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Getting to Bonaire: DAE sets nightmare in motion
Bonaire Talk: Getting to Bonaire: DAE sets nightmare in motion
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kate Hickson (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #403) on Thursday, March 3, 2011 - 6:53 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.

So, they get re-ticketed on the 5:10 flight to Miami. They can't even get rid of their bags and go walk around Willemstad because AA won't take their bags til 2:00 (I would have gone to a hotel, any hotel, pool with the bags). They are told they are #15 and #16 on stand-by for the Boston leg. They finally get to MIA and find out that other stand-by passengers had priority, and they are now #31 and #32 for the 8:40pm flight to Boston. They did not make it on the flight. At that point they were so fried and so pissed and realized they would have to be at the airport at 5:00am to get on the 7:00am flight to Boston (stand-by again), so why even bother to go to a hotel. They slept on the airport floor. They finally got home on that flight.

They only bought those DAE tickets about a month ago. Nice way to do business (sarcasm intended). My brother says he's still shell-shocked. DAE did nothing to compensate them, and they're just trying to get their money back for the flight.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By henk wallace donaldson (BonaireTalker - Post #72) on Friday, March 4, 2011 - 1:38 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.
There was NO tip.
There was NO return visit.
Nuff said.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mel Briscoe (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #861) on Friday, March 4, 2011 - 8:35 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Menno (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #389) on Friday, March 4, 2011 - 3:18 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

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??)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By George Blanchard (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #424) on Friday, March 4, 2011 - 6:11 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By stuart slavin (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #125) on Friday, March 4, 2011 - 6:34 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

ALM stood for "all luggage manana"

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kate Hickson (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #404) on Friday, March 4, 2011 - 7:52 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Pietri Hausmann (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #525) on Friday, March 4, 2011 - 7:53 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

all luggage missing

always late mon

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By henk wallace donaldson (BonaireTalker - Post #73) on Saturday, March 5, 2011 - 3:00 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

and dont forget their aircraft.......

ATR.......

aluminum tincan recyclable

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Pietri Hausmann (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #526) on Saturday, March 5, 2011 - 5:20 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Trish (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #153) on Monday, March 7, 2011 - 3:15 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Josie (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1501) on Monday, March 7, 2011 - 7:15 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.
On this flight, the pax from Amsterdam who are going to Quito are all disembarked in Bonaire, so they were all in the departure lounge...
We never got on the flight, and as there wasn't another for two days, missed two days of our trip to Ecuador!
We are SO blessed that Benny at Bonaire Town Homes where we stay was willing to come pick us up at the airport at 6 am, and allowed us to keep our unit there for two more days (at no cost even!)
We found out that it's rare for passengers to embark in BON for Ecuador, and even though we'd checked in on-line the night before, suspect that no one even checked and they didn't open the desk at all...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kate Hickson (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #405) on Tuesday, March 8, 2011 - 12:15 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

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!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By philip gelber (BonaireTalker - Post #57) on Tuesday, March 15, 2011 - 12:12 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We've all had our ALM/DAE/Bonaire Express war stories.

Mine was similar...booked a flight 4 weeks before..all paid for etc. and got to the airport to find that the flight had been cancelled 5 days before. No notification. We had to charter and entire DIVI plane ($1100 for the 4 of us) to get us back to Curacao and thence to NY.

DAE offered only the "gift" of a refund. And that after 3 weeks of calls from NY to Curacao.

NEVER NEVER NEVER would we book them again.

I'd sooner swim!

pg

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kate Hickson (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #406) on Wednesday, March 16, 2011 - 8:07 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

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.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Trish (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #154) on Wednesday, March 16, 2011 - 10:43 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Kate:

You must have misread Philip's post, he said he DID NOT receive any notification.

ITA, why would anyone want to travel on a nightmare airline again? When things like this happen, the airline needs to simply refund the fare, especially when the airline is not even responsible for getting the passenger to their destination whether it be with another airline or whatever. DAE just shrugged their shoulders & left the passengers hanging to fend for themselves! Surprised they're still in business...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kate Hickson (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #407) on Wednesday, March 16, 2011 - 8:38 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks, Trish...DUH...I did misread it. Shame on me.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Robert J. Patch (BonaireTalker - Post #73) on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - 6:14 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Before using DAE, you should have done your homework, when you would have found out that DAE stands for "Damned Awful Experience".

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kate Hickson (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #414) on Thursday, March 24, 2011 - 5:55 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Ha! Shame on us. Now we know.

 


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