Greetings!

We're excited to be headed back to the BVI for a 4 night stay on JVD followed by taking a WinAir flight from Tortola to St Maarten to then spend 4 nights on Anguilla. We know WinAir can have good days and not-so-good days so we're hoping for the best when our travel day arrives!

I'm wondering if anyone here has flown this route... My question is regarding checked bags on WinAir. We will each have a small carry-on suitcase and a personal item. It sounds like we'll have to check the roller bags as WinAir's website indicates anything over 10 pounds won't fit in the cabin. (We're scheduled on one of their new, larger 48-seaters, though so who knows?) Just wondering upon landing at SXM if our bags will be sent into the terminal or will we be able to collect them plane-side? We've flown on puddle jumpers in Puerto Rico and we always grabbed our bags from the tarmac, which is obviously ideal.

I have read the St Maarten airport is a mess at the present so not having to retrieve bags in the terminal would be great. I realize that no one can predict how everything will function 3 months from now. Just trying to mentally prepare for the worst case scenario! LOL! Travellers on the St Maarten forum are reporting that passengers with checked bags have endured 2 to 3 hour wait times just to clear immigration and get out of the airport! (Not that Toronto's YYZ has been much better in recent months!)

Thank you all so much for your expertise!