Curacao & Aruba: The planning

Summer vacation on Curacao & Aruba

“Vacation with obstacles…”

September 2022

Thoughts almost 1 year ahead:

We actually wanted to spend our summer vacation in Greece in 2023. My desired destinations were the island of Zakynthos or the Sporades islands of Skiathos and Skopelos. My search for a holiday home, rental car (for 4 people including luggage) and a possible direct flight (probably Condor) started early - almost exactly 1 year in advance. And it was already clear that we would pay a horrendous price for a three-week holiday in a holiday home with a pool.

Depressing. Prices seemed to have doubled and tripled. Roughly speaking, we ended up with well over €10,000 for a 3-week vacation for 4 people with a flight, house and car.

Nope – that’s too expensive for us! Alternatives are needed!

We actually want to stay in Europe, we don't rule out a package trip, but: we can't find anything at reasonable prices!

So let’s look for offers “further away”.

Thailand, Miami, Caribbean, Bali are up for discussion. After hours of research, the decision was made against Thailand (too hot) and I researched possible flights with Air Canada (we have always been happy with the airline) to the Caribbean. I'll end up with Guadeloupe and Martinique at some point. You would get there with a stopover in Canada. However, the time of year with possible hurricanes throws a spanner in the works. The islands are located in the “hurricane belt” and the weather forecast for summer is mixed.

So keep looking. The sonorous “ABC Islands” sound interesting, they are outside the hurricane belt and there also seem to be flights. You can get houses with a pool on Curacao for a ridiculous price compared to Greece! Ok, sounds like a plan.

We decide on Curacao and Aruba, but then run into problems with the Air Canada booking site. For some reason my combination cannot be booked online. With the help of the booking assistance it would work, but it turns out that Air Canada has updated its flight schedule and prices and now all of my flights no longer include luggage. We are then well beyond the planned “thousands” per nose for the flight. That's intimidating...

I researched for hours on the Internet and found an unbeatable offer via Skyscanner - although there were two changes on the outward flight, but that was worth the price difference of €1,400 to us.

The airline remains the same, Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, but under the guise of “Air Brussel”. HM ok. We have had “Operated by” quite often, and we would return via Washington with United & Lufthansa. And if Air Brussel offers the whole thing significantly cheaper - why not?

A beautiful villa with a pool on both islands is quickly found, rental car, flight between the islands - everything is booked for summer 2023 in October. And best of all: significantly cheaper than our Greece offers!