STT - how early do you need to be there? American Airlines

HI!
Traveling back from the BVI flying out of STT on Sat 11/13 on American Airlines 3:30 flight. Debating between the 9 am or 11:30 ferry from the BVI.
How early are they saying to be at the airport these days? In the past I have heard anywhere between 2-over 3 +hours.
I usually fly out of Tortola to SJU but that doesn't work this trip so I am out of the loop on departing STT.
I will have a checked bag and have TSA precheck (though I know there it doesn't help as much as in the states)


Thanks!

I do this flight about ten times per year. On weekends you'll need three hours. I generally take off 30 minutes for each of carryon only, Global Entry, and TSA Pre-check. AA cuts off bag checking 90 minutes before the fight is scheduled. I would arrive at the airport at least two hours and thirty minutes before your flight is scheduled to take off. Me? I'd take the 9AM and enjoy a decent meal before your flight.

Cheers, RickG

Definitely take the 9am ferry. Doing BVI to STT via ferry is a big PIA. You have to go through customs/immigration as you disembark the ferry and then you get to do it again at the airport!
American Airlines is notorious for long lines and their self service kiosks rarely work. If you are checking bags, you have to wait in their lines to get your bag tags, even though you bring your bags with you through customs/immigration. If you are not checking bags you can use a mobile boarding pass which will save you time. The next line you will get in is to go through customs/immigration. That line can wrap around the entire front of the airport on a busy day which is typically weekends between 1:30-4:30 but it can be any day at any time depending on the departure schedule. If you have Global Entry you can skip this line and go to the front of the line where the porters go in. You can also skip this line if you get a porter (red cap). Once you go through customs/immigration you get in the line to drop your bags. If you don't have any you can go right to the TSA line. Precheck helps some here but honestly not a ton. There is a restaurant and bar inside the terminal and you can get decent food there and cold beverages.

Listen to the above advice. STT is a sh!tshow that defies logic.

If you have GE, take your cards. STT Requires the cards to use GE, the only airport I ever transited thru that required the card.

Besides the above mentioned issues about STT, the whole customs / immigration / TSA area is poorly laid out and when we went in July, was manned by the least friendly people I encountered in our trip.

Agree with the above as well. Is working for Customs/Immigration/TSA that horrible of a job to create such nasty attitudes?

Thanks everyone....LOL....now I know why I usually fly out of the BVI thru San Juan!

Hi Everyone,

Glad I found this thread on STT airport. We will be tight coming out of YVD through Tortola then to STT as there is an 1130 am ferry that arrives at 12:20 near airport. Our flight departs at 2 pm. I have GE/TSA-pre but my fiancé only has TSA-pre. As far I can see on the ferry schedules there is not anything earlier out of Tortola unless I missed an update (we leave out on 11/5). Any ideas?

Thanks this has been a great forum to get answers on getting there and around as covid has screwed up everything that was once easy.

Dirk

There should be a 7:30 ferry from Tortola. You won’t make a 2 PM flight normally. You won’t get off the boat until 12:30 and customs can take from 5 minutes to an hour depending on load and when you deplane. It’s then 15 to 30 minutes to get a cab and arrive at airport. Then you have to reclear customs and go through airport screening.
You might and I do mean might have a chance if you have no carry on bags and check in for the flight online. Your global entry pass should get you both into that line. They don’t seem to care. Since it’s a early flight customs should not be horrible. Every star will have to align to make it work. I have done it solo but I make sure I am off the boat near the front and have a driver waiting to run me to the airport. My ferry left on time that day. That’s unusual for the ferry.

Hi GeorgeC1,

Thanks I will see what other options I can find but my issue is getting to Tortola from YVD since the earliest ferry is 7 am and is an hour. Appreciate the input.

We are transiting in STT from Cape Air to American, all on one ticket, on a Friday. Our 4+ hour transit time just got changed to 2:26 thanks to an AA schedule change. Will getting a porter as soon as we can after disembarking Cape Air help us make the connection? We will both have checked bags, but also both have GE/Nexus.

sambagirl07 - you will be fine. If your bags are not checked through, the porter may be able to get you through the AA check-in line faster.

Cheers, RickG

Many thanks for the reassurance! We weren’t sure if the 3 hour AA check in deadline applied to us since we were transiting, although ostensibly we’d already be checked in.