TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Heads Up for Delta and AA Connections!

No formal notification yet but upon checking my Delta return flight for March, it has been changed and would now require an overnight in ATL. I also checked AA and they have eliminated some of the later night flights and for a friend flying AA back into DAY, the connection time is now 1h 14m, which I highly doubt will work.

The March trip is very likely not going to happen for me. Way too many changes and hoops to jump through and potential government B/S on both ends.

Check your flights and do NOT rely on airline notification. Depending on your airport, you may or may not be ok.

Wow, crap. Sorry.

Jd. We were booked on Delta from 3/2 to 3/16. They cancelled our return (our return plane was still coming in on the 16th, but not leaving until the 17th). We were able to leave one day later (poor us) and still had the same flight times. Weird. Maybe they already knew the incoming crew would be over the allowable fly hours. Bob

They originally switched us to return two days early.

Sorry to hear. J.D.

Bob, thanks but it appears Delta is not going to work from DAY. Friends on Delta from CVG are still ok. I am looking at some AA options but I am VERY UNCOMFORTABLE with 1H 14M connection on the return. Even if everything goes well, 74 minutes is not something I am comfortable with but AA says it is a "legal" connection. Still exploring options, but Delta has already processed the refund for my return. I was on AA going down and Delta coming back.

One thing to Possibly consider.

Family Member flew out of MCO To CVG last Wednesday afternoon.

From time of drop off outside terminal Until through security - Only 8 minutes. That never was the case in old days.

Tram ride to terminal, only 1 person on train - only her.

An 1:14 minute connection these days might be plenty.

We are dealing with customs and immigration on the return. While I expect fewer passengers, CLT can sometimes be severely understaffed in that area.

https://awt.cbp.gov/

They can give you avg and avg max wait times for a date range at ATL Terminals or any other airport

Thank you but I personally feel 74 minutes is taking a huge gamble to clear and make the connection.

If you have Global Entry and don't have to wait for checked baggage in CLT, then that's enough time to connect. Of course, that assumes you leave SXM on time. Were it me, I'd book it. CLT is a very easy airport to navigate, and their immigration area is very efficient. However, waiting for baggage there is always a problem, so I wouldn't do it if I had checked bags.

74 minutes is a huge gamble, J.D. One that I simply won't chance any longer. I'm not sure exactly where you live (I think you told me last year), but is Detroit to SXM out of the question for you? Both Delta and AA would have flights available for the dates you mentioned above, and I have flown into Detroit from international destinations and they were always very efficient and well-organized. Might be worth the drive up to Michigan if you want to check this out. Plus, Wayne County airport is well outside the Detroit city limits which helps a bit. Just a thought.

SammyM..DAY is 15 minutes from my house. DTW is around 4 hours and potential northern OH/MI weather to deal with along with probably an overnight on both ends and parking. CVG is close to 2 hours and CMH is about 90 minutes. Thank you.

GaKaye..No global entry for me and with going 12 days, I would likely have a checked bag. CLT used to be our favorite airport to use, vs Delta and ATL, but the last few times there have been huge backups at C & I, due to the number of arrivals at one time and significant lack of staffing. Still kicking it around as I am committed to lodging and would really like to go. Thank you.

We will miss you, JD, if you decide not to come. Flying United we used to not do an overnight, but it was just too stressful, even though we never missed the connecting flight. It is just so much more relaxing to stay overnight. Another $100 or 2 for a hotel room in the scheme of things is well worth it for us.

Thanks, still looking at a couple of options.

Two thoughts:



Not if you are returning through ATL and do not have Global Entry. We returned yesterday SXM/ATL/BOS. We had what seemed to be a two mile walk from the gate to immigration. Eight of ten Global Entry kiosks were working...nobody using them except us. Did our thing in under 60 seconds and went to get in line....the line, no exaggeration had to have multi-hundreds of people in it. The agent saw our GE receipt and diverted us to that officer....ZERO people in front of us....MAJOR advantage this time. MAJOR stress eliminator. Going TO SXM is fine with that connection. We had less and it was not an issue

..and...the SXM-ATL had 110 empty seats. The 11 rows behind us were totally empty with some passengers after that. The ATL-BOS flight was maxed out. If the middle seats weren't blocked I bet it would have been full. Probably makes sense for the airlines to concentrate the SXM legs until things pick up....not a comforting thought for already booked flights though

Thanks but the ATL connection is not an option for me as it was around 30 minutes and they cancelled on me. It is going to be either CLT or possibly PHL if I decide to go. Hope you had a good trip.

Great trip....so glad we went

I would have more hope with the CLT or PHL than ATL with no GE....but I haven't done either is a couple of years and that experience is worthless now. IT's kinda like you KNOW one is bad so the others MIGHT be better.....or not

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/tra...YwhUEAAYASAAEgJ_kfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Philly Airport Marriott - did this last time to Sxm. Year before overnighted CLT. Philly easier, no airport shuttle.

Thanks but there should not be a need to overnight in PHL with a 3 hour connection window.

Came through CLT Sunday night on AA (planes were packed with people trying to beat the new testing requirements) With Global Entry and carry-on I was at my departure gate in 35 minutes.

Very fast for sure.
How many other planes had landed and needed to clear C & I around the same time?

I'm not sure about the number of planes, but the C&I lines seemed fairly long - although well staffed and moving pretty quickly. I had to wait maybe two minutes for a GE kiosk to open up.

That reminds me...ATL....10 GE terminals with 7 working which isn't bad. I put my passport in, crouched down to get my head pic and out came my receipt...no flight number confirm, no questions asked, no fingerprint scan. My wife next to me had to do all of the above. First time that ever happened to me....walked to the empty GE line and just handed my slip to the agent...done

Today I finally received email notification of my AA flight changes. More than 1 week after I was aware of the changes after checking my account.

That has happened to me before with AA. At least they send notifications.

Sometimes they send them. Still nothing from Delta but that flight is now history.

I wouldn’t trust Delta. Last March as we were trying to get off the island, we received notification that our flight was being canceled as we were leaving for the airport They obviously knew hours before that they weren’t coming but chose to wait until the last minute to inform us. I ended up making four more reservations, two with Delta and one with AA were canceled at the last minute. We eventually got off on a UAL 737 with 11 people on it.
We’re planning on coming down again on 3.11.21 and hoping things don’t explode between now and then.

Good luck. I also had a Delta return cancelled last year, but I received the notice several days ahead. I think on Monday for a Friday flight. I had planned on arriving 3/7 this year but with airline changes and going back to the 3 day testing window, it is not going to happen now for me.

Delta always give us the "Time to check in" email/text 24 hours before the flight. If I didn't get that it would be a major red flag....and...I always check the flights two days in advance anyway