Chicago to Bonaire Flight Question

[dukeh20]

In light of the cancellation of the Newark/Houston red eyes, how are others from the Chicago area getting to and from Bonaire (and don't say by plane)?

There appears to be no real viable options that don't get you there until early evening at best. We were looking at a late summer or fall trip, but the flight options seem to be both limited and pricy.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Duke

 

[Chasin' Tales]

The Friday direct flight from Houston would probably be your best and cheapest bet. It does get in later in the evening, but still better than going through Curacao IMO.

 

[Doctorfish]

Have not done this myself but if there is an early AM flight to Atlanta, there is a 9.45 ish flight from Atla to Bon on weekends. Gets in to Bonaire early enough to do a check out dive same day.

 

[Alvida]

We're taking our first trip to Bonaire in September. We're in Missouri and I had to book us to fly St. Louis to Chicago, Chicago to Miami, Miami to Curacao, and then a morning hop over to Bonaire the next day as we don't get into Curacao until late evening. I only agreed to all of those legs because I'm using US AIR/American dividend points and that was what was offered with the points I had available. Ten-hour trip total, but you can't beat free. Coming back was a little easier as the Chicago leg was cut out, we'll fly Miami to St. Louis.

 

[jimw]

Friends from Chicago went with us to Bonaire last year. They went via Atlanta (Delta-Sat only) and went to Atl the evening before as the connection time was very short if doing it all in 1 day. We are doing the same from South FL this year and for the same reason..........

 

[wwguy]

There appears to be no real viable options that don't get you there until early evening at best. We were looking at a late summer or fall trip, but the flight options seem to be both limited and pricy.

I picked an arbitrary week in September and found a couple of options for United and Delta that appear to be reasonably priced for this route. (When travelling for work or pleasure I use Google's ITA Matrix Airfare Search engine to find flights, and then spoon feed the information into the respective airline's booking website to get the same fares.)

If you fly the $667 United route shown below you'll arrive in the evening as you noted previously. But with United flying more than once a week you can offset the lost day by staying an extra day and flying home on Sunday. I'm not sure what prices you were seeing before, but the airfare savings of this route might help to rationalize the expense of the extra night on Bonaire.

The $760 Delta route is also a reasonable fare in my opinion, but requires an overnight stay in Atlanta on the way south. So basically it's still an 8 night trip. Alternatively, Delta will sell you an outbound itinerary where you leave ORD early Saturday morning, but I think the 50 minute connection time in ATL is risky.

If it was me, I'd go with the United itinerary and enjoy the extra night on the island. September is low season, so it should be easier to book accommodations the extra night vs. doing the same during high season.

 

[dukeh20]

I picked an arbitrary week in September and found a couple of options for United and Delta that appear to be reasonably priced for this route. (When travelling for work or pleasure I use Google's ITA Matrix Airfare Search engine to find flights, and then spoon feed the information into the respective airline's booking website to get the same fares.)

If you fly the $667 United route shown below you'll arrive in the evening as you noted previously. But with United flying more than once a week you can offset the lost day by staying an extra day and flying home on Sunday. I'm not sure what prices you were seeing before, but the airfare savings of this route might help to rationalize the expense of the extra night on Bonaire.

The $760 Delta route is also a reasonable fare in my opinion, but requires an overnight stay in Atlanta on the way south. So basically it's still an 8 night trip. Alternatively, Delta will sell you an outbound itinerary where you leave ORD early Saturday morning, but I think the 50 minute connection time in ATL is risky.

If it was me, I'd go with the United itinerary and enjoy the extra night on the island. September is low season, so it should be easier to book accommodations the extra night vs. doing the same during high season.

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Thanks for the info. I was not aware of that google site. The Delta though Atlanta from Chicago is a decent option. I wish there was an earlier flight out of Chicago. The earliest one only allows for a 45 minute layover and that's just too risky.

 

[jimw]

I, too; use ITASoftware matrix for airfares and usually check 30 days at a time. I see that InselAir has a $495. fare Charlotte to Bonaire every Saturday in Sept, 14. It is 1 flight a week..........and leaves at 3:45pm arriving Bon at 9:10pm. Might be worthwhile if you can get to Charlotte cheap. It would be 2 stops from Chicago and gets you in later than you want--ymmv!

Also--fares from Miami have been jumping around on both United and Delta in recent months. Somewhere around $300. to Bonaire. Circuitous route for sure as one must then go thru ATL, Houston, or Newark; but could save a lot of bucks better spent diving and eating on Bonaire anyway!!

 

[mbs]

United changed the Friday night redeye out of ewr to Saturday morning at 9am... Maybe you can hook up with that one?

 

[vann evans]

Insel Air has a flight leaving Charlotte around 2:30 on Saturdays-it goes to Curacao and then on to Bonaire. You arrive in Bonaire on Sat night around 8:30pm. we have done this flight several times with no problems. The return flight leaves Bonaire at 7:30 Sat morning and gets back to Charlotte around 2 pm. You do lose Sat as far as diving-but it is a cheap and reliable flight
Vann Evans
A4 Sand Dollar