TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Charlotte airport

Hi - has anyone connected in Charlotte recently? How much connection time is needed now when coming to Charlotte from SXM??? thanks

Depends on the day and time you land and whether you have global entry. On a weekday, you can make it through pretty quickly provided your bags arrive on time. Even on a Saturday, with global entry you can make it through pretty quick, provided your bags arrive on time.

And how many other flights get there at the same time!

I wouldn't be comfortable with less than an hour and a half.

There haven't been any sxm clt flights since Irma. That starts in November. What was said in other posts would pertain once it is in effect.

I found the biggest problem was waiting for checked bags. If you have only carry on then this will save you at least 30 minutes or ore. As mentioned above, this was pre-Irma.

Remember, the only downside if your flight arrives on time and you clear immigration & customs quickly is that you'll have some extra wait time at the gate for your connecting flight. But (and it's a BIG BUT), if you have a very short connection time and you arrive at your connecting gate 2 minutes after the boarding process closes you've missed your flight. Error on the side of having a longer connection time rather than a shorter connection time. I travel often, have Global Entry and almost always get through Immigration, Customs & TSA very quickly but my rule of thumb is I never book an international connection with less than 90 minutes between flights. Two hours is better.

Shoot! I am currently on my third flight change for a November trip. I now have a 63-minute connection in CLT, and it's the last flight out of the day to PDX. Guess I'd better hope for another flight change.

Linda, for your sake I hope the flights change. 63 minutes is not enough time in CLT in my experience...especially if the flight from SXM is delayed.

That is plenty of time going to sxm from pdx as that was your change.

She is going through CLT on her way to SXM. Plenty of time.

Sorry but you misread OP’s question - she asked about going through CLT on the way back

“...ss]Hi - has anyone connected in Charlotte recently? How much connection time is needed now when coming to Charlotte from SXM??? thanks[/quote]

And that is why my post wasn't directed to the OP. It was directed to jazzgal after she posted concerns on going to sxm.
Also beach kitten directed hers to jazzgal also thinking she was on a return flight. Best to read who posts are directed to before jumping on someone.

No, Scubaman, I am talking about returning from SXM through CLT, not going to SXM through CLT.

Quote: " I now have a 63-minute connection in CLT, and it's the last flight out of the day to PDX" Emphasis added

Out of SXM, I have connected through CLT, PHI, MIA and ATL and I would choose CLT any day of the week. My shortest ever successful connection on a return from SXM was 43 minutes, accomplished through CLT, and I sweated it the whole time as security bumped me to the front of the line and even called my gate to let them know I would be there in moments.

I stand corrected. Must be that last rum. No way a 63 min connection time will work. I'm surprised the airline even did this. Not sure if its even a legle connect time for a returning international flight.

I actually don't think that is a legal connect time for an international flight.

Jazzgal--do you have Global Entry? Even with that, I doubt you could make it. I know that you always go for several weeks, so you will be checking a bag. I have to assume that AA switched you to that routing, you didn't pick it? I would go ahead now and call and try to get it changed, even though there are several months until your flight. I always 'heard' that if YOU booked something that was not a legal connection on an international flight, that the airline is not responsible if you miss your connection because of clearing customs and immigration.

They did about the same thing to me in April, also going through CTL. I called them and they switched me to an earlier flight with no hassle at all. They were very accommodating and it went way better than i had planned for! I was leaving, not returning, so i'm not sure if a change is possible for you. Maybe change days if possible?

Yes, I do have Global Entry. Yes, I booked this routing, but the itinerary I booked had a 1.75-hour connection. There was a second change, but that was on the outbound routing. This third change is the one that has the short connection. I will call them to see what they can do.

Since you did not book THIS exact flight time and since they made a change to what you did book you should be able to get it changed.... BUT do a bit of research before calling to find a more appropriate flight and ask for what you see as available instead.

I should add...this is my fear with giving AA a chance for our mid-January trip also through CLT...no changes yet and hoping there will not be any

"I should add...this is my fear with giving AA a chance for our mid-January trip also through CLT...no changes yet and hoping there will not be any"
We have our May/June trip booked going through CLT> I expect changes but hope they all have a decent connection time if they do change.

Yes, I've done the research. For several days before and after, there is only one departure on AA out of SXM. And the flight I'm currently on is the only one that gets me back home on the same day; all others require an overnight somewhere. Grrrrrr.

I thought AA added extra flights to MIA and CLT for this November. None of them show up for Portland connections without an overnight?

AA does bring back one of their CLT flights starting the first weekend in November. I believe one of their additional flights from MIA doesn’t start until December. If someone knows more, than hopefully they will share.

Correct, or it's the same short connection to DFW or PHX. There is now a later flight out of SXM (since the last time I looked) to MIA then either CLT-PDX or DFW-PDX. But it requires an overnight. I didn't have time to call today but will soon.

American Airlines is scheduled to begin their additional “daily” flight from Miami on 19 December 2018. The reurn of their scheduled service is to begin on 4 November 2018.