Aeropuerto Internacional Reina Beatrix / Aruba International Airport
Reviews and Complaints

I arrived at the airport on 12/9/2023. I put my luggage on the first baggage claim with no damage to it. When I retrieved my luggage from the carousel my luggage was hard to pull and push it would not even stand up without me holding it. I looked down only to see that one of my wheels were completely broken off and the other wheels was broken but still attached. My luggage had 4 wheels, now it has 1 1/2 wheels.

On February 28, 2022 we had a 4:45 flight from Aruba to Boston. My husband and I wanted to arrive early to get into the airport and try to relax and get something to eat. We arrived around 1 o’clock and we went to the front doors of the airport and were told that if we were on JetBlue we needed to come back in an hour and stand in line at that time. That seemed a little strange to us that we weren’t allowed to go in but we ended up walking down to an air-conditioned place to get a soft drink. We then came back around 1:50 To find there is a huge line formed outside of the terminal and it wrapped around five rows or so inside. Funny how quickly there were employees holding small iPads that read on the screen “skip the line”

It appeared to me that this airport is trying to benefit from creating lines and frustration so that people will seek out skipping the line and paying $160 to cut the line. This is ridiculous because we actually try to get in there early to avoid a line and were told to come back because JetBlue has some color coding time frames that they would like you to come which we were in that timeframe but it must’ve been amateur day at the airport. We had carry-ons, we checked in on our phones on the jet blue app and got the orange checkmark to proceed, however no one wanted us to get out of that line and go where we were supposed to go, no one was answering our questions, they were just saying stand in this line. That was total baloney because we could’ve gone through the doors gone past the people that were checking on their luggage we could’ve gone straight to the person that was checking for Covid tests which was a joke because it was someone just looking at some paperwork not even reading what it is to then going through someone checking passports and boarding pass to then going through checking baggage then getting your baggage to then checking your baggage to then now standing in a very very very long line for US customs I felt so bad for the families with young babies that were melting down hungry and tired and just ridiculous barely making it to the gate. We made it to our gate with 15 minutes to spare so two hours and 45 minutes of that time was standing in line. Shame on you AUA airport. You can do better than that

On October 24, 2014 I was leaving Aruba Airport for Newark New Jersey, USA .
I filled out the Custom Declaration Form that I do not have any food because I was planning to eat my snack before boarding the flight to USA. My snack contained : 1 (one) peeled slice apple and a small portion of lasagna with small quantity of cooked meat. I went through Aruba Custom and the next room was US Custom . It was very confusing for me and my wife who was travelling with me.
After the officer send us in the next room for agriculture check they found the food and I told them (there were about 5 officers in the room) that I was planning to eat my snack before enter the USA, due to medical condition. The flight from Aruba to USA is about 4 hours. The officer in charge replied that I was in USA and if I want to eat my food I can go to the hotel. I was confused and I did not know that we went from one room in Aruba and next room was US Custom.
The officer said that I have to pay a penalty of $300 and I told him that I will pay with my credit card but he said only cash. Officer Adams ask me to give him my wallet and all my money, than he took $300 for penalty and return the rest of my money. The Officer in charge took copies of my driving license and my new Global Entry card and he filled out the Notice of Alleged Violation which mentioned that I had 1Kg (2.5lbs) of ruminant beef. I told the officer that I do not have 1Kg ( 2.5lbs) of ruminant beef but only a small portion of Lasagna with cooked meat and he replied that the rule is as follow : if you have just 0.2 grams ( 0.007oz) meat is still count as 1 Kilogram ( 2.5lbs). At my request the Officer added in the Notice of Alleged Violation that I had lasagna with meat. I wanted to take a picture of the food with my phone and have the food weighted but he said no. I had to sign the Notice of Alleged Violation due to the airplane departure, even I did not agree with the quantity of meat the officer wrote I had. I am very sorry about this situation because I was very confused about US Custom location in Aruba Airport prior to board the flight for USA.
I had traveled around the world, I know the rules on Custom Declaration Form, I never brought any food in USA .
After this unpleasant situation in Aruba airport, on October 28, 2014 my new Global Entry card was revoked . I believe that I was treated unfair because the amount of food was not correct and not true. It was an innocent confusion in my part due to the US Custom and Aruba Custom in the same place but I paid the penalty of $300. I believe that my Global Entry card was unfair revoked. Hope that my and my wife unpleasant scare situation in Aruba airport to be a guide for future travelers. Cornelius

Having spent a great time on the island in the low rise district, our vacation ended with a pretty bitter note yesterday. What happened? In order to return the rental car at Aruba airport, I followed the rental return sign on the right lane, ending up right in front of the Alamo office. I parked in a parking sport in front of the blue colored parking lots for disabled people. Waiting inside the Alamo office till it was my turn, a guy came in and asked for the driver of the silver SUV, that just got towed – my rental car. Turned out the guy was the tow truck driver himself. He explained to me that only the police officer from across the street, who was watching the scene, could order him to release the car. Talking to the cop I was told that I had parked in a no parking area (sure enough there’s no “No Parking” or “NP” sign as far as the eye can see). To get the car back I had to pay a $45 towing fee first. Conveniently, there’s a ticket machine inside the airport lobby where you can pay the towing fee. Out of cash? No problem, in the adjacent building you’ll find a bank where you can pull some money at the ATM.

Trying to return my car again, this time I stayed in the left lane as I followed the rental return sign and, voilà, I ended up in the parking area, far away from the rental car drop-off area. In order to exit from the parking area, you must pay you parking ticket first, of course. You’ll find the cashier booth inside the airport lobby. After having paid $2 parking fee for no parking, I tried it for a third time. As I passed by the car rental offices, guess what, I saw the towing truck in action again, this time having a white compact car on the hook. Following the rental return sign again, in the left lane driving about 0.5 miles/h, I spotted the small lane that actually leads to the rental car drop-off area. As I complained to the Alamo clerk about the obvious scam that goes on there, she insisted that that had never happened before. At the same moment the tow truck drove by and hooked up another car……

I guess Aruba spends big money to advertise its beautiful island. But it’s beyond my comprehension why, for the short time benefit of cashing in a few bucks, they ruining their reputation as a vacation destination. It seems to me that Aruba authorities doing a way better job to disenfranchise visitors and keeping them from returning than Fox News could have ever achieved with their never-ending Natalee Holloway story. Sad.