Bonaire Airfare and travel advice - help!

[KathyV]

Hi, we are hoping to go back to Bonaire in the fall. We will be traveling from Chicago. The roundtrip airfare we are finding is over $800 per person and involves taking a red eye on continental from Houston, arriving early and waiting until 2pm to check in. I am not too thrilled with these options. Does anyone have any better, alternative suggestions? Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[reefdiva]

Hi, we are hoping to go back to Bonaire in the fall. We will be traveling from Chicago. The roundtrip airfare we are finding is over $800 per person and involves taking a red eye on continental from Houston, arriving early and waiting until 2pm to check in. I am not too thrilled with these options. Does anyone have any better, alternative suggestions? Thanks in advance for your help!

Another route to Bonaire is American Airlines to Curacao (via Miami) and then a local airline such as Divi or DAE to Bonaire. There are two flights daily to Curacao from Miami. If you take the later one then your only option to Bonaire is DAE as Divi does not fly at night.

I believe that Insel Air flies to Bonaire from Miami. There may be a stop in Curacao. Not sure how often this flight happens.

Another option is once a week on Delta from Atlanta. Times are better than the Continental flight.

If you do use Continental you might consider paying for an extra night in your Bonaire hotel so the room is yours when you arrive at 6am.

 

[KathyV]

Another route to Bonaire is American Airlines to Curacao (via Miami) and then a local airline such as Divi or DAE to Bonaire. There are two flights daily to Curacao from Miami. If you take the later one then your only option to Bonaire is DAE as Divi does not fly at night.

I believe that Insel Air flies to Bonaire from Miami. There may be a stop in Curacao. Not sure how often this flight happens.

Another option is once a week on Delta from Atlanta. Times are better than the Continental flight.

If you do use Continental you might consider paying for an extra night in your Bonaire hotel so the room is yours when you arrive at 6am.

Thanks so much for this valuable information!

 

[lmorin]

We are going via Aruba and Tiara Air. Tiara Air now runs 3 flights/day (except maybe Sunday??) between Aruba and Bonaire. Aruba is a fairly high volume destination and is relatively inexpensive with a bunch of airline choices, some cheaper than others. Look into it.

 

[Ruu]

Checking Orbitz (my current favorite for airfare), I see Chicago->ATL->Bonaire for $600 (including taxes etc) Sat->Sat in September (Delta). It leaves horrible early, but gets you into Bonaire at a respectable 1:55pm.

Dave

 

[DMdoogie]

Insel Air flys from Miami to Bonaire nonstop. I don't know what their official schedule is, but I work at MIA, and only see their planes at the ramp on weekends. Many divers I know have flown Insel with no problems. If you connect through MIA, make sure to allot at least 2 hours to make connections, parts of the terminal are in construction. One new terminal (D), AA flights only, requires a 1.3 mile walk from the longest gate to the security checkpoint.

 

[KathyV]

Checking Orbitz (my current favorite for airfare), I see Chicago->ATL->Bonaire for $600 (including taxes etc) Sat->Sat in September (Delta). It leaves horrible early, but gets you into Bonaire at a respectable 1:55pm.

Dave

Thanks, we want to go in Oct and Delta out of Atlanta is already sold out for our dates!

 

[Ruu]

Thanks, we want to go in Oct and Delta out of Atlanta is already sold out for our dates!

Ugh - that sucks. Have you considered buying a small jet? I see here that there is a Nice Gulfstream going for around $11.5M.

Dave

 

[Ruu]

Ugh - that sucks. Have you considered buying a small jet? I see here that there is a Nice Gulfstream going for around $11.5M.

Dave

Scratch that - the interior is appallingly tacky.

Dave

 

[Bonairetrip]

The major options (some are seasonal, some are only one day a week) include:

AA -- To MIA and then CUR, Then Divi or DAE to BON
Insel -- From MIA to BON
CO -- To EWR and then BON -- or to IAH and then BON
Delta -- To ATL and then BON
Various -- To AUA and then Tiara.

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