Departure Area Photos & thoughts

I have seen several questions about what the departure lounge area looks like. I travelled December 14 from SXM back to Canada for the holidays.

The process for departure is much better than it was. Nothing like the current arrival area issues.

A printed boarding pass is very important to go through the new electronic system for departure. Everything from getting onto the escalator to go up to the second floor to getting through immigration on the second floor. If you’re boarding pass is not good quality, it is possible, you might be turned around.

I checked in at the WestJet counter on the ground floor even though I did not have check on baggage. I received my boarding pass and that is what I used to go through the electronic gate system.

There are some food options upstairs. You will see in these photos. The restaurants had large lineups. If that is an issue for you, I would suggest you bring some thing to eat.

There are a couple makeshift areas where tables are set up and you can buy drinks alcoholic or non alcoholic and even some snacks like chips, etc..

The jetways are being used and I walked onto my WestJet 737 through one of those jetways. There are four of them.

There may be some questions, but here are some photos.

Drphilsxm

When you arrive at your gate, this is the seating.
Between each seat is a charging station for your cell phone. FYI.

Drphilsxm

Thanks for the pictures. The first couple, I can't really tell what I'm looking at? Other than Bacchus and Domino's, were there any other food options available, other than chips? And there still is not a regular bar? Can you tell where there is supposed to be one?

I did not see a regular bar area as yet Carol. There are many vendor areas still yet to be completed and opened. From what I saw yesterday, I could not tell where the regular bar will be.

The first few photos show the escalator going up to the second floor, followed by security where everything goes through scanners. The area you see with blue or green is immigration. You will stick your passport into a machine while you stand on a marked spot. It will determine if that is you and will give you the greenlight and open the gate for you to proceed.

The only two formal eating places I saw yesterday were Domino’s Pizza and Le bistro by bacchus. In the photo, where you see a lady in a red jersey and another lady in a green sweater at the cash register, you can buy beer from them. Not sure about anything else as far as other alcoholic beverages.

Drphilsxm

Yay! I love that the seating does not have arms! And yay also for the charging stations. Thanks for the descriptions. It looks like there is a sort of regular bar with liquor, set up behind where the ladies are standing.

Of course, according to the airport and Jeff Berger, EVERYTHING was supposed to be open by now in the departure area. Doesn't look like it, by a long shot.

Yes, they still have some finishing of the vendor areas. But I am very happy with the process of departure. That is quite smooth. Most everyone I know has been going through and up to their gates on the second floor in less than 30 minutes.

Drphilsxm

Thanks for the updates - knowing that the departure is fairly smooth will make the cluster---- on arrival a litte more tolerable. Is there any sign of a first class lounge in the departure area?

We also departed yesterday, and our boarding passes on our phones worked fine. We had no bags to check, went directly to emigration and security, and were through those in minutes. My opinion is that the new bar will be where the bar was before Irma; there's construction going on in that area. Jet bridges are being used for departures from the upper level gates; we departed from the B gates, and used a bus.

Good to see Bacchus open. It wasn’t when I left a few weeks ago. I think the main bar is before A2. Looked like they were doing something fancy near the ceiling maybe over the bar. The executive lounge looks like it may be across from Gate A2. They had the sliding doors reminiscent of the old lounge.

I left on Wednesday, had wheelchair assistance, and was at the gate in less than 30 minutes from arrival. I also used the boarding pass on my phone and departed from a B gate. The fabulous attendant wheeled me to the plane; it was close enough that people walked - no bus. There was a ramp to the plane, not stairs. My attendant even took my bag up the ramp for me and put it in the overhead. He was a real sweetie and gave me a big hug before he left the plane. As others have said, those SXM wheelchair attendants could teach US attendants a thing or two.

Great for the update for departure. Always good to be informed before you go.Many thanks

As of December 14, 2023, this is the St Maarten airport Wi-Fi.
I did not try it, but there is a 30 minute free option.

Drphilsxm

And heard that the Executive Lounge will have two floors , looking forward to that when our Family leaves next year to head back to Toronto so they can make use of via Amex Platinum free of charge .

Thanks, Phil. I wondered about the internet.

Not sure why they would need two floors for the lounge, but it will be good to have that option again. I think maybe I read t there may be more services available, like showers and massages, which are available other places. If so, those are probably extra services, that one pays for in addition to the regular admission.

Linda--so hopefully you are home now? Where did you depart to? I hope maybe you can post a trip report when you get settled at home.

Wow, looks nice so far, even decorated for Christmas!

I know Linda got home Wednesday night late, she had the same flights that we did on Friday and updated us, and now we are also home. AA SXM to MIA and which is scheduled to land at 557pm, then in MIA to PDX direct at 8:05pm landing at PDX at 1153pm. Of course that is not what actually happens. I will let her share her flight info but I know she made it as did we. We were a bit late to MIA and then delays leaving MIA so MJ and I did not land at PDX until about 135am, we live 15 minutes from PDX and arrived home at 2am. It is a haul but nice to have a route that gets us back same day. Out of who knows how many trips over the last 20 plus years I think we have made it home only once or twice with out having to spend a night along the way, even if scheduled to make it back some delay would happen. The MIA connection had us coming into E gates and then the marathon walk to D terminal immigration and customs. Global entry went smooth and with just carry on we decided to just leave and re-enter the airport so we could use Clear and get our Clear updated to the newest version. Beats going back through the regular line downstairs by where you recheck bags, a trick we learned the last trip when in a hurry.

We got to the airport two hours prior to our flight, took us 23 minutes as stated in another post. We had a cocktail at the make shift bar upstairs and potato chips as that has become a tradition since the downstairs bar. Looking forward to more options and where there were options the lines were long which seems to be the norm at about any airport any longer.

Cheers from Vancouver Washington, the original Vancouver ! Countdown until our return has started, 85 days.
T & MJ

When I return to SXM from Toronto after the holidays I will be posting an update on the arrivals area.

Drphilsxm

We departed on Sat. Dec 9th on AA 326 at 1:48pm to CLT. The process of check in and security was pretty quick. Maybe 15-20 minutes total. However, the AA CLT flight was downstairs in the gate area called “B3-B10”. Our boarding pass said gate B7, but the monitors upstairs said gate B1. There is no B1 in the terminal listed. I asked and was told the plane actually is parked on B1, but you stage to depart at the B7 gate. LOL. Go figure. Also the B gates downstairs are much warmer and congested compared to the A gates upstairs. No jetbridge on the AA CLT flight, but the MIA departure did have a jetbridge. There is an elevator to get down to the B gates.

That’s good to hear it didn’t take too long. We leave next Saturday at 3:56 for Miami, and I was worried about the wait. I’ve always heard Saturdays are busy, and the recent posts about arriving several hours before our flight only made me more concerned.

Leaving at the end of Nov we used the new Passport facial recognition machine but I think maybe they were not totally working yet.

Had to present passport again at the gate (along with like 15-20 other people).

Could tell everything will be very nice when totally complete.

Also glad to see Bacchus is open, had to get beer at dominos in Nov.

Todd, glad you made it home OK., and that Linda did also.

As Todd stated, I flew SXM to MIA, then a nonstop from MIA to PDX. The plane was late leaving SXM. We landed in MIA at 6:30 p.m., and boarding for the flight to PDX was at 7:30 p.m. I was pretty nervous about the short time frame, but my luggage came off fairly quickly compared to prior trips. I was at the gate to PDX at 7:20 despite the long trek to D4.

Wheelchair assistance in SXM was outstanding. We left from the lower level, and wheelchair assistant wheeled me to the plane and then carried my bag up the ramp and stowed it in the overhead. Wonderful! Wheelchair assistance in MIA and PDX was fine, but SXM just had that added touch.

The flight from MIA to PDX was somewhat uncomfortable: six hours in a fairly small plane. Even though I was in first class I yearned for the reclining seats/pods that you get on a 770. I have to weigh the convenience of getting home the same day I leave SXM with the lack of comfort on the nonstop. Getting home same day probably wins by a slight margin.

Sounds like it's a crap shoot if you get a jetway or not on the SXM/MIA leg. Glad flight home was noneventful and home safely.

I get where you're coming from, getting home the same day is a good thing, even if it's really late. Too bad that the Miami flight is not getting a jetway predictably. Glad to hear that the wheelchair assistance in Miami was at least acceptable, as that certainly has NOT been the case on several occasions in the past.

All that is "nice".It's the arrival part that is a mess. That's what they should have fixed first!!