A mini-trip report about airline problems.
We left Bonaire via AA through San Juan with only slight delays and arrived in Chicago as planned on a Wednesday night. We were attending a long-time friend's wedding. Our return however was one of our worst experiences.

Saturday morning departure time 10:20am. We boarded the aircraft on schedule. (Although they had a barrier between the gate and the gate agents so the person announcing the boarding could not see that people were piling up because we all were still standing there waiting for some wheelchairs to return.)
After most people had boarded it was announced that we had a repair that must be done and it might or might not require a return to the hanger as in we may have to disembark. After waiting and sodas, we were informed we can leave the aircraft but to stay in the gate area for immediate reboarding. Tick…tick… tick and we're still waiting. We decide we are not going to make our connection. Jake calls AA on his cell phone to find out other routings. We can take San Juan to Curacao and ALM to Bonaire the next day, if we make it to San Juan today. An AA agent comes on board and pulls the Bonaire bound passengers off because they say a misconnection in San Juan will mean staying there until Tuesday's Bonaire flight. We informed them of the Curacao connection and told them we wanted that instead of a 6am Sunday flight on Air Jamaica out of Chicago. We assumed the AA agent would redo our flights, especially after a discussion with the ticket agent who was helping the other Bonaire bound people move to Air Jamaica - but they never followed through!

We arrived in San Juan 3 hours late and missed our Bonaire connection. Not surprising so we made it first in line for the AA service desk. They appeared prepared to meet the flight and were fully staffed. We found out our flights had not be changed and again had to go through the process of explaining AAs own flight schedule to them. After about 45 minutes, we had vouchers in hand for taxis, meals, and a hotel room. It seemed reasonable although we also were the last to finish at the service desk. We were informed we could pickup our luggage at baggage claim - nothing there however. We stood in line for baggage services. The agents seemed unable to comprehend why we would want our luggage back if we were leaving the next day. Finally after much restating, one agent understood that we were going to be in San Juan almost 24 hours and really, really were not going to leave the airport without them. The remaining 10 people in line apparently were not so convincing and left without theirs. AA stated that it was their normal operations to keep all checked luggage in the case of a misconnect regardless if the person must overnight. I for one wanted my toothbrush, clean underwear, medicine, etc.

The Condado Plaza, where American put us up, is large hotel with casino and several restaurants. Smoke filled, crowded, and overpriced. We discovered much to my dismay that our room faced over the busy street and the music from the casino could be heard until 3am. If you stay there demand a water facing room, or you won't get a wink of sleep. The beach area was very small and actually a public beach.

The food vouchers were only good at one restaurant for dinner with a choice of one additional one for the other meals. My linguine with tomato/basil sauce cost US$18 and I can guarantee you this was not a culinary masterpiece. Dinner for two was US$75 plus. I guess that explains why AA gave us US$50 in dinner vouchers alone. Service was good, food okay. Breakfast offered a continental buffet for $15 or with hot food breakfast food for $18, or a limited menu. Vouchers for two totaled $25 so again we went over. We skipped the lunch in search of better food.

We taxied over to Old San Juan and the El Morro fort. Very beautiful and a nice area to walk around. Two cruise ships were in loading and unloading passengers since it was Sunday. Shopping was touristy of course. We grabbed a taxi back to the hotel. The Japanese/Chinese restaurant turned out to be quite tasty. We had Dim Sum for lunch although Jake was disappointed that the sushi bar was only open for dinner.

After aborting a nap because of the noise level, we decided to check out early and head to the airport. We discovered that our hotel bill showed the full amount of the restaurant charges. After much conversation with the frontdesk person, we understand now that at checkout they individually account for the vouchers and credit the hotel bill. However, we could not checkout because their computers were down. And there was no way to issue an invoice in any manual form so we would have to trust them to correctly handle the vouchers and charge our credit card. Since it took a half hour to get though this, we weren't feeling very trusting but we had no choice. (A FAX from them the next day confirmed that they actually did handle things properly after all)

Off to the airport. We checked in our bags, got a boarding passes, went to the gate,…
Then Jake glances out our baggage claim tags as he is pulling out our boarding passes… it says July 8 to Curacao but July 9 to Bonaire. Wait a minute! We checked our boarding passes for our second flight. Eek it says July 9th at 10:40pm. Jake trys to explain to the agents and attendants that AA made a mistake and they absolutely must fix the flight so we get to Bonaire on the 8th not 9th. One person even sat down and carefully explained that "your final destination is Bonaire". As if some how that would explain it. I had the distinct impression that none of these people had the faintest clue that Bonaire is just 37 miles from Curacao and only a 15 minute flight. They say they are going to call.

We arrive in Curacao and an AA agent is supposed to meet us. We check in with the ALM transfer person who checks our record and the best he can do is space available on the next flight 3 hour away. We wait for the one AA agent who is handling our plane's arrival. And much to his credit, he understood the situation and was able to get us assigned seats on the flight to Bonaire. I bet my crying and whining about my two young children waiting for their parents on Bonaire didn't hurt. (Okay, I finally lost my composure after 36 hours traveling.)

We arrive in Bonaire 11:45pm and are taking our sorry butts over to ALM to report both our bags missing in action. So sometime after 1am, we get home and fall into bed.

A call the next day about our bags and surprise, surprise they are still in San Juan. And not scheduled to come to Bonaire until Tuesday. And the big reason, there are no flights to Bonaire until then. No amount of reasoning seemed to convince them that maybe our bags should have traveled to Bonaire with us on Sunday. As in there is no way to get from San Juan to Bonaire except on the nonstop flights. All the AA agents we encountered in Chicago and San Juan had no clue what or where Bonaire was. We informed the baggage claim area personnel in San Juan that Bonaire was not spelled Bon Aire.

So using AA logic our bags should arrive tonight on the nonstop flight. We shall see.

The killer is that our next trip with our two children in tow is booked on AA too.

Linda, how awful for you.. travelling can be a real nightmare sometimes.. I certainly hope that your next trip is much smoother...

Not fun. You should post this in the continuing thread 'Reports on AA Eagle flights...' and we can all keep a running total of good/bad. Many have had good trips so far.

Jake, Linda... so ALM not so bad after all???? It just shows that the airline industry is not in it for the passengers. I have been delayed 24 -36 hours by ALM before and the service and treatment was much better than you recieved, the Days Inn in MIA they use is not that bad :}and the food is easier on the budget. Basically, on any given day some going some where is going to get the "royal" treatment by an airline be it ALM, AA or any other.

Wow, Linda. Sounds exhausting, frustrating and all kinds of other non-PG things. I hope the wedding/trip was nice, at least .....

What a terrible trip home...is the real reason there aren't that many people on the island because half are always lost in transit back? By the way, Linda, not sure if your husband mentioned it to you, but....you were volunteered to spend part of an evening "mobile" with the travelling northerners, so we'll buy you a drink of your choice and tell you it's okay.......

Okay so I herein banish any thoughts of using A/A (already gave up on Air Jam). ALM will continue to be my airline of choice coming to and leaving Bonaire.

The good news - we did receive our luggage last night as promised. The bad news - my Saturday bought fresh at the airport bagels were moldy and nasty after too many hours in transit in suspect temperatures.

The wedding was wonderful. A girl who worked for Jake and I back when she was in high school tracked us down and invited us after 10 plus years.

Because of the unability to make connections without staying overnight...which adds to the cost of a trip...and some of these stories..I think we will also stick with ALM out of Miami to Bonaire. Linda..we'll bring you some bagels ..but you'll have to wait untill Feb...maybe some other visitors will pick up on your desire..is'nt it funny that bagels are hard to get in Bonaire...we resorted to putting a hole in our piece of bread and pretending

Shhh! We need a threeday quiet period on these bad trip stories. Then I'll be there. Then i won't have to worry. shhh! -chandler

Joe you lowlife !!!! Have a great trip, don't I owe you an Amstel ???

Linda, what kind of bagels do you like? I'll try to pick some up before we leave for Bonaire on Wednesday morning.

Thanks for the offer but actually I'll be braving AA again on Wednesday morning myself. We're visiting the grandparents in NH so I hope to be munching fresh bagels shortly.
Linda

Linda, sounds like a similar story that happened to a couple of folks the weekend of June 16th. The AA flight out of SJU was overbooked (based on weight) and some folks were not allowed to board the plane. They also got caught up in the Curacao - Bonaire pickle with a Monday arrival, and their luggage did not arrive until the following Wednesday!! So much for their vacation (only one week on Bonaire). But there are other "good stories" about AA on the Getting to Bonaire site. AA is in desparate need of putting in appropriate infrastructure on Bonaire, trained personnel, and a local tele number that should be posted with the flight schedules at the airport counter (which was not even listed at the airport as of June 30). It is such a shame that AA has done such a lousy job on the startup of this service to Bonaire. Perhaps we should send AA HQ this web site so that they can see the problems and perhaps get them corrected!

kelly - Amstel? Would that be the one you left for me at the Green Parrot? I'll lok for it?

Sounds like a good idea, Vicki. Best in parallel to both AE and AA, since AE does the actual ops. It would help also if on-island people voiced their opinions, especially the tourist industry and TCB.

One key thing from Linda's posting is the need to have one's tickets actually reissued, not to assume that an agent will make changes w/o rewriting the tickets. Perhaps a travel person can comment on whether airlines will change an 'active' (or inactive issued ticket) ticket w/o a person present, and without rewriting at the time.

Joe, if you go looking for the Amstel I left at the Green Parrot make sure your have your dive gear on!!!! Shorts, sandals and one of your ugly shirts is not gonna work this trip :-)

Glen,
The airline agent can change your itinerary without you or your ticket being present, however new boarding passes and/or new ticket coupons themselves must be reissued to cover the new flights and routings. AA rebooked my flights with new routings over the phone when our plane hit a seagull in April. We still had to wait in line to reissue the tickets/boarding passes.

What we should have done as the traveler was to go over the new tickets line by line before we left the service counter. But I do feel the AA agents had not been properly briefed about the new service to Bonaire so in part the problem was ignorance as well. The San Juan agent thought the flights were correct.

It is also not acceptable for missing luggage from a Saturday flight to not arrive until Tuesday night at best. I live here so for me it was not a big problem except the kids wanting their presents and of course my poor bagels. But 3 plus days without your luggage on a 7 day vacation has got to be the worst. Especially, since your luggage is not lost - only delayed in San Juan. As in AE, knows exactly where it is and just won't send it to you. Very frustrating.

Has anyone stay at the Penhouse at Belmar

When I have flown AA, or even when not on AA, I have found that the Admiral's Club counter reps do more, better than the regular counter bears. Just going to the First Class check-in counter for help (which Admiral's can do, and to check-in, of course) gets better service--quicker, too. And somehow seats have been cleared for me at the mention of being an Admiral even though I believe that info is available to the agent when I use the AAdvantage phone number. Another perk-in-practise is to quietly flash you Admiral's card with your boarding pass as the First class,etc., are boarding, with a quiet question if it will allow early boarding. It has always worked for me. The Club personnel say it is not a formal policy, thus the quiet approach. Most of the flight attendants seem to appreciate the courteous approach from a regular passenger. Always better to let some one help you, isn't it? All this must work with the 'VIP' club memberships on other airlines also.

The baggage is frustrating. I am not sure the best choice between awaiting the next AE flight and a two-leg airline transfer to ALM possibly in ALostM mode!!! Maybe AE doesn't trust them fully either. Another reason for a couple of days living in a carry-on. And the dive computer!!! But then I always carry mine--I like to know where it has been and whether it has been stepped on or dropped.

In a classic "bad news, good news" situation, we learned the bad news just prior to departure for Bonaire in 2000........the Belmar had double-booked our accomodations, and our modest suite was not available.

The good news was that, if we would stay our first night in another apartment just up the road, we could then have the next nine days in the Belmar penthouse suite for the our original room rate!

Did we accept? You betcha! The suite was fabulous, living room( with hot tub), dining room and kitchen completely open to the sea and sky. I mean COMPLETELY open......no windows, no screens, just ocean. Bugs were not a problem, and since we were on the third floor, it was very private.

Lugging our gear up three flights of stairs was a small price to pay for experiencing nine gorgeous Caribbean sunsets. If only we could have found a way to rub it in to our snowbound friends back in Iowa!

It just goes to show, the only way to travel is "going with the flow". Sometimes its bad, and sometimes its mighty good.

Does anyone have any opinion whether I should take the travel insurance for my week long trip? I am traveling via Air Jamaica through Montego Bay. After reading all these horror stories maybe I should take the most complete package. I'm hoping that by packing carry-on, I won't have to deal with lost luggage. Is Air Jamaica really strict about carry-on size?

Based on other Talk threads, I'd say AirJamaica is strict. Several people have mentioned only being allowed one carry-on instead of two. So they have had to do some repacking at the airport to move the important stuff to one bag.