet that I'm aware of, Glen. ALM is still flying, and was just announced on Thursday as the Official Airline of the Antilles Olympics (or some such sporting event). Also, when I called the airport last night to confirm whether our flight to Curacao (where we'll be for the next week for a kids camp / vacation in case the lack of response from Linda and myself concerns anyone) today was still on, the phone was still being answered as "ALM"...

Stay tuned to http://www.dutchcaribbeanexpress.com, however :-)

Jake