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Any info on Air Flaminco

Author: Deedee (---.dhcp.embarqhsd.net)
Date: 02-13-11 09:21

Coming in April - still waiting to see if Air Flaminco is ready for scheduled flights...anyone have any information?

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Re: Any info on Air Flaminco

Author: Christine Fredenburgh (184.151.63.---)
Date: 02-13-11 22:38

I can't remember how far in advance I booked my flight with Air Flamenco, but I recall that it was a couple months ahead. Just give them a call and book with them directly. I found that the easiest. You should be okay to book now or very soon. Have you considered another airline? While my flights were pleasant enough, there was a fair bit of confusion when I arrived at Isla Grande Airport. No one was manning the desk and it appeared to be closed with things piled on and in front of it. When the pilot did show up, he seemed genuinely confused by the situation and said "Screw it, let's go". There had been another couple waiting there for several hours. I'm not sure of all the circumstances surrounding the confusion, but it was a little disconcerting to be in a strange country and not entirely sure of the flight availability. Apparently VAL is pretty good and there were people at that desk the whole time. Just something to consider. The baggage restriction is pretty minimal too at 25 lbs, though, if the flight is nearly empty, may be waived, as mine was.

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Re: Any info on Air Flaminco

Author: Geronimo (---.customer.broadstripe.net)
Date: 02-14-11 08:59

You should call them and confirm. I called last week and they said they may be flying as normal in March but they also told me that last November. They said they would extend my tickets for another year. So I booked with VAL. I would not count on Flamenco Air flying you in April.

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Re: Any info on Air Flaminco

Author: Donald L Bunch (---.dh.suddenlink.net)
Date: 02-16-11 12:56

We flew Air Flamenco to Culebra last month and it was a very high anxiety producing decision. We had booked our flights in July so they honored them....but when we arrived at Isla Grande airport no Flamenco personnel were around. Calls to their phone number kept assuring me they would be there? At 4:30 our scheduled departure time a pilot arrived. It took him forever to calculate the plane weight load only to discover the plane was overloaded. We then taxied to the hanger, unloaded the luggage, reloaded it onto a lighter plane and departed at 6:00 PM. By leaving so late the manager of our facility had left and the key she left didn’t fit the lock to our room so we had to pick the lock. More frustration!

Given the problems arriving I kept calling Flamenco to get assurance they would pick us up on schedule as we had tight connections out. No one answered the phone for many days. When someone did they assured us we were OK - only a couple of days later to receive a phone message that our Tuesday flight for yesterday was confirmed! A call back to them resulted in another confirmation with no available explanation of the prior message. No one was at the Culebra airport most of the time either. When we eventually caught someone there he told us the flight was at 7:30 not 7:00 as the phone contacts had stated. It did turn out to be 7:30 cutting our connection time and it was the same pilot who brought us. We eventually made our flights from the International but we worried a lot. I would like to know where to post this to advise other travelers? Don

Don

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Re: Any info on Air Flaminco

Author: Christine Fredenburgh (184.151.63.---)
Date: 02-17-11 16:02

Don's situation was similar to mine. It was my first time traveling alone, so I was pretty on edge to begin with. When no one was manning the counter, and things were actually piled up on it, I was fairly near tears. I was told to call, which I did several times, with no answer. A pilot showed up at 4:30, said he didn't know what was going on then ended up flying me and another couple who had been there since the morning. They also didn't know what was going on. Very stressful! In addition, my flight leaving Culebra was 45 min late which added a little stress surrounding getting to San Juan in time for my flight to Toronto. VAL seemed organized, reliable and there was always someone there to help. I'm going to Culebra again this year and will not be using Flamenco.

As a side note...the pilots were extremely nice, despite all the problems.

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Re: Any info on Air Flaminco

Author: beachbound (---.180.21.98.dynamic.ip.windstream.net)
Date: 02-17-11 17:03

Sorry to hear about the problems with the flights. But for future reference, this is not necessarily the norm for Air Flamenco. We have been flying with them for a number of years now and while they don't always depart on time, they have been very reliable and nice.

Hopefully, when everything is sorted out and they are flying their regular, scheduled flights again, things will go back to normal.

We learned on our very first trip to NEVER cut your departure time from Culebra too close to your flight out of San Juan. There are just too many variables that can get in the way and it isn't worth the stress. Always leave more time than you think you will need, even if it means you might have to overnight in San Juan. You will leave Culebra in a much happier frame of mind.

Sue

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