The trip home from hell. We were leaving on the 8:30 am United flight to Houston (then to Seattle and YVR). We were at at the airport plenty early enough but there was a line. Turns out it was the flight to Newark boarding. Then it was our turn. All went ok until we boarded the plane. There was a warning light they needed to check into. After an hour and a half, not fixed, so we deplaned and went back into the departure lounge. A mechanic from Aruba was flown in.
Information was minimal, as there was no United rep. on the island, so the airport staff were reporting to us. After waiting for another 2 and half hours or so, we were told that the plane could not be fixed. We would be put up for the night. We went back onboard to get our carry on then proceeded back to the baggage area to pick up our bags. We were told there were vouchers for our hotels. Back at the check-in are the crowd gathered and waited. Finally someone came out and told us that wed be bussed to Buddy Dive. Whoever there wasnt space for there would go to Belmar, then any left to Oceanfront/side? Odd. Why not figure out how many rooms and send that many? A group of us decided to take a cab, but with no other flights coming or going, there were none. We asked an airport guy to call us one. Eventually a cab came here and there and people rushed to them. It was all pretty chaotic.
We got to Buddy before the masses. They were handling it well. They just took our passports for a copy, then gave us a room, saying it was in the back. Some people were requesting specific rooms/beds/floors. Turns out our room was at the front (in our opinion), as it was ground floor, end unit, in the North corner, looking out over the water... from all the rooms, including the bathroom. We even had our own private little beach area! It was a nice room - clean and modern, albeit lacking much personality with only a couple of (very nice) photographs for art on the wall. We quickly went for lunch where we met up with some of our new stranded friends. The staff were all very nice, but they seemed to have little information as to what United was/wasnt paying for. Apparently only 1 beer or glass of wine. Lunch was good.
Then we snorkelled back to SD where we bumped into the property manager. She told us the people checking back into A1 were late, due to their flight from Houston having problems and leaving late. Hmmmm. Interesting that it had issues already before it was flown to Bonaire. Liz too was surprised to see us. We just couldnt leave! lol. Later we had a nice dinner at Buddy, although the $25 voucher from United doesnt go far. However, somehow the math for our food and wine seemed a bit off
I cant say enough about the Buddy Staff. They are so friendly! We talked to many people from our flight who were on the phone, Skype or online with United. Everyones connections were messed up, with some parties split onto different routes. They did a scramble with our seat assignments, and our itinerary saying we left at 4:30 am when we in fact were leaving at 8:30 again. We called it an early night to get up early once again...
We boarded the bus back to the airport at 5:30. They packed us all in and off we went. Check-in started late, as the flight wasnt scheduled so the system was messed up. It was slow, as people tried to get seats together and in the section they paid for. We had to buy our breakfast in the departure lounge. Then we lined up again to scan our luggage receipts, as it was registering twice. Finally we boarded and left. This plane had no issues. We were given free movies, and told the link for our compensation. Arriving in Houston we had to wait for a jetway driver, then further for clearance for our foreign paperwork (really?). People were getting antsy with tight connections. We had been assigned a new route through Chicago with 35 minutes layover until our international flight to YVR. Umm... no. So we had to join the crowd at the United counter in Houston to figure out new flights. We had heard of a Denver flight, but it was full. We ended up on American flights to Dallas, then to YVR. We had to go around to the AA counter and check-in.
Finally we arrived home, breezed through customs (the kiosks make it so quick), and waited for our bags... and waited... nothing. Our dive gear was not on our flight. Icing on the cake. We went to file the claim. No record of our bags leaving Houton. Wearily we started to leave.... when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a bag of ours. We also found the other. They had gone on the United flight through Denver, and were on another carousel. Oh thank God! The ordeal was over, We were exhausted, and about 30 hours late, but home, with our luggage. Compensation you say? We wait....
But it still couldnt mar an amazing trip
Information was minimal, as there was no United rep. on the island, so the airport staff were reporting to us. After waiting for another 2 and half hours or so, we were told that the plane could not be fixed. We would be put up for the night. We went back onboard to get our carry on then proceeded back to the baggage area to pick up our bags. We were told there were vouchers for our hotels. Back at the check-in are the crowd gathered and waited. Finally someone came out and told us that wed be bussed to Buddy Dive. Whoever there wasnt space for there would go to Belmar, then any left to Oceanfront/side? Odd. Why not figure out how many rooms and send that many? A group of us decided to take a cab, but with no other flights coming or going, there were none. We asked an airport guy to call us one. Eventually a cab came here and there and people rushed to them. It was all pretty chaotic.
We got to Buddy before the masses. They were handling it well. They just took our passports for a copy, then gave us a room, saying it was in the back. Some people were requesting specific rooms/beds/floors. Turns out our room was at the front (in our opinion), as it was ground floor, end unit, in the North corner, looking out over the water... from all the rooms, including the bathroom. We even had our own private little beach area! It was a nice room - clean and modern, albeit lacking much personality with only a couple of (very nice) photographs for art on the wall. We quickly went for lunch where we met up with some of our new stranded friends. The staff were all very nice, but they seemed to have little information as to what United was/wasnt paying for. Apparently only 1 beer or glass of wine. Lunch was good.
Then we snorkelled back to SD where we bumped into the property manager. She told us the people checking back into A1 were late, due to their flight from Houston having problems and leaving late. Hmmmm. Interesting that it had issues already before it was flown to Bonaire. Liz too was surprised to see us. We just couldnt leave! lol. Later we had a nice dinner at Buddy, although the $25 voucher from United doesnt go far. However, somehow the math for our food and wine seemed a bit off
I cant say enough about the Buddy Staff. They are so friendly! We talked to many people from our flight who were on the phone, Skype or online with United. Everyones connections were messed up, with some parties split onto different routes. They did a scramble with our seat assignments, and our itinerary saying we left at 4:30 am when we in fact were leaving at 8:30 again. We called it an early night to get up early once again...We boarded the bus back to the airport at 5:30. They packed us all in and off we went. Check-in started late, as the flight wasnt scheduled so the system was messed up. It was slow, as people tried to get seats together and in the section they paid for. We had to buy our breakfast in the departure lounge. Then we lined up again to scan our luggage receipts, as it was registering twice. Finally we boarded and left. This plane had no issues. We were given free movies, and told the link for our compensation. Arriving in Houston we had to wait for a jetway driver, then further for clearance for our foreign paperwork (really?). People were getting antsy with tight connections. We had been assigned a new route through Chicago with 35 minutes layover until our international flight to YVR. Umm... no. So we had to join the crowd at the United counter in Houston to figure out new flights. We had heard of a Denver flight, but it was full. We ended up on American flights to Dallas, then to YVR. We had to go around to the AA counter and check-in.
Finally we arrived home, breezed through customs (the kiosks make it so quick), and waited for our bags... and waited... nothing. Our dive gear was not on our flight. Icing on the cake. We went to file the claim. No record of our bags leaving Houton. Wearily we started to leave.... when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a bag of ours. We also found the other. They had gone on the United flight through Denver, and were on another carousel. Oh thank God! The ordeal was over, We were exhausted, and about 30 hours late, but home, with our luggage. Compensation you say? We wait....
But it still couldnt mar an amazing trip
