I’m scheduled to fly Dutch Antilles Express (DAE) from Aruba to Bonaire (via Curacao) in March. In two separate e-mails from them that I received a week apart, they wrote that there was a 16:00 (4:00p.m.) flight to Bonaire. However, during a subsequent phone call I learned that there is no such flight and never has been. Just passing this on to help others avoid some confusion. If you are connecting from the U.S. in Aruba, you cannot get to Bonaire before 8pm.

Nathalie,
Join the "you can't get there from here" club. DAE is driving me nuts, we will take that same flight Sat. Two e-mails from them with two different times????

Hang in there.

I met two friends flying in from Aruba earlier this month on a DAE flight scheduled to land at 7:30 pm on a Sunday night.
People were leaving the airport when I arrived saying they had been sold tickets to Curacao or Aruba on a DAE flight that does not exist.
I found a DAE manager upstairs who was absolutely positive no DAE flight would land any more that night. Just as he was insisting this, we heard a plane land. He made a phone call and then said to me "The flight you are meeting has just landed."
Can anybody top this story of DAE ignorance of their own schedule?

Can you say WING IT?
Tish, I really did not need to hear that story.
My left eye is starting to twitch again!

Oh, they will fly you here, Jerry. They just give misinformation sometimes, which you already knew.

Nathalie--I'm in the same boat. Made reservations long ago for the 6 pm flight from Aruba to Bonaire (it used to be a direct flight with Bonaire Excel). My last trip in Dec. revealed the truth...no more 6 pm flight and no direct flights, always a stop in Curacao. However, I had to wait until 9 pm to get to Bonaire. Are you sure of the 8 pm flight? At least it would save an hour of waiting. I keep hoping due to the holiday break in Feb they'll put the 6 pm back on, but they have very few planes. On our trip in Nov. all 3 were down, backing up flights for two days. What a nightmare! If we only went once a year it might be tolerable, but we own a home on island and travel there 5-6 times/year...ugh! Too bad Divi doesn't pick up the slack. ANy other ideas out there?? Hillary

I was informed via phone by DAE that they have a flight leaving Aruba at 6:30. It stops in Curacao, and arrives Bonaire at 8:00. They also have a flight which leaves Aruba at 9pm, same stop and 1.5hr duration. Lucky you to get to Bonaire so often!

Beware. DAE is changing their schedule on a regular basis and you pretty much have to call them to find out what is going on. I was returning to Bonaire via Aruba in December. They changed the flight time from 10:45 to 9, but didn't tell me. This caused me to misconnect in Aruba and overnight there. They told me all the flights were full until 9 pm the next evening. When I arrived at the Aruba airport at 12:15 pm the next afternoon, after overnighting, I was able to get on the 1:00 flight and it was less than half full. Figure that one out!

I have a question about the Aua-Bon connection.
Once you get off the plane on Aruba, and have about 3 hours between the flights, where do you go? I hear that you should have your bags security scanned again and check in early in order to make sure you get the seat on the Aua-Bon plane.

Thanks

Natalya, Please see my response to Jerry in the Getting to Bonaire thread called Boston to Aruba to Bonaire: What's the Best Way? I think that answer I recently wrote to Jerry covers your concerns.
After you read that, if you have other questions, ask them.
What you have heard is wise advice.

We were ticketed on BonaireExcel to depart Aruba on Feb. 26 at 18:30 and arrive in Bonaire at 20:00. We were notified that we must now lay over in Curacao from 19:00 until 23:30 to arrive in Bonaire at midnight. Is this unique to a Sunday schedule? Are cabs available at Flamingo at midnight?

There is no such airline as BonairExel.
You must deal with Dutch Antilles Express.
If you check out other threads on BT, you will find that the airline you're dealing with does not know what their schedule is, Do a search on the airline.
If that fails, search for "Tish" and you will find my post on Sunday night arrivals.
You should be able to get a taxi at any time from the airport.
If you can telephone the airline, you might be able to update your information.
Otherwise, I suggest you get a local travel agent to help you. Try Boanairepros.com

We have reservations on DAE for Feb. 21 from Aruba to Bonaire via Curacao. I spoke with them on the phone yesterday to confirm times,schedules, etc. Bottom line: their schedule changes like the wind and there is no rhyme or reason to what day and what schedule they will be following.

On the day I'm travelling (a Tuesday) the 18:00/18:30 flight has been cancelled and we are rebooked on the next earliest 21:00 flight...a 5 1/2 hour layover in Aruba as we arrive at 15:30 on US Air. Of course, you won't be able to check in until just before the flight, so you have to drag your bags around with you and can't go into the much more comfortable waiting/gate area until you check in. The "good" Antillian food next to the ticket counter is very limited, fried and pales compared to the good Antillian food on Bonaire. Not a very welcoming atmosphere to someone who is experiencing the trip to Bonaire for the first time!

When I asked about other schedules and if there was a 18:00 flight on another day, they said yes, the next day...Wednesday. However, they would not commit to a "regular" schedule for future planning purposes...great! Their website still is not active and they vaguely mentioned it would be up in "about two weeks". Don't hold your breath.

This is our last trip via Aruba. Although the ticket prices direct from Boston to Aruba are very reasonable, the doubt,long layover, very late evening arrival in Bonaire is absolutely not worth it. American is extremely reliable, on time, and worth every extra penny. A pleasure compared to this ordeal. Those travelling from the West Coast may find Continental the best choice if you don't mind red eyes. Again, a very limited schedule out of Houston...Fridays to Bonaire, Saturday returns.

Good luck everyone!! See you at our house dive, Oilslick. Hillary & Phil Riposo

Thanks, Tish and Hillary. We have been working with an island travel agent, who ticketed us and who confirmed the schedule changes. With the changability of DAE (ne Bonaire Excel) we'll keep checking.

DAE has been changing their schedules. Depending on the day of the week they may have 2 flights from AUA-BON or possibly 3. The Sunday connection departing at 6:30PM and arriving BON at 8PM has been cxld. Only a 12PM and an 11:10PM flight as of now on Sundays. Hillary, as of now DAE is showing on Tuesday February 21 a 2:30PM departure or a 9PM departure AUA-BON. I agree, they change often.

That is a wise move, Alan. And welcome to BT!
As a Bonaire resident who travels off island regularly and has tried all sorts of routes, I disagree, Hillary, with your characterization of American as "extremely reliable." That only means you have not had the awful experiences with American that others have endured. Everybody objects to the airline which has treated them badly, not to the one which has treated others badly.
In my experience, the best customer service operations among US airlines are those of Delta and Continental. Since all airlines fail their passengers occasionally, the customer service people who work hard and care about passengers rate highly with me.
However, Hillary, I am happy for you that so far American has worked well for you, and I hope that continues for you!
Also, Hillary, not all the food at that little outdoor place is fried. I don't eat fried food. The shrimp with creole sauce is good, and they willingly change the side dishes for me so that I need not eat French fries but receive extra salad instead. I imagine having a few words of Papiamentu helps.
Good luck to all!

Help! I am trying to get from Aruba to Bonaire Feb 27th! Can anyone help? Just told that the 27th is a carnaval in Aruba and no way to get a flight... We arrive Aruba 2:34pm on the 27th and have to be back for 3/7 departure at 3:54. I would consider chartering a small puddle hopper, but can't find them on the web...

Sharon, have you spoken directly with Dutch Antilles Express? If not, you might want to phone them.
If that fails, try speaking with Divi Divi. They do not at this moment fly scheduled service between Aruba and Bonaire, but they are evidently thinking of beginning such a service. Right now they fly only Curacao-Bonaire.
Can DAE get you to Curacao? You might then be able to fly on Divi Divi from there.
And Divi Divi might be willing to do a charter flight for you or suggest a pilot who could.
Contact info for these airlines is available on several BT threads.

Thank you, Tish, I have spoken directly with DAE, but just emailed to ask about a flight to curacao. And, will check now with Divi. Thanks for your help! Sharon

Okay, so that failed. I received an email from Divi Divi saying that they don't fly between curacao and bonaire or aruba "Sharon, we do n ot operate between
cur and aruba or bon and aruba yet, regards
Germaine".

Does anyone have any ideas? Any small airplanes that we can charter to get over? Thanks/Sharon

Call Transaven at +58-212-3551965 or e-mail them at reservaciones@transaven.com. They run Caracas -Bonaire charters and Caracas-Aruba charters. I'm not sure if any of the Caracas-Aruba charters stop in Bonaire, so you may have to fly through Caracas to do it. A number of my South American guests use them, and I have heard only nice things about their service.

Sharon, I told you that Divi Divi does not yet fly the route which you need, but I suggested some other questions to ask them. If I were in your shoes, I would try phoning them and asking them those questions:
1) When will Divi Divi begin their service between Aruba and Curacao? (Check out the two threads on this topic which suggest that service will begin in February, the month you plan to travel. You might want to post your situation on one of those threads.)
2) Will Divi Divi permit you to charter one of their planes? (I read on BT a few months ago that a group did that.) The Divi Divi planes hold 7 or 9 people each.
3) If not, can they suggest a Curacao or Bonaire pilot who might be able to go to Aruba to pick you up?
You seem desperate. It could be that none of those suggestions will work, but, depending upon whether you manage to get a manager on the phone, one of them might.
I would hate to see you stranded on Aruba.
Good luck!

Thank you for your help, Tish. I have called several times and always get a message saying they are not answering. Have also emailed with your suggestions for us to charter an airplane with no responce, so hoping. We may end up stayig in Aruba for a couple of days to get out on March 1 to Bonaire, so if nothing else comes up, that's what we'll do. Thanks again. I love this chat board. Everyone is so helpful!

Natalya... there is no where to go! When we were sitting in AUA waiting for our flight to the US, we discovered that the AUA airport has very little seating in the terminal. We were a group of four people and two of us sat on the tile floor the entire time. Don't let this discourage you though, Bonaire is well worth the wait in AUA. There is a little stand that sells food by the way.

Cecil makes a nice "excursion" out of his layover time in Aruba. Maybe he will see this and provide the information. Beats waiting at the airport!

What we do is hop in a cab and go to the beach. There are hundreds of resorts on the beach that are glad to take your money for lunch and some drinks. They will also guard your luggage for you. It's $17 to the low rise resorts and $20 to the high risers. The beaches are on the other side of town but it's not a long ride, maybe 15 minutes or so. We asked the cab that brought us to also pick us up at a set time. We used Manchebo Beach coming and going last time. Not a tough way to wait for your plane.

We may or may not be able to do this in March. At this point we only have 3 hours between flights. We also get to change planes in Curacao. So between the ever efficient Aruba Custums/Immigration and BE personnel we will not have much time.

Thanks Cecil for the information

The Manchebo Beach Resort is indeed one of the closer ones to the airport and the food is not bad and the beach is pretty. The currents, however, can be strong sweeping out to sea, so take care if you swim.
A cheaper option in terms of cab fare is to go to the town. Within sight of the bus depot is (or was last summer) a good Indian restaurant.

Tish the issue with town is luggage (a $15 cab ride, IIRC). Bonaire Express will not let you check your luggage till 3:30 for the 6:00 flight. Returning to the states you can check your luggage when you get to Aruba.

Swimming at Manchebo Beach is quite a walk from the resort (a very wide beach). I just used the pool last time, bring a towel.

I just took my luggage with me to the Indian restaurant. The restaurant had room for it.
It is not necessarily the case that you can check your luggage when you arrive on Aruba on your return to the US. Depends on your arrival time. The airline check-in desks are not open all the time. I have had to wait.