Just go carry on! SXM is certainly worth the trip and coming from the mighty PNW it is worth the money for First Class. We don't always do all legs in the bigs but as many as we can. Next trip we are going Alaska on the red eye to JFK and then Jet Blue down. The trip back will be AA via MIA and then a night in Kansas City before going back to PDX. We also enjoy SXM more than Hawaii although Kauai and Hawaii are very pleasant islands, I usually spend 1 to 3 weeks in Hawaii per year for business (no really, lol). I fly a lot, so airline status helps getting the big seats.

Cheers,
T