Flew into Bonaire on Dec 21 and left on Jan 5. Had a great trip except for some airport problems. We flew American but after talking to a bunch of people I don't think it would have mattered who we flew.

On the way in they lost 2 of our 3 bags including most of our dive gear. We were told we would be reimbursed for our rentals. They assured us the bags would be in on the next flight and had us fill out a form. We checked in on our bags daily over the next few days until they finally came in 3 days later. Quite a few other people had lost bags on various airlines. The same people worked with all of us, the airline did not matter.

On one of our many visits a person who had flown KLM was complaining that they had not entered her lost bags into the computer and she could not get reimbursed because of this. I listened but did not think anything about this. On the way back they only lost one bag which we got back a couple days later.

Upon arrival in the US I discovered that the people in Bonaire had never entered our lost bags into the computer. What this means is the bags basically showed up on their own, the people at the airport had done nothing to help us find them. AA will also not reimburse us for rentals because they did not enter the lost bags and the fact they said they would reimburse us into the computer.

If you have lost bags in Bonaire make sure they enter it into the computer if you want to 1) get your bags faster, 2) have a chance at getting reimbursed.

Very poor airport, wonder what the $20 departure tax is used for...


Chris

For future travelers, note you should get a printout of the computer report on your baggage before you leave the airport. Worst case, they should be able to get you a claim number. If it happens on Bonaire, you should leave the baggage claim area and go to the opposite end of the building where you check in for flights. They handle lost baggage reports at the checkin computers.

Now this sounds like a dumb idea but do you still have your luggage tags down to Bonaire? Sometimes they reissue the tags when a bag goes missing, it might show the delayed delivery date. Probably tossed them but who knows.

We fly from Phili to Montego Bay and then on to Bonaire..this last trip air jamaica lost my luggage for the whole trip...it was the fault of the baggage handlers in Phili...the tags that they staple to your tickets should all read Bonaire...we did not realize this till we arrived in Bonaire...2 tickets said Bonaire 2 tickets said Montego Bay...and there the bags stayed till our return flight home....just another little rule of thumb check those tickets