St Thomas airport

[Carolyn]

How is the departure experience post Hurricanes? Do they still have the porters who will take you to the front of the line? If so what is the expected tip? Thanks!

Carolyn

 

[cubigbird]

We were there last year. It was a fairly easy process and mostly uneventful. You still check in at the front by the drop off then go through a brief customs screen and airport security.

 

[Carolyn]

We were there last year. It was a fairly easy process and mostly uneventful. You still check in at the front by the drop off then go through a brief customs screen and airport security.

Will the porters take you to the front of the line like they used to for a nice tip?

 

[cubigbird]

There were porters there. We didn’t need them as there was no line.

 

[GrayFal]

I was there 11/10. I saw the porters but no one was using them. There was no wait at immigration and maybe 10 minutes at TSA. They did have a tsa-pre line open

 

[tomandrobin]

Post hurricane airfare to St Thomas is horrible. Air traffic is way down, making the airport so easy to use. Porters are not really necessary at this time.

 

[controller1]

Post hurricane airfare to St Thomas is horrible. Air traffic is way down, making the airport so easy to use. Porters are not really necessary at this time.

When you say the airfare is horrible, I assume you are saying it is extremely high?

 

[tomandrobin]

When you say the airfare is horrible, I assume you are saying it is extremely high?

Ok....I will bite and expand.

Airfare to St Thomas is nearly double the price prior to the Hurricane. Plus, the number of actual flights have not been added back to the system. Plus, the number of non-stop flights are almost non-existent. In summary, double the cost, lack of flights, lack on non-stop flights......horrible.

 

[controller1]

Ok....I will bite and expand.

Airfare to St Thomas is nearly double the price prior to the Hurricane. Plus, the number of actual flights have not been added back to the system. Plus, the number of non-stop flights are almost non-existent. In summary, double the cost, lack of flights, lack on non-stop flights......horrible.

Thanks. I wasn't trying to bait you. Sorry if you felt that way. I just didn't understand and now I do. Again, thanks!

 

[tomandrobin]

Thanks. I wasn't trying to bait you. Sorry if you felt that way. I just didn't understand and now I do. Again, thanks!

No worries.....I Came off too strong.

 

[carpie99]

Flight costs from Charlotte are same pre and post hurricane ... still between $700-$800 ... still terrible

 

[SandyPGravel]

Flight costs from Charlotte are same pre and post hurricane ... still between $700-$800 ... still terrible

Wow, I paid less than that flying out of Madison, WI going through Charlotte. (But, I bought my tickets in June for Feb/March.) I really don't understand ticket pricing.

 

[sachia007]

We were there Feb 2019 - no air conditioning and no restaurants, but a few kiosks selling water, sandwiches etc.

Any idea if this has changed?

 

[ksqdomer]

Does anyone know why Southwest has not picked up St. Thomas on their Caribbean routes? We have points and the companion deal, it's a shame.

 

[tomandrobin]

Does anyone know why Southwest has not picked up St. Thomas on their Caribbean routes? We have points and the companion deal, it's a shame.

I don't have an answer, but we would be so happy to have SWA fly to St Thomas.

 

[cubigbird]

I don't have an answer, but we would be so happy to have SWA fly to St Thomas.

I read an article somewhere that not all of Southwest’s 737s are compliant with overwater regulations. This means they don’t have enough aircraft for all of the major Caribbean destinations at once. I know they recently added San Juan, PR, but again you have to have an aircraft equipped for a distance over water. Southwest to Houston or Fort Lauderdale from STT is about 4 1/2 hours. Finally, loading up that much fuel and weight isn’t cheap. Southwest’s bread and butter is much shorter flights. I think as their planes become more and more equipped to fly over water you’ll see them compete for STT. I know this was an issue for them in getting certified to fly to Hawaii. I’m sure the 737-MAX8 groundings don’t help here as these are the type of equipment to make the trip.