Insel Air from Charlotte, just say no.....

[iztok]

I do not know what my travel agent uses, sorry. Yes airlines have to have some sort of an agreement for few things. Like interlining for luggage and US and 7I have such agreement.

You should be able to book on US website flight that includes 7I portion for example. Also on 7I website flights that include US portion.

 

[JW13]

No, you can not book a flight for one on the booking site of the other.

 

[iztok]

Oh. I got my info from: US Airways, Insel Air Agreement Offers Daily Flights to Curacao : Curacao News and Real Estate

The agreement also allows for passengers to book via Insel Air on www.usairways.com beginning Oct. 1, 2009. Passengers can also book on InselAir or through a travel agent.

I didn't try. I'll ask my travel agent tomorrow.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

As I recently learned, the hard way......
they do now have some sort of alliance with US Airways, so they will accommodate you and your bags on the next US Air flight (or vice versa) if a delay is their fault. But that is true only if your flights were all booked on the same itinerary (i.e., all made as part of a single reservation). Of course, I found this out during a 12 hour delay in Curaçao where I missed all of my connecting flights coming home from Bonaire. My problem was that I booked to Miami on US Air and I booked Miami to Bonaire on InselAir separately. Because they were on two different reservations, I had all kinds of trouble, but in the end, InselAir was good enough to get all the change fees waived and even paid for a hotel overnight while we waited for our new flights home. I give them credit for that.

But I still don't know how I would have made all of the legs of the flight on the same reservation (using both US Air and InselAir). At that time, Orbitz wasn't functioning properly with InselAir. I don't know if that's any different now.

So you are saying they paid for your trip from Miami back to your hometown? Because I missed my return flight (or more accurately rescheduled mine, since I got a 3 day delay on their Charlotte to Boniare flight, I wasn't going to cut my vac in half just to catch my return flight), and had to buy new tickets. Insel gives me the usual, missed flight because of delay is not their fault. They did pay for my stay in Charlotte, but after 3 days there, I felt like I've been there for a month and it is time to return home.

My interwebz travel agent that booked my hotel was good though, I called her in the airport after the flight was cancelled and she contacted the Plaza, got me all the options that I thought I could have (change orig Wed-Wed trip to a Sat-Wed trip instead, change to Sat-Sat or Fri-Sat w/additional date), thus allowing me to price and book the appropriate return flight and buy the tickets on the worst case scenario that I will have to pay it out of my pocket (as someone on this forum has shelled out $2k for an alt flight ticket and has yet got any resolution yet from Insel, or another passenger from my flight shelled out $1k for a ticket from Charlotte to Miami the next morning so they could catch the next day's Miami-Curacao flight).

 

[JW13]

My trip from Miami to hometown was already paid for. They paid the change fees when I had to rebook the rest of my flight to the next day ($150x2 people), plus they paid for us to stay in a hotel overnight.

It sounds like all of your problems were contained to InselAir, whereas my problem was with missed flights on US Airways caused by InselAir. I don't see why you shouldn't have had to pay change fees, worst case.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

My missed flight on AA was due to a mechanical problem with InselAir, causing me to get to Bonaire 3 days late, thus my return back to Charlotte was changed to 3 days later too, thus I missed my connecting flight with AA by 3 days.

Originally, I was going to reschedule my flight, but I was told the rescheduling fee for the tickets we have was going to cost more money than a pair of tickets, so we opted to buy new tickets instead. So if me trying to save Insel some money means they won't reimburse me, then I don't know what to say.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

decided not to redeem my free ticket from Charlotte to Bonaire and go somewhere instead. Got to buy wife a ticket, got to pay the tax to my ticket, got to buy non-connecting flights because Insel has no agreement with any other airline. Usually I wouldn't let this freebie get away, but with the unresolved refund, I can't embrace them until the issue is closed.

 

[TheWizard]

.... Or is there a greater possibility that you didn't actually read my thread and responded out your butt?

There's the other remote possibility that not every day on Insel is identical to yours.
And I was/am unaware that Insel flies their MD-83 from CUR to BON on any regular basis...

 

[mbchiro]

We flew Delta from Columbia, SC to ATL, then dir to Boniare. It was pricey 950, but no problems with baggage arrived in Bonaire at 2:40PM and no issues. I would not fly Insel Air ever!!!!! after what happened to me last year. We were supposed to leave the day of Hurricane Irene. Well I called the Fri before at 5:30PM and found out the flight had been cancelled. I had to book through Delta out of Columbia, SC. because they were rescheduling the flight for the following Wednesday. Thats a major BUZZKILL, when you already have a week booked in Bonaire. Upon arrival, I contacted their customer service dept. I told them I was in Bonaire and would not be on the flight out of Charlotte on Wed and that I would like to be issued a voucher for future travel. I did all of this by email, because if you call them it just like the "HELLO MY NAME PEGGY - YOU HAVE PROBLEM COMMERCIAL". You have to email them fill out a form and be issued a case number. Well after 4-5 case numbers from different emails I sent them because they would not reply or they would reply and say they would get back to me I called one last time and got someone in Curacou. They were helpful and told me the part of my trip from CLT-CUR was non refundable. But the hooper flight from CUR to BON was. My initial expenditure was 510/ea for the airfare for my wife and I. We also chaged our flight a week and paid $100 to change it. I pleaded my case and asked them to consider refunding me the entire amount i/o the paltry amount for the connecting flight. After several more weeks I established a line of communication with a manager who reviewed it and said they would refund me the entire amount due to my trouble and their mistake of not giving me an answer sooner. So, after hours on the phone about 20 emails I finally got some satisfaction. Here is a lesson learned. The cheapest route is not always the best. Also, do not be afraid to plead your case. Another thing- we purchased the ticket though priceline. That was why the first ticket was nonrefundable (special rate they said). Also, if you change your flight trip insurance will not pay your claim unless you repurchase it again. We tried to file a claim with Priceline's trip insurance but were denied because we changed the flight to a week later. Bastards! Anyway, I am happy to have been refunded the trip cost and look forward to flying on Delta for the next trip.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

mbchiro,

so how long did this take before your case got escalated to management? I think my case, got escalated to the next level with a new case number, but then it went silent.