By Kate Hickson (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #403) on Thursday, March 3, 2011 - 6:53 pm: |
I am telling this story for my brother and sister (not BTers) so that it may be a cautionary tale to you. We were all on BON last week. They were leaving on Friday, Feb 25 on the 6:00am DAE flight from BON to CUR in order to meet up with the 8:30 AA flight to MIA, and then on to BOS. I did this exact route in January and it all worked out fine. I dropped them off at the airport at 5:00am. No one ever showed up at the DAE desk to check them in, but finally they found someone from DAE at 5:45 who told them that that flight was suspended indefinitely due to the airport construction. My sister asked why she was sold tickets for the flight and/or never rec'd an email stating it was cancelled (she had her Blackberry with her the whole 2 weeks on BON and checked it daily). She got a shoulder shrug. They ran to EZ and bought 2 tickets on their 7:00am flight to CUR. They arrived in CUR at 7:30 and sailed right through customs and immigration and ran to the AA desk. No one was there. Then they heard the loudspeaker "AA is pleased to announce the boarding of flight XYZ with service to Miami. All business class travelers are welcome to board at this time." They were freaking out! They begged the security guy to let them through so that maybe they could get their boarding passes up in the departure lounge (and they only had carry-on size bags). He said he couldn't do that. But he did radio up there to the AA people and the guy repled "Tell them I'll come down after this flight leaves and re-ticket them for the next MIA fight." Nooooooo!!!!! They wouldn't do it! I know what you hardcores are going to say: "well, FAA regulations say you have to be there 2 hours before your flight". Yes, of course...in theory. It was still 45 minutes until scheduled departure. But when they take forever to check in a mile-long line (think CO in BON) and you are checked in 10 minutes before boarding the plane, then it's okay. Bottom line, they could have "done the right thing" but did not.
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By henk wallace donaldson (BonaireTalker - Post #72) on Friday, March 4, 2011 - 1:38 am: |
A long time ago in a far off land when I still had hair, I once got a bad haircut from a barber with an attitude.
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By Mel Briscoe (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #861) on Friday, March 4, 2011 - 8:35 am: |
I led a group to Bonaire some years ago. DAE moved our return flight earlier, but told the wrong hotel so we never got the message and showed up at the airport after the flight was gone. One thing led to another, Divi Divi and American saved our butts, we got ALL our money back from DAE, and they are off my list forever.
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By Menno (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #389) on Friday, March 4, 2011 - 3:18 pm: |
DAE used to be called Bonaire express and they use to be called ALM and maybe they have had a few different names in between..... They did not only change names more then women change shoes, they also changed logo's, staff clothing as well as company colors and spend a fortune on repainting the tails of their planes and to all those kind of 'upgrades' but the rest is same old same old....... Like going to a casino; sometimes you win but mostly you don't. (PS do you remember what ALM stood for between their 'happy' customers??)
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By George Blanchard (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #424) on Friday, March 4, 2011 - 6:11 pm: |
My kids and grandkids had the same problem Mel encountered. They were never notified of the flight change and missed their plane. After months of wrangling a voucher was received. Thank goodness for the CO and Delta direct flights.
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By stuart slavin (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #125) on Friday, March 4, 2011 - 6:34 pm: |
ALM stood for "all luggage manana"
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By Kate Hickson (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #404) on Friday, March 4, 2011 - 7:52 pm: |
Yeah, live and learn. I guess the few times I've taken them I just lucked out. They are now on my s**t list. At least we do have options. I wish someone else would reinstitute that 6:00am flight though.
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By Pietri Hausmann (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #525) on Friday, March 4, 2011 - 7:53 pm: |
all luggage missing
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By henk wallace donaldson (BonaireTalker - Post #73) on Saturday, March 5, 2011 - 3:00 pm: |
and dont forget their aircraft.......
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By Pietri Hausmann (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #526) on Saturday, March 5, 2011 - 5:20 pm: |
the early flights will be reinstated as soon as the mandatory runway and airport updating is completed .. the airport closings and cancellations of early and late flights is a great inconvenience to the locals as well.. especially when having to travel to Korsow for the day for business and medical issues.
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By Trish (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #153) on Monday, March 7, 2011 - 3:15 pm: |
That's terrible Kate, I feel for your brother & sister having had nightmare airport experiences myself a time or two. But to add insult to injury is the attitude of some airline/airport personnel, at least show some compassion to your customers, and that would not include shrugging your shoulders! Thanks for the heads up regarding DAE and their poor customer relations, will avoid them at all costs! I hope your family gets their money refunded.
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By Josie (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1501) on Monday, March 7, 2011 - 7:15 pm: |
My BON departure fiasco was with KLM/airport security staff: We had booked KLM BON-Quito, and arrived 1-1/2 hour before departure, to find that the desk was closed already, and the supervision would not re-open so we could check in. This was despite the fact that the KLM crew arrived after us and THEY said there was no reason not to let us board.
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By Kate Hickson (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #405) on Tuesday, March 8, 2011 - 12:15 pm: |
An hour and a half ahead of time and they wouldn't even let you check in??? I don't get it. That is horrible. So, 2 days later they were ready for you? Ann Phelan took this flight to Ecuador last year. Yes, it is rare, but it's not like it never happens. I'd be steamed!
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By philip gelber (BonaireTalker - Post #57) on Tuesday, March 15, 2011 - 12:12 pm: |
We've all had our ALM/DAE/Bonaire Express war stories.
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By Kate Hickson (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #406) on Wednesday, March 16, 2011 - 8:07 am: |
Philip- I remember reading your story! At least you GOT notification, albeit 5 days in advance! So far, DAE has offered them credit for passage CUR-BON, good for SIX MONTHS. Ok, that's the bare minimum they should offer since they bought the tickets and had to buy more tickets on EZ. But only six months? They can't get back there in that time frame, but more importantly....why would they ever want to travel on DAE again?!?! What about the EZ tickets? What about the 2 days spent in airports? How about a "sorry for screwing up" 2-round trip tickets?? (Once again: but why would you ever want to travel with DAE again?). She's not dropping this. It took 5 emails to get the CEO's name.
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By Trish (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #154) on Wednesday, March 16, 2011 - 10:43 am: |
Kate:
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By Kate Hickson (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #407) on Wednesday, March 16, 2011 - 8:38 pm: |
Thanks, Trish...DUH...I did misread it. Shame on me.
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By Robert J. Patch (BonaireTalker - Post #73) on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 6:14 pm: |
Before using DAE, you should have done your homework, when you would have found out that DAE stands for "Damned Awful Experience".
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By Kate Hickson (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #414) on Thursday, March 24, 2011 - 5:55 am: |
Ha! Shame on us. Now we know.
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