Hi..
Can someone please clarify the departure tax for :
1.
International travel
2.
Inter-island travel

I have seen various figures in several websites.
In one website I saw the interisland tax to be $US10 and in another 10 Guilders...

Thanks much.••••
Just to let you know , my trip is taking shape...its a bit time consuming however as i am trying to get a bit of Curacao, Aruba and Bonaire all in seven days.•••••
Thanks again

Hi Dee Dee!
What you may have seen is the inter-island tax at $10 and 10 euros. The International tax is $20 dollars or 20 euros. People from the UK with euros and dollars need to look at the interest rates carefully.

Actually it's NAF 10 for travel to Curacao or St. Maarten. I think Aruba may be $10 (not sure though).

Jake

Hi,
wowowowow..thats a big difference (Euro vs $US )
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Is this correct.••••••• departure tax.••••
International Tax (Aruba to Trinidad W.I) =$US20.00
Aruba to curacao = 10 NAF
Curacao to Bonaire = 10 NAF
Bonaire to Aruba = 10 NAF

Thanks in advance if someone can clarify
Dee

Aruba Airport tax is 60 Aruban Florins the exchange rate is 1.82 to the dollar and the Curacao Airport Tax is 40 Antillean Guilders also 1.82 to the dollar Sometimes 1.80 or 1.79 is also used.

Davidson,

I assume taxes you quote are from CUR or AUA to another international location

Dee...if you are connecting thru Aruba back to the U.S., only tell the agent in Bonaire who collects the tax that you are going to Aruba ($6). Your international departure tax departing Aruba to the U.S. is built into your U.S. ticket

Hi......
I thank you for the information but I think I am still a bit mixed up......
This is my travel plan
1.Trinidad West Indies (Home country) to Aruba ( 15/04))

2. Aruba to Curacao (15/04) spending 3 days in curacao

3. Curacao to Bonaire (18/04) spending one day

4. Bonaire to Aruba (19/04)..spending 3 days

5. Aruba to Trinidad West Indies (22/04)

Now....i am wondering..
How many times do i pay departure tax?
In what currency?


thanks in advance for any clarification
Dee

Dee in between your questions I have tried to give you some info and hope it satisfies your questions.

1.Trinidad West Indies (Home country) to Aruba ( 15/04))

At this stage you should consider yourself to be in Transit so no Tax will be levied - You should have a complete ticket in your hands which you purchased in your home town indicating that you are going to all the destinations you chose.- If you purchase your ticket in Aruba to go to Curacao your tax will be NAfls.60,00 (1.82 per US dollar)unless you explain the situation to the clerk at the ticket counter.

2. Aruba to Curacao (15/04) spending 3 days in curacao

The tax To Bonaire here will be NAfls.12.50 ($.6.00)

3. Curacao to Bonaire (18/04) spending one day

Your status here will be in transit so no taxes are levied because you are bound within one day to Aruba.

4. Bonaire to Aruba (19/04)..spending 3 days
Your taxes to Trinidad here will be $.20 - $.22

5. Aruba to Trinidad West Indies (22/04)

Due to referendum day today in Curacao I do not have access to the data base otherwise I can download the total list for you - Monday if you are still in doubt as to what is what I shall try to retrieve it for you. O.K.
In all cases put $.100 minimum aside so you will be safe on Taxes.

Hi David,

Wow....thank you so much for taking the time and having the patience to make this issue clear....

I will sit with pen and paper and work out the taxes........it just seems so much taxes to go interisland and I am just going to be in the islands for a total of one week....

It was not possible to get a ticket from my home country showing all those destinations......
So i purchased a return ticket to Aruba (trinidad to Aruba) and thats what I am holding in my hand (Arrive Aruba on the 15th and depart 22nd).

Since i have heard so much of Curacao and Bonaire i thought I might visit.......

I intend to purchase the tickets for the other destinations (curacao and Bonaire) in Aruba (independent travel arrangement).......
Geezz..it really is adding up......

Thanks again David.......will process the information you sent in a bit...
cya
Dee

When do you get a chance to relax?

Hi seb....smiles..........
I will have to make the moments and embrace them.....lol........at this time I only have one week vacation from my work/study....so......
I am trying to have the best of 3 worlds....ABC........my trip is meant to be a bit of relaxation.....fun..nightlife...exploring..etc...etc..........so I am sure I will get some relaxation in there.....smiles...
Dee

Dee,
When purchasing the ticket in Aruba please indicate that you are travelling the same date and claim your exemption form taxes leaving Aruba for Curacao - You have to state that you could not book the flight in Trinidad - In true fact it is a lot of money for these short distances - maybe we can find a way to reimburse you.

Hi David,

I will indicate to the airline staff when i purchase my ticket in Aruba (Excel Air).I really do hope I could be exempted from paying some of these interisland taxes.

Thanks again
Dee

Dee
I'm not a travel expert, but it seems to me that in the one week trip your embarking on you're going to spend a large percentage of time on airport lines,going through immigration, customs,security,packing and unpacking. Not much time vacationing. Not to mention all the extra air and taxi costs. Pick one island and enjoy it. Save the others for next time.
Whatever, enjoy your vacation.
Mickey

Mickey, you took the words right out of my mouth. For only having a week, you should definitely pick one place and stay put. That sounds like a LOT of stress to go through, a lot of lines, tickets, and a LOT of room for error.... if your goal is relaxation, I don't know when that'll happen..

Enjoy whatever you chose to do... but keep us informed as to how it all goes !

Hey....
Thanks for the advice...makes sense...but...i my friend and I decided that we will still try to experience the 3 islands........we would try to just go with the flow actually...will keep u informed on how it unveils........

thanks again

Davidson,

What about this scenario.

I fly into Aruba on 6/28 on US Air. After a 6 hour layover I leave on Bonaire Express to Bonaire. What will the tax be? Does this change if I leave and reenter the airport, say to go eat for example?

For the Aruba -> Bonaire portion I have the reservation confirmation but need to pick up the actual boarding passes in Aruba. Will this effect the tax?

On July 6th I leave Bonaire on BE back to Aruba, what will the tax be?

After a four hour layover I leave Aruba on US Air bound for home in the U.S. What will the tax be?

Thanks in advance for the help.

wowowowowowowowow...i guess I am not the only one with this predicament........good luck Jim

Jim Hi!
Sorry I did not get to your question earlier -
If you have booked your ticket to Bonaire and will not stay in Aruba you should inform the BE desk that you are a transit passenger to Bonaire.
The problem with the structure which most of you are using causes that you will pay taxes double -
Your trip is considered to be as follows: USA to Aruba - end of trip - New trip Aruba to Bonaire this will cause you to pay the taxes leaving Aruba to Bonaire $20 - $22 - Remember that in your round trip ticket USA-AUA-USA you have already paid for the taxes to go back home (please check to verify if this is true) - But now you are in Bonaire going back home through Aruba - For Bonaire to Aruba you will be International so they will charge you the $.20 - $.22 This charge is not for you to go home (USA) Arrive in Aruba your tax has already been paid for in your original ticket USA-AUA-USA but in fact you do not need to pay the taxes because if you leave immediately or a few hours later from Aruba you are in transit so if you calculate the situation correctly you were not supposed to have paid the tax for the leg AUA-USA . In view of the fact that it is not a collective ticket so USA-AUA-BON-AUA-USA the taxes are levied separately so USA-AUA-USA and AUA-BON-AUA - In view of the fact that you purchase two separate tickets you are unable to request a transit boarding pass - I indicated on another thread that I shall look into this situation - Because if the Bonaire tax is paid and you are in transit when you get to AUA going home the tax paid in your tickit going home is paid to AUA which makes you end up paying twice to go home. As soon as I have details I shall get back to you on this Jim - there are a few more BT fans who have the same situation. Even though $20 does not seem like much in comparison but it is sufficient to buy lunch for two.

Thanks Davidson, I think I've got a handle on this now. I'll talk to the desk when I pick up my boarding pass for BE and explain I'm in transit so I shouldn't have to pay the tax on the connection to Bonaire.

DeeDee I think you have a far more complicated trip than I do. Good luck with getting it sorted out. If I understand correctly you're going to get hit with a few of the lesser departure taxes along your travels.

On the way home I'll have to pay departure tax leaving Bonaire. I see what you're saying about losing on the way home where the departure tax is already rolled into the Home-AUA-Home ticket. Good thing I didn't have to pay for them.

Truth be told my wife won them in a company golf tournament. She's won longest drive, for the second year in a row now. (I claim some input to this years' win for buying her that Callaway Fusion driver last summer.) :-) Actually it's all her, in the last two years she's won longest drive twice and closest to the pin once. She missed the $100,000 hole-in-one by two revolutions of the ball this year.) The three wins were each good for a pair of round trip tickets anywhere U.S. Air flies to in the continental U.S. and the Caribbean. So if it weren't for her this trip, and last years trip to Aruba, wouldn't have happened.

Originally we had planned for Aruba but after talking with dive operators there we decided we couldn't get the type of diving we wanted so we change our destination to Bonaire.

Oh, did I mention that she won ANOTHER set of airline tickets at her last company Christmas party? That set we're using to go to the Keys in the fall. Oh how I wish that woman would play the lottery. ;-)

Lucky you Jim, I guess a lot of us envy you. Better take good care of your wife.
Hope you guys have a splendid vacation.

Thanks Davidson. Yes, I will take good care of her. Prior to going to Aruba last year it had been over 10 years since our last "real" vacation so her win was even more appreciated. This one is special because we're celebrating our 20th anniversary.

I wish I could make my hobbies to pay off like hers have. Mine just cost money.

Thanks for the information. I just wanted to make sure of who I would owe what to so I didn't miss something and have to stand in line twice if I could avoid it.

(Message edited by Jim Peters on April 14, 2005)