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Getting to Bonaire: Aruba to Bonaire 4/4/09, help!
Bonaire Talk: Getting to Bonaire: Archives: Archives 2006-2008: Archives - 2008-03-01 to 2008-12-31: Aruba to Bonaire 4/4/09, help!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ray Roy (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Saturday, September 6, 2008 - 12:33 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi, newbie here and Bonaire. Researching now flying Jetblue JFK to Aruba (best deal now), and need to get from Aruba to Bonaire sometime after 1pm Sat. 4/4/09 and return Bonaire to Aruba by 2-3pm Mon. 4/13/09 to make Jetblue departing 4:35pm. DAE? full now or not booking it yet?
Tiara--no flights on Saturday? Insel?? All no help online info. Any boats, ferrys, hydrofoils as an option? Have pre-arranged condo at Belair, I understand near Port Bonaire: Dive-friends-Bonaire diveshop. Will be diving, snorkeling, windsurfing, and cooking fresh seafood (need to know where to get it, please).

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cecil (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #6805) on Saturday, September 6, 2008 - 1:00 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Ray, welcome to BT. Your best bet is DAE, I have always used a travel agent to book them. They do not have a schedule showing for anytime after Feb, 2009, so I suspect they may not be booking yet.

They normally fly to Curacao at 3:00PM and then on to Bonaire by 4:15PM on Saturday. They are generally reliable but have terrible customer service. Also they do enforce their weight limits.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ray Roy (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #2) on Saturday, September 6, 2008 - 6:47 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks Cecil. Probably move my flight into Aruba to Friday afternoon to increase my options getting to Bonaire. No travel agent nor domestic carrier I've contacted will do booking for the small Caribbean airlines. Any suggestions from anyone re: a travel agency to use or any direct way from Aruba to Bonaire? Experience with Insel or Tiara?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ann Phelan - www.bonairecaribbean.com (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3302) on Sunday, September 7, 2008 - 8:32 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

No one can book our air at this time, not even a travel agent. DAE is not booking so far in advance at this time, I regret.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ray Roy (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #3) on Sunday, September 7, 2008 - 11:45 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks Ann. I'm anxious regarding flights from Aruba to Bonaire and back because its Passover, Easter, and school break times.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ann Phelan - www.bonairecaribbean.com (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3303) on Sunday, September 7, 2008 - 5:58 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I would be too..it's not a good feeling is it?? Try Insel or Tiara.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mary Oliver (BonaireTalker - Post #15) on Thursday, September 11, 2008 - 2:33 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Ray,

We were in the same boat (plane? :-) ) in August, with no real options but to go with DAE. The flight there (Aruba to Bonaire) was fine. For the flight back, we went to the airport the day before to confirm the flight (which was scheduled for 8 am, with our flight out of Aruba at 1 pm). Guess what? They had moved the flight UP to 6 am. We would have missed it had we not checked. Later that day they called the Belmar where we were staying to let us know that it had changed yet again to 10 am. That give me concern because the connection was going to be too tight if we had a stop in Curacao. But fortunately for us, this particular flight was direct, so all was good.

Now the reason we checked at the airport the day before we left is that the same thing happened one other time. But on that unfortunate time we didn't check, and so we arrived at the airport only to be told "too bad, your plane left two hours ago." We ended up having to charter our own plane for about $1000. Fortunately, with four of us, that wasn't too bad. But not fun either.

So if you go with DAE, make sure to check! Also, it's worth it to check in person. I had given them my contact information and they claimed that they had called me on my cell phone, but I never got that call. Maybe it was something about using cell phones there, who knows.

All in all, it worked out okay, but WHEW!!

Have a GREAT GREAT time! I'm envious.

Best,

Mary

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ray Roy (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #4) on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 2:42 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Mary, Thanks for the feedback. I have booked by flight via Jetblue from JFK, arriving Fri. 4/3/09 at 12:45pm. Return leaves Aruba Monday, 4/13/09 at 4:35 pm back to JFK. I telephoned yesterday to Tiara, DAE, and Insel. Communication difficult as was their collective experience trying to access schedule for April. Closest we could come was current or January schedule for same weekdays, which all differed from the current schedule posted on their websites. Same with fares. Each suggested calling back Oct. to Jan. to try to find schedule and booking available. Get the impression nothing is a sure thing until I get a ticket in my hand at the Aruba airport and sit on the plane.

Anyone know a travel agent on Bonaire or Aruba that can handle this with some confidence??

Because most flights are via Curacao, we were thinking of leaving Bonaire Saturday or Sunday, 4/11 or 12 to spend a nite or 2 on Curacao, then fly out from there to Aruba on Monday morning, or early afternoon. Any suggestions, thoughts, or experiences to share anyone?

Thanks,
Ray

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tom Schamp (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #136) on Friday, September 12, 2008 - 2:55 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I'm doing similar via Aruba in November, and was able to book DAE to BON and Tiara from BON online with minimal problems.
So I suggest just waiting a while longer until schedules for April are online. Hopefully one or more of those carriers will expand service due to cutback from US to CUR and BON.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ray Roy (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #5) on Monday, September 15, 2008 - 10:33 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for the feedback Tom.

 


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