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

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

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.

<ajames54@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1131474671.850969.74640@g44g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
> 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.

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?

<ajames54@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1131474671.850969.74640@g44g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...

> 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.

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

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
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
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.

ajames54@hotmail.com wrote:

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

Some time ago I used aquadreams and was very happy with them
http://www.aquadreams.com/destination_menu.htm

This is a list of other travel agencies with a scuba diving emphasis
http://www.scubaduba.com/main/nftravel.html

grandma Rosalie

<ajames54@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1131481441.775223.133330@f14g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...

> Who do you book it through? Using Bonaire as an example I tried to
> re-create one of the trips that I could not make and scheduling the
> flights was just stupid..

Hmmm. What airport are you leaving from, when do you want to go, give me
five minutes and I'll get back to you.

Greg Mossman wrote:
> <ajames54@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1131474671.850969.74640@g44g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
>
> > 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.
>
> Take out your credit card. Oh, that's right, I forgot.

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.

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)


> 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
Normally I would agree but this is getting pretty silly

In article <1131474671.850969.74640@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups. com>,
ajames54@hotmail.com says...
> 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.

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.

<ajames54@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1131485315.040123.31450@f14g2000cwb.googlegro ups.com...

> 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)

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.

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.

> Normally I would agree but this is getting pretty silly

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.

Good luck.

I've booked with www.bayadventures.com for Cozumel and Belize. They
also do Bonaire and Cayman. They got me good rates for air, hotel and
diving. Check online or give them a call (9-5 EST).

<ajames54@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1131481441.775223.133330@f14g2000cwb.googlegr oups.com...
>
> >
> > Is it that you want to be on a group trip?
>
> Who do you book it through?

I almost always fly Continental.

>Using Bonaire as an example I tried to
> re-create one of the trips that I could not make and scheduling the
> flights was just stupid..

Sometimes the places I want to go, can't be pieced together on their
website. So far, with a telephone call, they've been able to put it
together. Continental staff advises that their website just can't present
some connections, for whatever reason. All I lose by making the reservation
over the phone is 1000 points and 15-20 minutes. In any event, once booked,
they email me my ticket. After I have my confirmation/reservation number, I
can go into the website and select my own seats.

I might even be able to finagle Continental into giving me the 1000 points
too, inasmuch as, it is not my fault that their web booking system can't
make the connection. I haven't tried that on yet but it seems reasonable to
me. ;^)

Also, you can try Sidestep.
http://www.sidestep.com/ref/mail/travelfinds_web.html

> OK so the place isn't the easiest place to get to but I kept seeing
> either incredibly high prices, long layovers or bizarre connections,
> one of the on-line companies actually showed me a connection through
> Amsterdam.

What has been more of a concern for me is when routing through Houston
(which I do most times), there may only be 45-60 minutes between flights.
This is not a problem for me when going to Belize, because if I miss the
connection, there is another plane later that day, or worst case scenario,
the next day. When traveling to a destination that has only once a week
flights, I will often chose to stay in Houston overnight before the onward
flight. Continental claims that I don't have to do this, that their
connection times are adequate, but I chose to err on the side of caution.

For example, on one of the trips to Roatan this year, my buddy coming from
another city and decided to take the chance based on Continental's advice
that there was time. Unfortunately, her plane was an hour late leaving her
departure city. I was in the air on the forward flight, before her plane
even landed in Houston. Continental managed to get her on a TACA flight
within 3 hours, but her luggage didn't show up until 3 days later. As I
understand it, had she also missed the TACA connection, she'd have had to be
routed through San Pedro Sula the following day. Like I said, I'd rather
err on the side of caution when taking a trip like that.

As long as I'm already in Houston, I'm comfortable that I'll make the flight
to my onward destination. Sure, it costs a bit more unless I'm using points
for my hotel, but it's worth it to me. It's either that or always go to
Belize, a destination which I've enjoyed almost often enough.

> I can find a hotel and they will be able to get me to and from the
> airport, Dive ops are also easy to come by.. rental car/trucks I can
> find or can be provided by the hotel ..

Exactly.

>putting it all together though
> isn't working out too well.

Near as I can tell, your only problem is the air. Since you have to talk to
your travel agent anyway, why not just cut out the middleman and book your
flight directly? For the most part, my experience has been that the only
time you save any money with an agent, is on a group trip.

Even then, there's no guarantee of a saving. I've got a trip to Bequia
coming up in the spring. The land/dive portion is an awesome deal because
it's a package but we each have to arrange our own air. At this time, I
have enough points to fly most of the way free. I just don't like the times
of the points flights, so I'm considering shelling out the cash anyway.

Long story, short: I've rarely spent more than 1/2 an hour making my own
arrangements.

As an aside, I still use Dasilva Dive Tours (now Caradonna)
http://www.caradonna.com/caradonna/ for the dive portion of my SE Asia
trips. I suppose that were they were able to put together a package, that
was comparable to what I do for myself (for Caribbean destinations) I would
use them for that. However, they haven't been able to meet or beat my own
arrangements. Back in the day, when travel agents were still getting enough
of a discount on flights, things were different.

If you are considering using them, ask for Daryl Cyr.