TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Miami AA baggage question

Does anyone here know if there currently is a special line for checking bags ONLY at Miami? I do not recall there being any such thing recently, but either things could have changed or I didn't remember correctly.

If I still have to stand in the regular line to check bags, I'm not going to bother with this Verifly cr*p.

From my understanding, in SXM, you have to stand in the regular line regardless of whether you have Verifly, just to check bags. Correct?

Carol.....as I recall, there are different lines depending on what you need to do. I seem to remember an area with kiosks where you could print boarding passes (whether you already had them or not), pay for your checked bags and then drop them off in the same area. Then there was another line if you needed anything else. For example, I had to go through the longer, other line because I had overnighted in Miami and had to show my payment receipts to avoid having to pay for checked luggage twice. I would assume it is still the same.

CaribLee--How long ago was this? It USED to be, you could just check luggage outside. And if you can check in online, you can just print boarding passes out at home. I don't think you can print boarding passes any more in the international departures area.

I can't say anything as we have always flown FC on AA to and from SXM and we go to the FC check in line which is usually only 4 or 5 people deep.

Carol We could not check in our luggage outside this past February. Had to stand in line to get our EHAS papers checked. We do not have Verifly.

mort--I don't think anywhere has allowed luggage to be checked outside for a while.

Carol....this was last year.

OK, thanks.

We left from MIA in January and had to go to the international flight check-in area where the first stop was to have them review your EHAS authorization. We then just went to a line to see an agent, check in and give them the luggage. I do not remember seeing any kiosks in this area.

Mikel--I'm assuming that you do NOT have Verifly? And you didn't see a SEPARATE line, just for checking luggage?

I have Verifly but only used it for leaving SXM. And yes, I did not see a separate line. I had checked in online just to prepay for the luggage and it would not process a boarding pass.

OK..

Carol.....we just went through Miami. They do have kiosks where you can print out boarding passes if needed (and even check luggage if you have any). There are numerous lines at the American counter so it can be confusing which you need to get in. We always ask as soon as we get to the American counter and they are pretty good at directing you into the correct line. You can now do Verifly for your trip to St. Maarten. I did and when I got to the counter I told the lady I had Verifly approvals on my phone and asked if that would expedite the process. She said definitely and looked at both approvals. I will say we got boarding passes and were on our way much quicker than most others. And that included checking two bags.

OK, I may try to figure out Verifly if it will help avoid the lines in Miami.

It's not difficult. Basically taking a photo in the app and downloading your vaccine card (just take a picture of the card and download into the app). Everything else is just filling in trip info. Can be done very quickly.

Do manual approval of your vaccine card (you will see that in the app). You will get approval within a few hours. Once you get your Verifly approval, just screenshot it on your phone and you are good to go.

CaribLee--Most people who have filled it out, even those who are pretty computer savvy, have said filling it out is a PITA.

Got the email saying time to check in. After I logged in it said not able to check in online have to go to ticket agent at airport. No mention of Verify. Anybody's guess.

Scubaman--do you have Verifly? I understood, I thought, if you have it, you can check in online.

No. Didn't want another app to put on. We will be checking bags anyway and getting to SEA prettyearly to have dinner in airport before we leave at 10:30pm. Lots of lounge time for refreshments.

CaribLee, agree that filling out verify is very easy and brings with it many benefits. Simple, fast and Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.

Also, MIA is hands down the best airport in Miami with great baggage handling and wheel chair service.

Carol.....I can't speak to others' experience but for me Verifly was not difficult to figure out. And after you do it once, you will know the "drill" and will find it easy to do each time. We made it to St. Maarten yesterday. Enjoyed a nice quiet dinner at Tortuga last night right next to the water. A lovely start to our next 19 days.

bdeeley--I will vehemently disagree that Miami has great wheelchair service, at least with AA in the past. Abysmal is the closest description I would have for it.. Maybe there is such a thing as miracles, and perhaps AA wheelchair service in Miami has improved, and I would be extremely pleased if that were to happen, but not counting on it in the least. As for Verifly, I will look at it, or probably have Eric do it, as he is better with such things.

Hi Carol, We will be flying out of MIA on the 20th., heading to TCI. We have Varifly and will be checking bags. I'll try to get you some answers then, if it's not too late for your trip.

OK, thanks much! We don't go to SXM until June.

Carol,
Flew to LGA a month ago. There were desks outside by curb for baggage check in and boarding passes. Maybe just domestic. Flew Delta.
Cheers
irina

OK, haven't seen any outside baggage check-in for international for a while.

Carol, again. Easiest checkin for Miami is curbside. Always a porter right outside the entrance, they take your bags, check you in, all within maybe two minutes. Our checked bags were out of our hands within ten seconds of being dropped off. Then, right to the gates.

Ed--Just to confirm, that was for a flight to SXM?? We have not been able to check bags outside to go to SXM for several years. If you can check bags outside, that is wonderful news!

we did on our trip in March to SXM. Got dropped off at the door, right in front of the outdoor desk. checked in, showed passport, went to the wheelchair wait, through security and to the gate we went.

Ed--Ok, thanks much.