My husband and I travel frequently to STJ and the BVIs and for the first time are taking an early flight out of STT when we leave. It is an 8:00 a.m. flight. My question is, is the airport as busy in the morning as it is for the 3:00 flights? We are contemplating taking our chances and taking the 6:00 a.m. ferry from STJ. We don't check luggage and will be checked in. Others from STJ have told us it is possible but I find this difficult to believe. Oh, this is for a Tuesday morning during high season. Delta airlines. Thank you for any information.

I would overnight in STT and take the stress away. The airport and the roads should be quiet as you are in earlier then the cruise ships.

It won't be possible. You need to be there at 6:00 am for the 8:00 am flight stay on St Thomas.

If you take the 6 o'clock ferry from St. John, you will not be on an 8 am flight, for sure. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />

Depending on the airline and aircraft, boarding will start 30 to 40 minutes prior to scheduled departure time so that turns a 8am departure to 7:20-7:30 boarding. I think flights close at 15 min prior to departure.

In theory, the first flight of the morning should be on time since it doesn't need to contend with any flights ahead of it, adding to the risk of missing the cut off.

I would also be concerned about the tsa and C&I staffing levels early in the morning. Will it be enough to handle the crush of the 100-200 people taking that first flight?

This just isn't the reality here. This is an international flight. American cuts off the ticket counter 1 1/2 hours before departure everyone else is 1 hour. Your bags have to be thru customs a minimum of an hour before departure. Two hours is the minimum to be here prior to a flight. American wants you there three hours before. They will give your seats to standby passengers if you don't hit those numbers.

Thank you for the information. Before anyone even responded I did change our flights to the afternoon flight so we can spend our last night on STJ. So, we're all set. I appreciate the information. It is, of course, what my instinct told me from the beginning.

Jay, everything you say is accurate. HOWEVER, they said they had only carry-on bags and they'd already be checked in. Therefore they don't have to stop at the ticket counter for anything, nor check any bags. (We print our boarding passes ahead & walk straight through the doors to C&I.)So their only stops would be C&I and security. It's obviously moot because their flights have been changed, but that whole 2 or 3 hour window is pretty flexible if you do everything possible to streamline the process. We always fly American & have never once been there 3 hours ahead, even on the busiest days. We aim for 2 hours, but even that isn't always necessary on weekdays. There's no comparison between flying on a random Tuesday or a weekend at holiday time.

The 3 hour rule is unenforceable and possibly illegal. They are not giving away a seat from a ticketed passenger 2 hours before the flight. I could be wrong, but I believe the FAA sets the rules as to when the door closes prior to the flight.

Actually they did just that last week. To a marina tenant here. It is not about the door closing. They will not print a boarding pass or check a bag inside the 90 minutes from departure. At that point 90 minutes prior they will and do give stand by passengers the seats.

American STT

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (STT)
Special notice
The minimum times for check-in and baggage check have changed for St. Thomas (STT):
For check-in: 180 minutes (3 hours) prior to departure
For boarding passes or to check bags: 90 minutes prior to departure

While carry on only with pre printed boarding passes or priority access that puts you at the first class counter will give you a margin of error. I assure you they are doing this and people are getting caught up in it.

Jay

not arguing Jay, 90 minutes is reasonable and correct. Three hours is absurd, unless they add an Admirals Club <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Evan: Welcome to St Thomas, land of the absurd. Where you can't make this *stuff* up.... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

Evan 90 Minutes is to late to get there. You can't be in the line at 90 minutes you have to be through the counter before 90 minutes. They shut down the check ins and bag checks at 90 minutes. Great customer service on Americans part.

When we travel with (1) carryon only (2) during off-peak hours (3) checked in and with our (4) boarding passes in hand, we've been okay arriving at the airport no later than two hours before our flight leaves. For checked bag, we add an hour. For us taking a taxi from our marina, we call for a taxi 3 1/2 hours before our flight leaves. Perhaps an excess of caution, but Sweet Christine does not like to stress on a late arrival.

We've seen planes boarded 50 minutes before the flight is supposed to leave and doors closed early. Its worth considering your boarding time as a deadline for getting through security.

Our January trip there was snow hell on the east cost and it took us three tries to get home. We talked to more than one family who arrived late and missed a flight.

FYI, if you change your flight due to a connection cancellation after you're through security, they make you in security until your old departure lands and they deplane those passengers. Then they let you back out of the airport. It took us six days longer than planned to get back to DC after the big snow.

Cheers, RickG