Aruba flight cancellations

[Janann]

This impacts people arriving and departing from Aruba due to the situation in Venezuela. The airport Facebook page seems to have the most current information.

 

[claraj]

I saw on Reddit that other islands are impacted and some are stuck in Aruba for another week. It sounds more like a blessing than a curse....

 

[billymach4]

Sucks. What a real inconvenience.

 

[billymach4]

I saw on Reddit that other islands are impacted and some are stuck in Aruba for another week. It sounds more like a blessing than a curse....

Well.... it does depend on your personal circumstances. Would not be happy if I had plans to start a vacation. But getting stuck on a vacation can be a blessing.

 

[Red elephant]

This impacts people arriving and departing from Aruba due to the situation in Venezuela. The airport Facebook page seems to have the most current information.

View attachment 120200

USVI flights are cancelled as well

 

[Luanne]

I saw on Reddit that other islands are impacted and some are stuck in Aruba for another week. It sounds more like a blessing than a curse....

Not always. We got stranded on Maui one year when the airline we were booked on was taken out of service, permanently. While some people thought it would have been great.....not so much. We needed to get back to get our kids to school, dh and I to work. We had to find a place to stay and a way to get there as we'd turned in our rental car. Our kids, who were young, thought it was great. My husband and I, not so much.

 

[moonstone]

Looks like not just flights to/from Aruba. Puerto Rico and maybe others too.

Over 300 flights canceled as Puerto Rico air travel is suspended

Flights to and from Puerto Rico were canceled after the FAA temporarily restricted Caribbean airspace over security concerns tied to Venezuela.

www.usatoday.com

~Diane

 

[dioxide45]

Well.... it does depend on your personal circumstances. Would not be happy if I had plans to start a vacation. But getting stuck on a vacation can be a blessing.

Getting stuck on vacation could be bad for people who have jobs to go back to. Some employers may not be as flexible as others. We extended a trip only once because our destination airport was expecting bad storms. Rescheduling flights and booking a place to stay was a bit of a pain but it worked out. We stayed an extra two or three nights IIRC. Our original flight ended up taking off and landing without issue.

 

[JCK1000]

How is MVC handling guests who cannot leave St Thomas or St John?

 

[Red elephant]

How is MVC handling guests who cannot leave St Thomas or St John?

Remember also no one is able to come in so those rooms are empty right now.

 

[Red elephant]

How is MVC handling guests who cannot leave St Thomas or St John?

I was in St John and now at the Ritz St Thomas. Guests booked rooms at hotels in St Thomas and others booked extra days at WSJ if available .

 

[JCK1000]

Must have been a crazy scramble for everyone.

 

[silentg]

So is there a list of countries affected by the Venezuela take over?

 

[WorldT]

So is there a list of countries affected by the Venezuela take over?

The FAA flight restrictions have been lifted. But given the numerous flight and hotel cancellations, it will take a few days to sort things out.

 

[Tia]

Virgin Islands Port Authority | Charlotte Amalie US Virgin Islands

Virgin Islands Port Authority, Charlotte Amalie. 28,453 likes · 1,885 talking about this · 14 were here. VIPA owns and manages two airports and 14 seaport facilities in the United States Virgin...

www.facebook.com

 

[djyamyam]

Must have been a crazy scramble for everyone.

We're currently stuck on Sint Maarten and our flight was cancelled yesterday. It was an absolute zoo in the lobby as there were lots of people that needed to vacate from their rooms while people were still arriving to check-in since they were already on-island but staying at another place and transfering over to where we were. We had to scramble hard. Was very lucky and able to pick up a last minute cancellation at another timeshare checking in on the same day by calling the exchange company as we had exchange weeks/points able for use while we tried to get our flights rebooked. Since the airlines didn't have a lot of information / communicating why the flights were cancelled (we originally thought it was due to weather at our landing city). Even though flights have resumed, there isn't enough empty seats to be able to get out. We're rebooked for later this week and I heard other folks not getting out until next weekend.

The front desks of the resorts are still busy at all the places since they are only able to extend existing guests one day at a time based on . availability and may have to move units. Once front desk agent said this morning that while it's been challenging, it was still better than during the pandemic.

 

[Pennytx]

I own a home in Aruba
I’ve lived there for almost 30 years
I’m currently traveling in the USA
But I’ve spoken to many people on the island, things are normal, nothing to worry about

 

[davidvel]

I own a home in Aruba
I’ve lived there for almost 30 years
I’m currently traveling in the USA
But I’ve spoken to many people on the island, things are normal, nothing to worry about

Probably a significantly different experience for someone that has a home there vs. a tourist scrambling for a room.

 

[Pennytx]

Probably a significantly different experience for someone that has a home there vs. a tourist scrambling for a room.

There wasn’t any scrambling
People were able to stay on their rooms
No one was coming in
Might have been different for people flying in
But those that were there already had no issue

 

[davidvel]

There wasn’t any scrambling
People were able to stay on their rooms
No one was coming in
Might have been different for people flying in
But those that were there already had no issue

Strange, these people must be lying:

We're currently stuck on Sint Maarten and our flight was cancelled yesterday. It was an absolute zoo in the lobby as there were lots of people that needed to vacate from their rooms while people were still arriving to check-in since they were already on-island but staying at another place and transfering over to where we were. We had to scramble hard. Was very lucky and able to pick up a last minute cancellation at another timeshare checking in on the same day by calling the exchange company as we had exchange weeks/points able for use while we tried to get our flights rebooked.[...]

The front desks of the resorts are still busy at all the places since they are only able to extend existing guests one day at a time based on . availability and may have to move units. Once front desk agent said this morning that while it's been challenging, it was still better than during the pandemic.

 

[Pennytx]

Strange, these people must be lying:

I was speaking of Aruba

 

[Pennytx]

I was speaking of Aruba

Your always such a “happy person”

 

[davidvel]

I was speaking of Aruba

Dozens of news articles saying the same for Aruba, but since you were there and experienced it, I'll defer to you.

 

[RookWDW]

We have a week booked at Aruba Surf Club in early June. I know that's a bit away yet, but I doubt this issue with Venezuela will be resolved quickly and it could devolve into something more intense. Given the proximity of Aruba we are debating canceling that week and booking somewhere else instead. What are everyone's here thoughts about the risk of visiting Aruba right now?

 

[Hindsite]

What are everyone's here thoughts about the risk of visiting Aruba right now?

I've not seen or heard anything that indicates that Aruba is any more "risky" to visit now than is was before the recent action. Ultimately if you are in any way uncomfortable about the location, any challenges you might have getting there or anything else, then change to somewhere that you are more comfortable with. This is vacation time, so completely discretionary as to what you do.

Whether "something" happens in the next 5 months that causes the risk to increase, from whatever source, is just something that nobody can be sure about, and that would apply for any location you might go to. There could be an ash cloud, a public health crisis, an issue with the resort or on the Island or with the air traffic control system, a weather event or any number of personal and family related situations that might impact your decision or ability to go.

If you aren't ready to act now, have a think about what factors might cause you to change your mind and then monitor things to see if any of those factors occur, and plan how you might change your plans. e.g Where might you go to instead and how likely is it to be available? If you have travel insurance, know what that covers and what it doesn't. There's been a lot of chatter about insurance not covering "acts of war etc" but I've not seen anything about whether people with cancelled plans have had issues with insurance or not.

If you've booked with club points, check that you will have time to cancel and bank them if needed so you avoid holding points that only have a few weeks to be used, and whether you can change that to reduce issue it might cause. If you booked via II, check that you know how to retrade it with minimum cost and fuss, if you booked other ways understand the cancellation process and costs.

Personally if I were booked, I'd be planning to go, but know what my options were if things went sideways for any reason, because things go sideways all the time for lots of reasons.