Getting to Bonaire

[Skookumchuck]

Hi all,
been looking forward to taking my kids to Bonaire in the spring and I'm getting close to being ready to book. When I searched airfare a few weeks ago I was looking at around $900 each from Vancouver now I'm getting pricing of just under $1600. Anyone have insight into what happened? $6400 for airfare would pretty much cover an entire trip to Coz.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[ijdod]

One trick is to clean your browser cookies, or check from a different computer (preferably on a different address), or browse anonymously. It's not uncommon for ticket sites to hike the price once you're known to have shown a repeat interest. Not sure that is the case here, but it's a fairly easy fix if it is.

 

[pjhansman]

You might take a look at Sunwing. In addition to vacation packages, they offer "flights only" deals to Bonaire. At least they do from Toronto

 

[Dogbowl]

Agree with above approach. It might be cheaper (maybe) to catch a flight from Vancouver to Toronto, then direct to Bonaire on Sunwing. Last I heard the direct flights to Bonaire were in the high 600s, all in.

Update: Sample fare Toronto to Bonaire April 15 - 22 is 709cad.

 

[Ricardo V.]

@Skookumchuck,
Over the last couple of years, getting to Bonaire has been somewhat challenging from South Florida. We've been lucky on 2 occasions finding very last minute deals with Delta... from Miami to Atlanta then Atlanta to Bonaire. Their regular price is around $900. It can and does drop last minute to $300ish.

Best of luck in your search. Hopefully some travel specialist or airline consultants have identified an opportunity for an airline to fulfill a direct route from South Florida to Bonaire and we could soon have a reasonable way to get there.

Some folks on ScubaBoard suggest flying to Curaçao, which is easy to do enjoying daily flights from US locations, then taking Insel Air to Bonaire.

Hope this help you find a reasonable way to get there. In the past, Insel Air has been unreliable at best, with ridiculous delays and lost luggage from Miami to Bonaire. Not sure if they are doing any better now. The best I understand is that Insel Air is solely flying locally (Ariba, Curaçao, Bonaire), and some folks here mention to be satisfied with interisland travel as of recently.

Cheers,

Ricardo

 

[wwguy]

Over the last couple of years, getting to Bonaire has been somewhat challenging from South Florida. We've been lucky on 2 occasions finding very last minute deals with Delta... from Miami to Atlanta then Atlanta to Bonaire. Their regular price is around $900. It can and does drop last minute to $300ish.

Then you will probably like this (snipped from the November 6-20 online edition of The Bonaire Reporter.)

 

[Trailboss123]

Not knowing your exact dates of travel, I used the following website to look at flights in April and May (cheapest available) from Vancouver to Bonaire: Matrix - ITA Software by Google

I selected a 7 night stay and this was the cheapest flight:

Looks like Friday and Saturday departures are the only options. There actually was a less expensive flight on May 4th for CA$821

 

[jimw]

Insel (locally referred to as Insult) continues to have problems despite the reduced schedule. I know of 2 groups in July and August '17, both had problems with canceled flights and canceled reservations---do not use Inselair! Good news--the only reliable local airline, Divi Divi Air has added 2 Twin Otter aircraft to their fleet--1 of the 19 passenger Twin Otters has arrived according to the Curacao Chronicle. We already bought Delta tickets for our next trip in August, '18 Out of West Palm Beach via Atlanta. The AA flight from Miami to Bonaire sounds good, and we might use it sometime--but not if they take the fall off as that's when we usually go to Bonaire. In 2018, we could fly down but not return for example......many might say--That's a GOOD thing!

 

[Skookumchuck]

Thanks for all your help! The dates right now are April 28 - May 5. I'm waiting for one of my son's friends to get his passport or I'd book right away. I think WestJet also fly's Vancouver to Curacao so that may be an option as well. Not overly keen on flying to Toronto first but I suppose if I must.

 

[jimw]

Another possibility is Vancouver to Houston and then non stop to Bonaire on United.....Once again forget Inselair Curacao to Bonaire and use Divi Divi Air rt between Curacao and Bonaire. Divi Divi's last flight Curacao--Bonaire is at 5pm every day, so you need to arrive on Curacao no later than 3pm. Many steps to take changing airlines there.