I was just wondering what the service/flight was like for the new Continental non-stop to Bonaire. It is my understanding this started in Dec 2006 and departs Newark NJ 11:55pm on Saturday, and you arrive 04:40 am Bonaire Sunday. It seems that Air Jamaica (which we have always used before and had a great experience with) only has Saturday flights and requires me to stay overnight in Montego Bay - not what I want! And the other flights on other carriers seem to take all day to get there (Ex. leave 9am NJ arrive 11pm Bonaire)!

Margie. From the little I read there have not been any problems. We're booked on the midnight flight on Sat Feb 17 and are certainly looking forward to the non stop, no layovers nor lugging bags through various connecting airports!
I gave up on Air Jamaica some time ago as I perceived their service & planes getting worse & worse.

Margie, depending on where you are in NJ you could fly out of Philadelphia airport and not have to overnight in Montego Bay. It is however an early flight (7:25 am I think).

My mom just took that flight to visit me here on Bonaire. It left Newark on time, and they actually arrived here 30 minutes early. She said there was beverage service and a movie, and that the flight wasn't bad at all. She returns to Newark this Sunday morning, if there are any problems, I'll post here. I have flown AJ before and I find them unreliable, so it's Continental for me from now on.

I also am booked (along with my wife and friend) on the Feb. 17 flight nonstop from Newark to Flamingo. My sister is booked a week later on continental nonstop from Houston to Flamingo. Surely am glad to hear no problems so far. Will post a trip report later-our second trip to bonaire.

It would be very easy for me to fly the Newark flight. I live in Bucks County, PA, which is a burb of Phila, but I could be in Newark in 1 hour and 20 minutes. We are going back to Bon in June, and I am already booked on Air Jamatya. I wish we would have taken the Newark flight. I think it would be pretty cool to get there, unpack some stuff, and be in the water by 8:30 on a dive boat. I hope they keep this flight going.

Jim, Yeah, but the day you have to leave you will be up with the birds! Ron

This is true. However, there would also be something to be said about getting home much earlier than 1:30 AM. That is about our average considering we leave Bon at 3:30 PM.

The Continental flight out of Houston was on time and no problems were encountered when we flew the last of Sept 2006. We will fly Continental again for sure.

We flew Continental out of Houston from Cleveland on Jan 12 down Friday night arriving Sat morning at 6 a.m. We departed the following Saturday at 8:30 a.m. which required us to get up at around 4:30a.m. to complete the packing since I had too much rum at the Rum Punch Party at Buddy Dive on Friday night. All went well and the flight attendants even had a couple that was separating our family of five move back to an exit row after take off so we had room to spread out. It was very good. Not jam packed either. I saw some lucky souls with all three seats to lay down on during the trip. Do get to the airport early on the return so you are not stressed as the check in lines move very slowly including the 'elite" line.

Also! Don't buy drinks in the Flamingo lounge area beyond security on your return trip and expect to bring them on the plane like we can in the USA. We had to dump our kids $4 gatorade and $2 unopened water. No big deal but a bit of a surprise. Good news is you can leave your shoes on when you come back through their security at Flamingo.

Have a great trip.

We just returned on Saturday after a week stay in Bonaire. We used Continental for the first time flying from Charlotte to Houston then on to Flamingo on the "red eye". All flights departed on time and and arrived a few minutes early. Great service and fairly comfortable flight in both directions. It is a fantastic schedule to arrive at 6:00ish on Saturday morning. The return flight put us back in Charlotte before dark on Saturday evening and home by 7:30. We will definitely use Continental for our future visits.

We just did the Boston/Houston/Bonaire route on Continental, and it worked fine. They even gave us a hot sandwich on the Boston/Houston flight. The layover in Houston wasn't too bad, Starbucks was still open. The 11:30 flight got into Bonaire a little before 6 a.m., and all the car rental places were already up and running. We were able to check into Divi a little after 9:00. On the way back, we went to the airport at about 6:00 just to make sure we had plenty of time. There's also an American flight that leaves a little before the Continental flight, and the lines were WAY long for that. One trick we learned was to go to the airport the day before and pay your departure tax then, that way you have one less line to stand in. On the flight back to Houston we got cereal, and on the flight to Boston we got bbq chicken sandwiches. Better than nothing; all of the flights arrived on time, even the one that left Houston a few minutes late. Clearing Customs in Houston wasn't too bad, there were plenty of lines open. We'll definitely do it this way next year.

So..from looking at the flights leaving Houston...it looks as though you can leave Friday night and arrive early Sat. morning. Correct?

That's correct Mary. The flight departs IAH about 11:15 pm central time and arrives in Bonaire around 6:00 am Atlantic time. As I recall our flight time was 4 hours 23 minutes. The lights are dimmed for take off and I fell asleep and don't recall any cabin service during the night. AB Carrental (excellent) was ready for us as we cleared customs. We had contacted Bellafonte (fantastic) in advance about our early arrival. Though it was not guaranteed we were able to check in right after breakfast at City Cafe. Hope this helps.

Doesn't that just sound Heavenly??

We can't wait to get on board the Newark/Bonaire flight in May! Such a treat to fly non-stop into Heaven. Thanks for all of the postings and with good news, to boot! Carole

An update to my previous post... My mom left Bonaire on Sunday on the Continental to Newark. When she got home she said the flight was "perfect" - I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that before! She said the plane left on-time, they were served a light breakfast of cereal and a muffin, and there was a movie. They arrived in Newark early. If it's easy enough for you to drive to Newark (she drove from South Jersey) this flight definitely seems to be a good choice!

Thanks, Jenny! Glad your Mom had a great trip and the flights went well.

Come on, folks....let's show CON our support so they keep the run(s) going into Bonaire and maybe even add some more some day.....cb

I wish they would have one out of Boston!

One from Kansas City would be great too. Tried to use our air miles and Continental wanted double what American takes. It takes us all day if we start at 6am and get to paradise by 10pm IF all flights are on time.

Well, Darlene
Continental has a flight that leaves BOS at 6:50 PM and gets to EWR at 8:16 PM leaving some what over 3 hours for the connection to BON. Not terrible. I like Continental myself. No idea of price however.
Mick

Carole...Amen to that! Lets all support the direct flight out of Newark..I'm so tired of layovers in Miami, Jamaica, Aruba or Curacao!

I'll second that Amen. Continental is the way to go. I'm just hoping for a direct flight from Charlotte is in the future. If not Newark or Houston works fine for me.

Darlene, I have been checking from the northeast as well and you can fly from Manchester, NH to connect with the Houston flight and the cost is less than from Boston. I think Manchester is soooo much easier to deal with than Logan. You can also fly Continental from Portland, ME to connect with the Newark flight. Times are good and the cost there is even less than Manchester or Boston!!

If continental looks to add another non-stop; I would think a non-stop from california would be an excellent idea. There are a whole lot of shore divers in cali. That's where I fell in love with shore diving and why to this day I will never choose a boat dive, if a shore dive is a possibility.

Of course, I don't know the feasibility of it. I would think it would be a bit longer of a flight than their other non-stops. But I would bet that it would get filled to capacity quite easily.

Continental operates a hub/spoke operation like most US carriers. Houston & Newark are its 2 US hubs (Cleveland used to be, but I think they have cut back there). I don't think you will see them operate non-stops to Bonaire from any other cities. (sorry to burst anyone's bubble on this).

United has hubs in California, as does Alaska Air.

Thanks Sue and Mickey
Mickey if EWR is New Jersey I don"t want to risk getting stuck in snow two times. Once is bad enough. I'd rather head to warmer weather for the connection.

I just took AJ from JFK. It leaves on Saturday at 8:00AM in the morning and you are in Bonaire By 3:00. The good thing about this in the winter the plane that leaves from JFK is also the plane that continues on to Bonaire so if there was a delay in NY you still would make the plane to Bonaire. I don't know if this goes for all the flights from JFK but I was happy to know I couldn't miss the connection either direction.

(Message edited by sandy_s on February 1, 2007)

sue, cleveland is still a continental hub. it has at least one concourse just for continental. i wish they'd start a non-stop from cleveland to bonaire.

We have flown AJ to Bonaire about 8 times. Only once did we have a problem going down. Our flight from Phila was cancelled, due to the US Air baggage strike two years ago. The Phila airport was a complete bollix and consequently AJ suffered for it as well. Instead of the 7:30 AM flight out of Phila, we finally got off at 2:30 PM. We flew to Montego, where they put us up at the Holiday Inn Breezes, or something like that. Same as above, all inclusive, good food, good drinks, beach, etc. It was not all bad. Hell, other people go there for vacation. They flew us out the next day to Bonaire.

We have had our many delays coming home, but that is all part of the Bonaire AJ experience. I will say this. There was a time they ruled the sky with good service, nice people, good food, champagne, etc. They still have the champagne.

I have flown calgary to houston to Bon twice now. I was on the first flight and now again in 07. Both were great. cannot beat cont. as far as i am concerned.