We are flying FC - we are middle aged, empty nesters who always bring our SCUBA gear with us - so need two bags each for a two week trip - We've also had a 'near crash' experience and are white knuckle fliers so the extra space and extra kindness help alot

we had a number of factors post Irma - had bought our tix as soon as they were available to buy so had a very short window to use the credit that they issued - also our trip was in Feb, so we were charged change fees to go to a different destination (ended up in Belize for the diving - which was awesome - but it was not SXM) - AA quit waiving change fees pretty quick after Irma -

had a trip to San Juan for a week after Maria that we were far luckier with - but still had to play airline chicken and wait for the flight to get canceled before they would refund us

but yeah - we had to pay change fees for the trip scheduled for the Feb after Irma... even though the condo we had rented was not habitable

my experience is that airlines will do whatever they can to keep my money after I've paid it - so I just assume i will have to pay fees or eat the ticket and plan accordingly... which is much easier to do with two tickets than with ten