Saving a copy of a message (http://www.oldbonairetalk.com/cgi-local/bbs/show.cgi?tpc=29&post=253246#POST253246) and a telephone number list from the Bonaire Exel website before our travel to Bonaire allowed my wife, myself, and 10 other people we had never met to arrive on Bonaire on schedule yesterday instead of missing our flight.

This, in turn, allowed us to get into the water just before sunset and drain away the cares of the world, , instead of sitting around Aruba airport and hoping for a late-night seat on another flight.

Our original schedule involved a 2-hour connection in Aruba, between arrival on US Air at 3 pm and departure on Bonaire Exel at 5 pm. However, we sat at the gate in Charlotte for more than an hour as mechanics toiled to get the public address system working on our airplane. I realized that this was going to make the journey through passport control, Customs, Bonaire Exel ticketing, passport control again, security, and to the gate a sprint -- and probably one destined to fail.

I decided to get on my cell phone and call Bonaire Exel to alert them. Thinking that being able to tell BE how many of their passengers would be delayed, I asked a flight attendant to make an announcement for Bonaire-bound passengers to raise their hands. "The PA system is broken, sir."

Oh, year. Forgot.

So I walked down the aisle of the plane asking, "Bonaire?" "Flying to Bonaire?" I counted a dozen or so hands.

Then tried to call BE, substituting "011" (international call) for the + sign below.

Country Telephonenumber
Aruba +297-588-1900
Bonaire +599-717-0707
Curaçao +5999-888-0707

Aruba didn't answer. Curaçao didn't answer. Bonaire did, and suggested I call Aruba.

"Can't do that. They don't answer."

I told Bonaire's office that we had 12 passengers a bit delayed. Bonaire replied that they might not hold the plane because it would throw the rest of their schedule off, but agreed to send a message to Aruba. (But if they don't answer, do they read messages?) And Bonaire suggested that I call the head office in Curaçao.

"Can't do that. They don't answer."

Bonaire gave me three different numbers to try in Curaçao:

+ 5999 868 2233
+ 5999 868 2011
+ 5999 868 2022

Two didn't answer. One did. I told Curaçao that we were 12 passengers arriving behind schedule in Aruba. I asked the number of seats on the aircraft (43, I believe they said) and suggested that we were a sizable portion of their likely revenue.

The Captain came on the PA: "Testing. Testing. The fact that you can hear me means that our repair was a success. But we have another little problem. We lost our takeoff slot and now there are several flights ahead of us, so it will be a bit longer before we can go."

I decided to try the Aruba number one more time. Bingo!

The BE agent at Aruba was VERY helpful, asking me for the names of each passenger so that they could make some advance arrangements. I said "hold on a moment" and headed back down the aisle, asking "Bonaire? What's your last name?" As people called out their last names, I relayed them to the BE agent over the phone.

Finally, 1-1/2 hours late, we were airborne -- but facing the prospect of trying to do passport control, Customs, Bonaire Exel ticketing, passport control again, security, and the gate all in 30 minutes.

Fortunately, 6 of us were near the door of the aircraft, but another half-dozen were not. As we neared Aruba, 3 hours later, I asked the US Air flight attendant to consider making an announcement to request other passengers to remain seated and allow Bonaire passengers to exit the aircraft first.

"Well, others might permit them to exit first, but they might not," he replied. He never made the announcement.

So another couple and we decided that two wives would make a dash through the process while two husbands picked up luggage and followed. We assumed that, since we had to go through Aruba passport and Customs controls, it would be like landing at one gateway city in the US from abroad and flying onward to another -- that we would have to collect our bags and recheck them, even though we had asked US Air to check our bags all the way to Bonaire, which they did. (The US Air agent had checked her computer in Washington, D.C., and confirmed that US Air and Bonaire Exel have a baggage agreement.) In fact, we probably would NOT have had to pick up bags, because Bonaire has its own separate Customs check, so the bags would likely be transferred automatically from one flight to the next. Not knowing this, we would have wasted precious time waiting for our bags. But Dee, one of the two who agreed to be in the vanguard-without-luggage, assured me with steel in her voice: "Don't worry. If I get to that Bonaire Exel flight before it leaves, it's not taking off until we are ready for it to leave."

Well, those well-laid transit plans proved to be superfluous. When we landed in Aruba, a flight attendant announced, "Those going to Bonaire should check with an agent outside the aircraft."

Indeed, a man was waiting for us, holding 12 boarding passes. But he didn't want us to take them and sprint.

"Wait until all of you are gathered," he said. "I have a key."

Indeed, he did have a key, and another route to our next flight. Instead of going through Aruba immigration and Customs twice, we walked with him through the international side of the airport, through a door, and to our gate.

And after getting seated, our BE flight took off on schedule.

Salute to Bonaire Exel for finally answering their telephone in Aruba and then for working with utmost efficiency to keep their flights on schedule.

And take your cell phone with you, even if it is not the type that works on Bonaire (GSM system), because the crucial call that you need to make may be while sitting on the planed in Charlotte before they close the airplane door.

Only the advance telephone call to BE made this all work.

Great report, wonderful information, and your ingenuity and persistence are to be admired.
I am reprinting your post before departure in August on a US AIr to Aruba with connections to Bon, thanks.

WOW! Great Story, Glad it worked out for you all! I hope the other passengers bought you a drink on Bonaire! Way to go! Debbie

Great work, John Isn't it cool being proactive during a delay? The genius wasn't yet on vacation: he was in high gear on travel day!

Wow! I am thorougly impressed!

Jake

No kidding, Snorkeljohn, what a great story! Persistence does pay off!

Thanks for the feedback, folks.

Remind me to tell you some day about hitchhiking on a yacht from Samos to Istanbul (1967), conducting a sit-in to prevent the airport bus leaving for the Rangoon airport on the last day of our visas, so that my traveling companion could get back from the Shwedagon Pagoda where she had left our crucial guidebook for our onward journey through India, Pakistan, and Nepal (1971), and getting knocked flat by a drunk bus driver in Syria because I decided not to let him continue to drive (also 1971).

As for unwinding and letting the mind slip into vacation mode, I'm trying. I'm trying. With evenings like the one tonight:

I wanna travel with this guy... lol...

Yes!!! Action, NOT moaning! You the man!!

Loved reading this. I like it when someone isn't just pro-active for himself, but also for everyone else who is having the same problem.

You should be writing these stories for publication.

That's the spirit....always keep moving southerly. (Remember mine and Eva's jaunt through the lower carib on Christmas day 2002)

SnorkelJohn you did save our trip! Thank you so much for taking us under your wing and getting us there the same day as we were scheduled. Your performance was magnificant. That's me in your arrival picture in the blue shirt arriving on Bonaire and only because of your quick thinking and cell phone. I was sure you had been there many times before and stated this to another of your flock. He said "no, its his first trip" now I know how you had such insight into what to do. I hope your return flight was better than ours. AirJamaica was 4 hours late picking us up then had to go to Curacao so we missed our connection to BWI in Montego Bay. JM wanted to keep us in Jamaica and told us so in Curacao (Mr. Campbell was the JM gate agent). When I protested he asked for our preference. "Get us to NYC tonight" he said he'd try. I've heard that from airline employees before so I was stunned when we got to Montego Bay and JM's gate agent Omar (forget his last name) had tickets already printed up for us to go on the same plane we just arrived on as it continued to JFK. When we arrived at JFK the Immigration computers were down for an hour and a half so we all just stood there and INS never made an announcement about the nature of the problem! Upon our release from INS we found the flight's JM Captain but no gate agent. He got on his cell phone and routed an agent to us and we successfully argued for a car and driver to BWI that night. The lesson for me is NEVER FLY Air Jamaica!!! but if you have to you can have faith in their employees who were some of the most helpful airline employees that I have ever dealt with in a crisis. Bonaire is a wonderful place but they MUST get their airline service figured out. I've used AA, Air Aruba, Air Jamaica and they are all TERRIBLE! Unreliable and incompetent at laying out schedules with some backup and redundancy.

SnorkJohn, Are u ever lucky!!! Good thinking and lucky you found a soul to answer the phone.

Boy am I having a big yuk over here laughing at this! big laugh at my own expense.

I am hving a fun experience to share with you too!

I have found a darling beachfront house to rent in Bonaire. We live in Aruba (wk in the tourism field) and can't wait to relax and do nothing at all.

More than a week ago I tried securing tix on Aruba Exel to Bonaire. I tried all the numbers in the phone book and had no luck. No one answers any of them. It seems never.

I called our directory assistance and was given yet another number to no avail.

The telephone book also gives a website address. The website is naturally out of order.

By the local operator I was given the "general" airport number and called them only to learn that the Aruba Exel extension number was at the time out of order.

After several more attempts this week I reach a wonderful gal named Eveline who tells me she is all alone in the ticket line. I ask for another representative. Apparently Eveline is the only soul on duty. She is ver aplogetic. I leave her my number only never to hear again.

More unsuccessful attemps are made at the Aruba Exel office.

I again try the General Airport number and ask if the Aruba Exel ext is working. Hooray! The woman who answers the phone again tells me she is all alone ticketing guests for the flight. O! She then informs me that this number is ONLY for interoffice personnel I ask her what the need is for an interoffice ext when there is no other human in the inter office.

I find out it's the kind and overworked Eveline again working hard. I ask her why she hasnt returned my call and if there is a manager I can speak to. Well yes, you guessed it, Eveline is the manager.

I ask her in her opinion if she thinks I will ever get to Bonaire and she tells me she will this time call me back.

Gotta love it!

I've heard so many wonderful things about Bonaire! I sure hope we can get there.

John, thank you so much for the excellent advice. We leave on Thursday, the 28th. We are flying USeless Air to Aruba and then BonEx to Bonaire. I am going to print this thread and hope not to use it. Thanks again.