so the second trip fell through.. info requested..

My wife and I were looking to take our winter dive trip to the

Lee Bell...

You could probably determine the legs you need on the phone and then book
them, even if you have to do it as separate flights, on line.

chilly...

Not according to the phone staff. They say that some of the flights are
code share or something like that. Also, the flights are more expensive
that way.

chilly...

talk

Caribbean between the end of February and mid March '06. We were
thinking of Bonaire and two of the local shops offered trips there in
the time we were looking.. both have disappeared in the last week ..

Well more accurately they were moved to times when we can't go..

chilly...

your

chilly...

only

Lee Bell...

My experience is sometimes different, but usually because I book more than
one service as part of a package. On one of our trips to the Caymans, for
example, we booked a flight, hotel, food, drink and dive package through an
agent for about what we would have spent on the hotel, food, drink and dive
package alone. Practically, we got our airfare free.

Now we are sad.

I'm hoping someone can recommend some place that books dive travel.
Ideally someone would know of a Toronto or at least Ontario company
that runs dive charters...

If not that then some company that puts together packages that leave
from major centres..

Or at least some place on the internet that actually books packages
with Air and Hotel and Diving.. I can get to whatever major Air hub is
used but arranging all the minutiae is beyond anything I want to deal
with.

Al Wells...

If you contact any of the operators on
Bonaire, they will direct you to a US travel agent who can handle the
whole thing. Maybe because you're in Canadia, they will send you to a
Canadian agent.

We used Frequent flyer miles to get to Aruba, and then took Bonaire Exel
to bonaire. We bought a dive, drive and sleep package ffrom Plaza Resort
through their US agent. We had trouble booking the Bonaire Exel flights
ourselves, and Plaza'a US agent was able to do it with no problem.

Rosalie B....

Some time ago I used aquadreams and was very happy with them

This is a list of other travel agencies with a scuba diving emphasis

grandma Rosalie

Greg Mossman...

Take out your credit card. Oh, that's right, I forgot.

ajames54...

Well that is what happens when you tape it to the door.. It is amazing
how hard they make it to spend money you actually have..

Well, if you had a credit card, you could go online to American or
Continental and book your flight to Bonaire in about 5 minutes. Hotel and

ajames54...

American didn't seem to recognize Bonaire, at least in the online
schedule checker.. I guess I'll try by phone .. Hey I just checked! On
American I can Fly from Houston to Bonaire and from Toronto to
Houston.. I just can't get from Toronto to Bonaire.

I'm leery of trusting Continental again.. they succeeded in turning my
last one our flight to NYC into a 14 hour farg around but I'll suck
it up and give them another chance if their online system actually
works. (nope they apparently fly Fridays but are totally booked up
forever)

Greg Mossman...

I'm not sure if you wanted one or two weeks, but:

Plugging Feb 24 and a Mar 4 return into Continental's website yields two
seats at $943 per person. Four hour layover in Houston, which is more like
three hours when you consider boarding and debarking waits. Plenty of time
for a nice dinner at Pappadeaux's. Not the best price, and I personally
hate flying on those RJ-45s, but it gets you there with one stop and minimal
layover time. Same results for a Mar 11 return date.

Trust Continental. They have one of the best on-time records, best consumer
satisfaction grades, etc. They're also remarkably solvent. Houston gets a
bit backed up at times returning through customs, but with 3 hours in
between flights you'll have no problem.

-hh...

I no longer "trust" 45 minute connections in Houston...think you
suggested as much too. I now plan for 1.5 - 2 hours on our domestic
connections through Houston, as we're usually also transferring between
Continental and Continental Express, and they reside in different
terminals in Houston, which can very easily eat up a half hour or more.

Greg Mossman...

I've made plenty, mainly because the flight out of sleepy Ontario airport is
almost always on-time. But if it's anything important, like catching a
subsequent flight or a liveaboard or something, I'll always allow extra
time. We have three flights a day now to Houston. I used to take the 7
a.m., which puts me in Houston at a bit after noon and just in time to catch
the 1 p.m. flights to various Caribbean or Atlantic locales. Now I take the
1 a.m. red-eye, which gets me to Houston in plenty of time to catch the 9
a.m. flights out with two hours to spare. If I should still somehow miss
the 9 a.m. flight, the 1 p.m. flight serves as a backup. I basically trade
the stress of potentially missing a flight for the exhaustion of a 3-hour
red-eye, believing that exhaustion is far better on my heart. And if I ever
get stuck in the airport for too long, my company was nice enough to buy me
a President's Club membership.

The 9 a.m./1 p.m. pattern works for most places they fly more than once a
day out of Houston. I'm banking on it to get me to the Nekton Pilot in
March: there's both a 9 a.m. and a 1:30 p.m. daily flight to Belize. (If I
should somehow miss both, I've been told locals can ferry passengers to the
boat for about $300 pp). There's a 9:15 and a 1:15 to Cozumel, a 9:15, a
10:30, and a 1:30 to Ft. Lauderdale, etc.

I feel sorry for you Continental Expressed folks. Those RJ-145s scare the
heck out of me and they screw you on the carry-on baggage. I'll add an

-hh...

I actually like them, since with only ~50 passengers, they unload quite
quickly and I like the seats better than the 737's. Since my carry-on
bag is softsided and for the typical quick business trip (1-2 nights),
I'm generally not carrying much anyway, their small overhead bins are
big enough for me...its the guys with the big roll-on bags that have to
gate-check.

But you'll probably get your way, since the current US industry
assessment is that small 50-seater regional jets such as the 145 are
probably going to be removed from service over the next ~10 years,
partly because the increase in fuel costs have made them too expensive
per passenger-mile. Perhaps Embraer's "big brother" to the 145, the 72
seat Embraer 170 (see:
segment? I don't know if anyone in the USA is flying these yet, but
the 170 does have satisfactory sized overhead compartments.

extra leg to my itinerary just to route around flying on one as long as
there's a reasonable alternative. Ontario is a big enough market to get
three daily 737-800s plus two daily RJ-145s direct to Houston and it's only
15 minutes from my house.

Houston's one of those airports where the airlines use the time that
the flight hits the runway as their official "arrival time" for the
FAA, and not the time when the flight actually arrives at the gate and
opens the door. There goes another 10 minutes. And while I'm probably
exaggerating, it seems that the only time I've had a CO flight to
Houston *not* arrive late was when then-CEO Gordon Bethune was sitting
two rows in front of us...that flight actually arrived at the gate on
time.

Greg Mossman...

Amazing, that.

-hh...

'Twas a straight shot right in. Wished they did that all the time.

If you're getting a message that they're "booked up forever" you're simply
using the wrong days. Continental only flies out of Houston at 11:30 p.m.
Friday night and only returns from Bonaire on Saturday mornings at 8:30 a.m.
Therefore, if you try to return from Bonaire on Friday, the system will tell
you that there are no available flights. Makes sense?

American does the trip with two stops: Miami and San Juan. Leaving on Feb
25, returning Mar 5, gives a fare of $1,184 per person. You can use their
flexible dates feature to find lower priced fares. For example, if you
leave on Feb 26 and return on Mar 5, you can fly for $1,004 per person. I
have no idea why you'd want to fly through Houston on American. Houston is
Continental's hub.

It took me about five minutes to get both results for you. Give me your
credit number and $50 and I'll even book the flights for you and call the
hotel to arrange your car, room, and diving. I can't do everything for you
for free, after all.

diving you can maybe do online through one of the hotel websites, or at the
least they'll have a contact number to a U.S.-based travel agent who makes
their reservations. The hotels can usually book you a car as well, and they
all offer diving packages.

The minutiae is that you pick your car (preferably a pickup) up at the
airport, you drive to your hotel, and you check in.

With all the internet travel tools available nowadays, it's miraculous that
travel agents can stay in business. Apparently there are still some people

ajames54...

Normally I would agree but this is getting pretty silly

Greg Mossman...

Isn't it?

A further option is Air Jamaica, which can fly you from Toronto to Montego
Bay and then onto Bonaire. Unfortunately, they don't have a link to their
flight schedule on their website and the few dates I plugged in for you
didn't work. I had heard that they were discontinuing service to Bonaire,
so perhaps that's why I can't get a reservation.

that believe that making travel reservations is some sort of arcane craft.
If you do it yourself, you often get deals that the agents will ignore. You
get better choice of seating on the airlines when you do it yourself. You
save money on ticketing fees and other add-ons that travel agents have to
charge nowadays since no one wants to give them commissions (go figure).
And best of all, you get it done right if you're halfway competent.

chilly...

James, what minutiae are you thinking of? I book virtually all of my own
dive travel and find it completely painless.

Is it that you want to be on a group trip?