I put in a non-refundable deposit for a trip through a local group to go diving in Bonaire from Feb 16 2008 through Feb 23 2008. I looked for flights for Chicago to Bonaire through expedia and yahoo (travelocity) and these are not convenient (overnight stay req) or cost nearly a grand. I am really hoping someone here has some better options for me because I can't afford to get there at this rate.

Try looking at the actual airline web sites. American flies from Miami with stops. Continental flies direct from Houston and Newark. Delta is starting a new direct flight in Feb.( Delta may not have this on web yet) Or check into coming over from Aruba.
Good Luck.

Dan, It is not easy to get to Bonaire. In the future get your airfair first. Finding a place to stay is not hard to do...

Try priceline.com I bought 2 r/t tickets on A/J for $981.88 on 3/16/2007... They may be able to help you...

Dan,
That's "President's Day" week; flights get filled early and cost more. A week earlier would be in the $560 range on AA/AE and not be overnight. The 'local group' picked a popular (thus expensive week), due to school holidays.

Wow, I can't believe how much flights went up in two dates. It was under $400 ffrom Atl to Bon this past week-end. Now they're over double that. Keep checking. and make sure you do fare alerts on each site. Check back often. We will be there the same time. Feb 9-23. It's cheaper if you stay for two weeks. You might want to do that.

Dan, I'm flying from Milwaukee to Newark in the afternoon in late October and taking the midnight flight to Bonaire. Booked a flight from Newark to Milwaukee 4 hours after arrival time two weeks later in order to allow for a delay. Financially, it saved me a ton of money. Got a great deal round trip from Newark to Bonaire, and then I got a fair round trip tickets from Milwaukee to Newark separately. So, yes, kind of backwards, but if I input flying from Milwaukee to Bonaire, the prices are absolutely out of my range. You should be able to get good deals round trip Chicago/Newark. Hope I'm making sense!!

That's one of the most expensive weeks to travel next to Xmas/President's Week.

Dan and all others that need a flight,

I usually just read on here and keep caught up on all that is Bonaire / trip reports / and such. I saw your posting and wanted to help you out though. Last Friday night I purchased tickets from Atlanta to Bonaire for $407 a ticket for the 16th to the 23rd of Feb. It would not let me purchase directly on the internet and it also stated that it would be $20 extra just to do it over the phone. After several tries on the internet I still could not get it to work. I dreaded calling them, after the experience we had with them in June, but the offer was to good to pass up. After talking to them I was able to get the tickets and they waived the $20 phone booking fee. I have seen that they did go up, but maybe try to call them and see if you can get the special that was advertised @ $179 one-way. Not sure why they do not just say R/T, but you only get the $179 rate if you buy a one-way ticket there and a one way ticket back. We were not planning a trip back to Bonaire until end of summer 2008, but I guess now, we get to make 2 in 2008. I hope that you can get reasonably tickets to Atlanta from Chicago. I live 6 hours from Atlanta in Jackson,Ms and airfare from here to Atlanta is more than Atlanta to Bonaire....it is only an hour flight at that, so I think we will just make the drive. Hope this helps you out and maybe we will see you in Bonaire.

Cheers,
Ballard

Wow this is wonderful. I must admit I am surprised and grateful for the advice here. I don't know much at all about traveling and airfare because all my vacations except one have been a drive instead of a flight to get there. I am considering all this advice and welcome any more.

Check out Air Jamaica from Chicago. We found pricing was half of AA. Also they hold the connecting flight if you're delayed out of Chicago. This is our 11th trip to Bonaire and we usually use AA but with cancellations, luggage issues and delays we're giving AJ a try. Plus early arrival on Saturday 3PM rather than AA's 9PM and late departure 4PM rather than 7AM gives us almost an extra day on the island.