More AA schedule changes

For all of us who were bemoaning the changes and elimination of Fall flights on AA from SXM, I checked our November flight home and here we go again.

Seeing the changes of a few weeks ago I suspected they would be adding back flights but my hope was there would have been an afternoon flight, even if connecting, that would get us home in one day and not require twelve or more hours in transit and/or an overnight somewhere. No such luck.

I guess there’s still time for more additions and changes but once again, if you’re currently holding AA tickets, you might want to check your AA SXM flights for October and November again.

Yes, our November flights were changed to something we couldn't work with. We were able to change our departure airport and fly through Miami from RDU.

Our November flight from Sxm to Hartford was changed to two stops and an overnight. No other options to Hartford. We are just going to wait and see what developes. November is a long way off. The only good news is that we only paid $500.00 a ticket so if we have to get a hotel it won't kill us. The tickets are a lot higher now.

SandS it's just a couple of hours from Boston to Hartford so see if there's a flight there.

Or to JFK? then 95 to 91N or do you have a car elsewhere?

We were supposed to go out of BDL on Delta in May. Flight down turned into a three hopper. Jet Blue from JFK saved the day. It's a two hour drive, and parking is more money, but there's a lot to be said for direct flights...especially for under $500.

Hi Pat, Hope all is well! We, too, are dealing with the American Airlines "bait & switch". We booked a great flight for early October, but American changed those flights almost immediately. We now have two layovers on the way down to SXM and an overnight on the way back. Hopefully flight options will improve as time goes by. Keeping our fingers crossed!

Did JetBlue save the day on any day other than a Saturday? From here that’s the only day to get their flights right now.

From personal experiences flying AA should be avoided if possible, especially to St. Maarten. They simply don't care who they inconvenience. I've been down this path several times with them in the past and it won't happen again. The three most reliable alternatives to SXM would be Jet Blue from JFK, Delta (if you can find an affordable fare), and WestJet from Toronto, Ontario if you don't mind going through Canadian customs. Delta (from Atlanta) will require almost daily monitoring, but eventually the fares should come down. WestJet only flies there on certain days of the week, but non-stop flights from Toronto are typical and can be economical given the present U.S./Canadian dollar exchange rate.

After months of agonizing over crazy prices and crazier 20++ hour routes to BDL, we booked Jet Blue to JFK. Of course, now we will be stranded in JFK

Down Thursday, back Sunday. Short trip, unfortunately.

Last night I got Jeff Berger's weekly newsletter. I copy and pasted from his news letter, if this is allowed:

"1. AA To Restart Charlotte Nonstops, SXM Airport Overnighting

American Airlines has agreed to make significant changes to its St. Maarten scheduling, which should make getting to the island much easier and much faster for AA passengers from across the country. The only question is when the changes will become effective.

According to an agreement reached between the airline and the island in recent meetings, the airline will be reinstituting its nonstops from Charlotte. It will also bring back its late night flight to SXM from Miami; that flight will overnight on the island, enabling an early morning departure from SXM — and same-day connections to much of the rest of the country.

We've seen no information about when the airline might reinstitute reasonably priced nonstops from New York. Currently, AA flights from New York are vastly overpriced and require connections. JetBlue has daily nonstops from JFK and has had them for months, at comparatively reasonable pricing.

We would expect a gradual softening of prices through the summer and especially in the fall. As always, we'll keep you posted on airlift developments from all US and Canadian airlines serving SXM. Please see story 3."


Hopefully, this will be sooner rather than later.

I just checked a random date (December 1 to December 8--both Saturdays) and the evening flight into SXM from Miami and the 9 AM flight from SXM were going at that time. So that will give people more options as of then. I didn't check back before that, to see when they are supposed to start.

I wonder when this will take effect. We had flights scheduled through CLT for Nov 24 thru Dec 8 and those were re-routed through MIA.

Just poking around on the AA website, looks like nonstop from Charlotte is supposed to begin December 19. (Unless they change them again...) No nonstop before then and then two a day.

I have been trying for 24 hours to change my seats on my September SXM - BWI flights (which were changed without my knowledge by AA). I keep getting all the way through to put in my credit card information (I am upgrading seats) but then I get :

Our system is having trouble

Please try again or come back later.

Anybody NOT having issues with booking reservations and/or making changes on existing reservations currently with AA? I will call AA soon if I have to! Would rather not!

Thank you. Karen

Just a guess but you might be trying to make changes while the system is also making changes. Typically most internet sites are updated/changed at less busy times but this is the airlines so anything is possible.

If I were you, and you’ve tried several times unsuccessfully to make your changes, I’d call them while the seats you want are still available. Generally speaking, when there’s a system error they will do the changes and waive their charges.

And on another note, I didn’t do anything to correct my tickets after the first waive of AA changes a few weeks ago, hoping they would ultimately reinstate our original flights at some point. I guess I should probably call again and see where we stand now. I’m still computer booked for November on flights that have us making two changes, over-nighting somewhere, and departing on our last leg before we arrive at the airport. Sounds like an interesting trip.... 😊😊

I was having technical issues with Delta's website last week, and called....no extra cost to book via phone. The issue was some updating, which made the tickets $4 difference....I can deal with that! lol

Thank you Pat. I did call American and they changed my seats with no problem (and no charge for using customer service). The customer service rep had no idea why I was unable to make the changes. Fingers crossed that there are no more flight changes!

I hate to be a Debbie-downer, but regarding the possibility of additional changes, there probably will be more, or at least, I’ll be surprised if there aren’t. But I’m glad you called and we’re able to ‘git it dun!” And at no charge for assistance. I always find them to be very good in that respect.

We're not going down until mid-June, but we booked JetBlue from JFK going down on a Saturday and back on a Thursday.

November is a long way off, but as of right now the late night MIA-SXM flights start on November 5, (dep 5:35PM, are 9:34PM) and the early morning SXM-MIA flights also start on Monday, November 5 (dep 9:00AM arr 11:17AM). Dates when they operate the service are a bit screwy - sometimes it’s 5 days a week, others 6 or 7. But there are flights available. I only looked at 1-way fares, but I was seeing MIA-SXM at $176/$182 and SXM-MIA for $237/$243.

This is all so confusing. We tickets that included the early flight to Miami on December 14 and they changed it to 5:30 pm departure from SXM. When I called about the change they told me that they only had one flight leaving SXM and that was the late day departure. This was just 2 days ago.

Yes, it is confusing, and it will continue to be so until SXM gets back to whatever the "new normal" is going to be.

What you were told two days ago may have been 100% accurate then. And, given the way that airlines are shuffling their SXM schedules, it may be 100% accurate come your travel date. But as of today, AA 2486 is scheduled to depart SXM at 9:00AM, and arrive in MIA at 11:17AM on December 14.

Copied from AA's booking website:

St Maarten, Sint Maarten to Miami, FL Friday, December 14, 2018
9:00 AM
11:17 AM
AA 2486 738-Boeing 737 Wifi on-board

Travel info
Travel time: 3h 17m

I don't expect to see the "new normal" in SXM before 2020.

I didn't want to comment on this,

BUT this AA problem is not something new because of Irma.
Just a bigger problem now.....

Correct. If it was only an after Irma thing then they would deserve, and get, some slack.