Southwest to St. Thomas

[jmhpsu93]

Southwest is adding service to St. Thomas for BWI and MCO starting this winter.

MSN

Put this here in the Marriott forum as we have three there (WSJ, MFC, and the Ritz).

Flights are kinda nuts price-wise in February, but their new fare system is wonky right now to put in mildly ($1200 R/T pp., but their lower fares aren't showing).

 

[Fasttr]

Good to know. Thanks for posting.

 

[jwalk03]

Very exciting news! They also said they plan to add 2 more "island" destinations. Hoping St. Kitts is one of those- as I really like the resort there, and its a pretty easy trade- but the airfare is always sky high priced!

 

[VacaSmart]

Thanks for sharing jmhpsu93. Speaking of St. Thomas, what is the best time to fly out there?

 

[Luanne]

And don't forget if you fly SW unless you have their credit card or some type of status you'll pay for checked bags and seat assignment, just like any other airline. Oh, but they'll be serving Peet's coffee so I guess no one is supposed to care about the extra fees.

 

[jwalk03]

And don't forget if you fly SW unless you have their credit card or some type of status you'll pay for checked bags and seat assignment, just like any other airline. Oh, but they'll be serving Peet's coffee so I guess no one is supposed to care about the extra fees.

For anything except a basic fare- you can choose a regular seat for free. Only costs extra if you want a premium seat or extra legroom seat. (Premium seat selection is included with choice fare and extra legroom is included with choice extra fare)

 

[Luanne]

For anything except a basic fare- you can choose a regular seat for free. Only costs extra if you want a premium seat or extra legroom seat. (Premium seat selection is included with choice fare and extra legroom is included with choice extra fare)

Like I said, just like every other airline now.

 

[WBP]

Here’s our personal take on flying into and out of Caribbean islands.

No matter our (airline) brand loyalty, we select the airline with the greatest flight frequency at that island airport. Unlike the mainland, there are no drive-to, alternate airports, in the event of a flight irregularity.

Hence, in the case at STT, we’d look at the airline(s) that fly point to point, between our home airport and that island, and the airline(s) that have the greatest flight frequency into and out of STT. I would not be excited about flying into or out of STT on an airline that had only a few flight frequencies per week. Then, in the case of irregular flight operations, comes the potential need for a hotel room, overnight, which becomes a real treat on an island, compounded by an airlines that may not have its own personnel at that airport, as ticket counter and gate agents, and who may have limited, outsourced personnel, working the ticket counter and gates for the airline with infrequent service to the airport.

Fortunately, STT is not often afflicted by weather delays, at STT, but, weather is not foreign to BWI, in the winter, or to Southwest’s route structure (in the winter).

 

[krj9999]

Nonstop on Southwest to/from BWI only available seemingly on select days (Thursday to Saturday). Living near BWI, I plugged in roundtrip from BWI to STT (St. Thomas), AUA (Aruba), and HNL (Honolulu) for Saturday February 7, 2026 and returning February 14. BWI-STT priced at just over $1000 for the non-stop option; BWI-AUA priced at just over $1400 for the non-stop option, and BWI-HNL priced at about $720 (for lowest priced 1-stop connecting flights). Either Choice or Choice Preferred (depending on availability). Kinda crazy. Cancun was $850 for non-stop option on same dates.

 

[Eric B]

We’ve been enjoying the United nonstop service between Dulles & STT. Much more frequent and we can use the Capital One Lounge before we leave. I’ll look into the BWI-STT route with Southwest but they aren’t the low cost carrier they used to be and I would rather have access to a lounge for the same price.

 

[ljmiii]

We’ve been enjoying the United nonstop service between Dulles & STT…

We always fly United from EWR to STT which has the advantage of being a daily flight (at least in winter) in case something goes wrong. I’m pretty sure the flight into DC is also daily (again at least in winter) as another possible backup.