As anyone using AE knows the flights leave the islands early in the AM and the state bound flights depart SJU late in the day. Some layovers are 5-10 hours in length. This not a Bonaire issue but impacts Antigua, Anguilla and other islands.

I am venting and talking out loud. Is there any apparent reason the AE flights MUST leave at 7 AM vs say 9 or 10? All AE flights depart SJU to the islands after 5 PM. Just curious...

Ann, I have no clue but share your frustration. The connections mean you lose two full days due to traveling ! Here is Teddy waiting for the plane

Can we do ANYTHING?? The AE planes sit on the tarmac most of the day waiting to depart late that day...come on..a 9 AM departure would be SO great from BON..wishful thinking??

I had just assumed that it was to ensure that people making connections from SanJuan to somewhere other than Boston could be in SanJuan in time.

Are you saying that there are no early connections that people have to make once they get to San Juan?

Denise, AA changed their schedule in Sept. The 11:30 from BOS has been cancelled. A man going to Newark had a 10 hour layover. Boston is 7 hours, JFK 7 hours..it's horrible. Here are the options:
1. Sit in the airport and die of boredom (worst airport I have seen honestly)
2. Pay 50.00 and go inside the Admirals Club. You also need to get a T Mobile Day pass for internet if you can believe the 50.00 does NOT include free wifi
3. Pay 99.00 for day room with free wifi, Continental breakfast etc..at the airport Best Western
4. Cab it (11.00 each way) to Kelly, Cynde and now my fav boutique hotel the Waterclub. Head up to the Terrace for a lovely respite with wifi, super snack / lunch menu and a pool.
5. Cab it (19.00 each way) to OSJ

Sorry..an error above: the 11:30 TO BOS has been cancelled. It leaves at 4 PM now.

There is another option, just say NO and go through Aruba or Curacao. I put American Eagle to SJU in the same boat as cruising, been there, done that, learned my lesson, never again.

Cecil,

Your feedback is most appreciated.

Aruba is not an option for me. Many clients flying into Aruba have arrived late due to various issues inbound and then have lost their connection in Aruba. Some have been stuck days waiting for another DAE flight.

Once I took the TNT charter from Aruba to BOS. I took Bonaire Exel to Aruba but had to wait hours due to connecting time. Again, no big savings in time or money.

I have investigated the BOS CUR route. It's certainly and hour or two less with the new AA schedule but price wise, it's the same factoring in the Divi/DAE flights on any flight I have investigated.

Finally the CO flight from Newark doesn't work because the last flight out of BOS is at 5:30 PM so another 5+ hour layover. The price is the same as AA basically. Also in the winter it is not too desireable to have to sweat out two Northeast corridor airports given the obvious weather conditions that prevail.

I hope I do not sound too negative but as a travel agent I have honestly thought out all options out of BOS for me and my clients. AA and the law of Geometry (shortest distance between two points is a straight line) seem best..sadly the new sked stinks. IMHO

Bos-Mia-Cur-Bon 9.5hrs. AA & Divi.
Never again on AE.

Not to negative, you're just expressing what we all feel trying to get to Bonaire.

Jerry did the same route last month is 8.5 hours.

That AA1879 Miami - Curacao, 11:20 am - 2:10 pm flight and Divi Divi are the keys, if you can get to Miami by 10:00AM you're there.

Hi Ann, have you looked into Insel Air?

http://www.fly-inselair.com/

Tom

thanks for posting this as I fly from boston.
there is a 2:20pm flight from San juan to Boston.
This is for the March timeframe. Yes a long layover but closer to 5 hours for this particular connection. I'd guess about 3 hours to waste.

Bob, why just for March I wonder...

No Tom, I know nada about Inselair. There is no flight schedule on the site you sent. Please forward what info you have? I am at the airport almost daily and have never seen anyone at the counter.

Thanks Cecile, getting to MIA by 10 AM for my Maine/VT and NH clients is tough..even for me from Cape Cod when I am visiting. Awell...There are late day flights from BOS getting into CUR at night then the possibility of the 11:30 PM from CUR ya?? That still makes for a long day.

I still would love to know the whys and hows AE has to leave BON so darn early when most of their flights out of SJU are at night?? EGADS..

Ann, I have been able to find several flights available CUR-BON by clicking on "Make a Reservation" then clicking on "Schedules" then entering miscellaneous dates.

You might want to check out: https://216.126.114.250/inselair/agents.jsp

Their number is listed as: (599-9) 733-1522 (Curacao)

E-mail addresses are:
management@inselair.an
reservations@inselair.an and
info@inselair.an

I don't know if they will reply but I just submitted the question to AA on their web site. I'll let you know what, if anything, I hear back.

I think the early departure is so everyone can make their connections home. Our flight to the west leaves San Juan at noon. I'm sure others leave earlier too. It's the same with the flight to Bonaire leaving at 5:00 after all of the connections get there. This trip we are trying the Miami to Cur and then Divi Divi. It actually makes our trip longer and we need to stay overnight in Dallas Ft Worth. The shortest trip we can get from Sacramento takes 24 hours with layovers and no sleep. This wont be much longer and we get to sleep.

Hi Ann! AA has cancelled their 4:00 flight to Phila. too. I complained as that is so long to wait from 9:00 am to 7:00 at night to get back to Phila., so they now have us going into SJ, then to Miami, and then to Phila. to get home the same time as I would with the old schedule. We are going to give it a try this Sunday and will see how it goes as we have the same problem in Feb.. With this schedule change, I have now booked our summer vacation with Continental out of Newark non stop to Bonaire as I have had it with AA. Too early to leave and too long to wait to get the next connection.

AA has now created an even worse schedule for folks on the east coast for sure. I am all for having them leave later from Bonaire. Do they need that plane for flight somewhere else that day maybe? I'm with you, wishing they would leave later.

Now, Inselair is something to consider too that they are flying......

I do not like early morning flights either but in Feb we leave San Juan at 10:40 am to Miami and then on to Minneapolis. It still takes until 7:10 pm to get back home. This is the first time using AA and I hope it goes well. I have always planned a full day of travel to get to and from Bonaire. Years back the Miami to CUR worked well but could not find an option like that for this year.

the AA/AE route from columbus thru miami and san juan (and back) may be a long day but a reasonable series of short flights and layovers...

still a good choice...

We leave Monday at 1PM from Juneau Alaska to Seattle, Leave Seattle at 10:30PM on the first "red eye" to Miami. Leave Miami at 9AM the next day for SJU. Then stuck in SJU until evening for the 9PM Bonaire arrival (if all goes on time) Thirty two hours and those are GOOD connections! Hard to feel your pain coming from the East coast;) The journey just makes the water look bluer and the Brights look colder though. Three and a half weeks 'till I have to worry about PBD. Yeah Baby!!!!

John, if you would leave Miami at 11.15 am for Curacao, than connecting with DiviDivi to Bonaire, you would arrive at 3.45 pm .....

Ann,

Try routing your customers though MIA back and forth to SJU - makes for an additional connection, but a shorter day. I go to DC tomorrow via SJU and MIA, and that get's me into DC late afternoon. Not too bad, and definitely not much waiting around in SJU.

I will say the connections out to LAX and Dallas from SJU are pretty good to (doing one of those later this month and the other in December).

And if you fly a lot or travel with family, getting an annual Admiral's Club membership is a good idea (you can usually bring in two guests on one membership or all immediate family members). I wouldn't fly American without it, personally.

Jake

The problem with almost all of the island hoppers is the baggage limit. AE allows two 50# bags. Most of the others allow half that or less. The upcharges are extreme if you are traveling with dive and photo gear.

Yes, I agree with Jake: the SJU to MIA route is a definite option. I have gotten tired of the Waterclub's breakfast and club computer music. So I can get home much earlier through MIA to Chicago. But another option might be that we make requests to American to delay the SJU flight to 9 a.m. A lot of requests might just make them consider serving their actual customers. So let's make a remark to the AE people in BON and also write American Airlines.

Raise your hand if you would support a 9 AM AE departure..is there an email address we can write??

Well, I just got back from travelling on AA and going home was a long, long day. I was with "J" taking off from Bonaire and then we were both headed to San Juan and then to Miamia, me going to Phila and him going somewhere else on east coast. Well, our plane at San Juan to Miami had electrical problems, left 45 minutes late to Miami, then we we get to Miami, we had a tight connection to Phila., so we run from C7 to D47 to find out that all flights into Phila were closed due to too much traffic at Phila., so hung around there for another two hours and finally got home 4 hours later than planned. Talk about delays! Three flights, two delays and a very tired Debbie today.... We thought we would try that route to get home in better time, but if there is a hiccup, then not a good option, but there are many flights from Miami to the east coast, but the problem we had also was now you come into San Juan, have your bags picked up, go through customs, some bags they decide to x-ray some don't, then you go drop off your bags after you go through the doors and then you have to go through security again. And let me tell you, the lines were outrageous yesterday! We had to leave and go in another area where we found folks who also were on our plane and it still took over an hour to get through. We even had stand by for an earlier flight to Miami (if possible) but didn't get through security in time to see if we were on it or not, didn't really matter though, as after we finally got through, AA for that flight was delayed due to electrical problems too, so our flight looked pretty good at that time, till the same thing happened to ours. Why don't they tell you the real reason they can't take off? Sure seemed that a lot of planes had electrical problems all at the same time there.

Just as others have said AA takes the most weight for luggage, but is it all worth it in the long run? I know it takes some folks longer than one day to get to Bonaire so I really shouldn't complain knowing that. I am so tired today, my eyes hurt. Weird how the body reacts to stress and all.

I am all for having AA leave Bonaire at 9:00 am too. Though the problem usually isn't on Bonaire with AA, it is after you leave there. Continental is early too. AJ has an article I read, BR?, that says they may start using older airplanes as they have lost so much money last year. Egads, I sure would be leary of flying them if they do that. I was hoping they would get out from under, but with that news, I don't think so. Safety is most important when flying. Can't believe that they would outright put that in public eyes to read!

Debbie, I was on the earlier Miami flight and made it with about 15 minutes to spare because I followed a TSA worker's suggestion to cut to the front of the security line and explain I was about to miss my flight. It worked (and it worked for the couple of dozen people who followed my lead). Amazingly, my bags actually arrived with me in DC later. The lines at customs and security yesterday in San Juan were by far the worst I have ever seen.

As far as a 9am departure goes, I think it's a terrible idea. With the current schedule I can leave Bonaire at 7:10am and be in Dallas on the ground by 2:30pm, LAX by late afternoon, and DC by 4:30pm (like yesterday).

If you move the Bonaire departure by 2 hours, it will add about 4-6 hours to most of those arrivals because you miss all the better connections in San Juan (and some entirely). And I'm pretty sure that the ATR-72s that AE flies don't just sit around all day waiting for the evening flights - they are used for day time interisland flights.

Jake

FYI, re Insel Air --- I understand that their baggage allowance is 22lbs --- total, nut just per bag!! Just won't work for me, even though I travel very light for a diver!

Debbie, the 9th the lines at 3:30 in SJU were miles long to pass security. I told the TSA person my flight was boarding and he said oh well. So, I took it upon myself to go right up front, show the other TSA person my ticket and she let me go. I ended up in the far left line to pass that Ion / Air machine. It took 20 min. to go thru that one..NEVER choose that line.

Jake and Ann, Thanks for the tip. I think my problem with being able to do that was we went right to customer service when we got off the plane from Bonaire in San Juan, had them put us on stand by for the same flight Jake was taking for Miami, but they couldn't print out a stand by ticket there, but we were in the computer as the guy showed us. When we saw the lines at security, I talked to the TSA guy at the end where they check your tickets and explained what we did, but since I didn't have that stand by ticket in hand, he wouldn't let us go to the front. Oh well, Jake, I am glad you got through and on your plane, the next two to Miami were delayed due to electrical problems, what a pain. Any ideas of what to do when on stand by and trying to get through when they can't produce a ticket for that? Probably nothing, but thought it was worth a try. In any event, it really didnt' matter in the end, as our plane in Miami was also delayed due to air traffic in Phila.. Air traveling is such a joy, not!

AA cancelled my original flight home San Juan - Boston next January. In order to still get home at a reasonable time I opted for the San Juan - Miami - Boston route. After reading the above postings, I am concerned about having only 1 hr and 20 minutes at San Juan to pick up bags, go through customs, drop off bags, go through security, etc.
Any suggestions besides those posted by Jake and Ann ?

We have only 1 hr in Miami, may have problems there as well.

Thank you

Peter it does sound like you might be cutting it a bit close. Just try to get to the front of the lines in San Juan as Jake suggested and get to your gate chop-chop. Good luck.

We were going to use the Miami route this December, but flights were cancelled at the last minute. Two of our group are still going to Curacao, but they have a pretty bad schedule: ORD to MIA (8:35-12:35); MIA to Curacao(4:35-8:32); Curacao to Bonaire (DAE 10:00 pm). I'm not sure what is happening but that nice early afternoon flight from MIA to Curacao disappeared on quite a number of days and we are going in peak season. Doesn't make sense. So 2 of us on that route, 2 of us going AA/AE. It should be interesting.

Peter, that's ample time. When you re check your checked bags get in the line nearest to the right. Ask the TSA people to allow you to go up front IF the lines are long AND your flight is boarding. 1.5 hours is fine. 1 hour in MIA is fine.

Peter, Miami wasn't a problem, San Juan was. You don't have to go through security again once you get to Miami, so that means only having to get to your next gate for departure. My experience with San Juan was out of the norm I think. Never had that problem before.

Thank you all for the advice. If it turns out that I don't make that early flight, I'll hang around and take the later San Juan - Boston flight, arriving home 3 hrs later. I've learned to go with the flow.

Debbie "LBR neighbor",
welcome home. It sure was fun reading your postings and how much fun you were having while in Bonaire. I'll be there soon, mid December till mid January. I can't wait.

Hi Peter! Have a great time on Bon! It will be here before you know it. Nice to be able to get away that long. I will be right behind you, Feb. 7th to Mar. 4th. Three weeks is the most I can do at one time.

I don't like the 7AM departure from BON either BUT.....at least I can get home in one day. I have a 11:05 AA flight out of SJU to DFW then on to Iowa. If it is a choice of leaving at 7AM or spending 2 days to get home, I vote for the 7AM departure.