TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums US VI and Puerto Rico STT airport Red Cap porter question

In the past when flying out of STT we used the Red Caps/porters to handle our checked bags. After getting to the airport we would give a Red Cap our tickets and he/she would print out the checked bags ticket and our claim tickets, load the bags on a cart along with our carry on bags and take us to the front of C&I and then over to security, give us our carry on bags and take our check bags to wherever they go. We always tipped them, of course, for the fast service, etc. This last time, though, they led us to the rear of the Delta counter line in the lobby and we had to wait until our turn to check the bags with a Delta agent, then the Red Cap, who waited in line next to us, carted our carry on bags to security, waited for a tip, and left. Have the rules changed? If we have to wait in line at the Delta counter to check a bag, we don't need a Red Cap to tote our carry on bags to security for a tip. So, does anybody know what's going on?

I know that for the most part the " going to the front of the line" at C&I is now much more restricted for red cap porters. I think it is handicapped or wheelchair elderly only now.
It caused a lot of resentment during busy times to see people hustled to the front of the Customs line by porters so an assessment of the procedure was reviewed and changed.

I'm not so much worried about C&I as I am about the checked bag issue. It used to be less than a minute to have a bag checked with no long line at the airline counter for the airline agent to check it. Red Cap would take your ticket, tag the bag, and off you went. No line at the airline counter. Quick and easy. Now, they stand in the long line with you while waiting to do what you do at your home airport. No wonder they want you there two hours early, you will be in line for over one hour. Sigh!

In 2015 all passengers at STT..
Once you get your bags tagged at the airline counter you must take them all the way through the C&I process before standing in one more line to deposit your check luggage back into the system. Then you head to the TSA line with your carry on.
The Red Caps would get you into the C&I queue and that was it.

Not much of a problem these days. The lines through C&I move fast, as does security. Airline counter can be slow but thats due to the airlines understaffing the counters. Combination of C&I getting rid of the paper forms and the general decline in tourism here has helped to ease the airport problems.