TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Should I consider changing flights around??

Currently - 3 travelers flying Boston to charlotte this Saturday pm. Arriving 9:30 pm. Staying the night. Meeting a friend coming from Phoenix on the red eye the following morning and flying CLT - STT at 8:30 am.all together .

Weather in charlotte looks crappy for Saturday and maybe into Sunday. But appears to be rain (?). The whole eastern seaboard doesn’t look terrific.

I could change the itinerary to have us all going thru Miami instead. Assuming it’s less of a weather risk. But not my favorite airport. If I really was panicked and made a BIG change I could get us all to STT on Saturday but it would cost me. (And my Phx friend would have to leave at 530 am instead of 11:59 pm).

Worrying is my happy place (as my adult kids tell me). But - would love to hear advice. Or those that understand weather patterns and their repercussions better than I do. Leave it alone? Or shake it up

I would wait and see what AA does. They may issue a weather waiver which gives you free rebooking. The key in Charlotte is will there be freezing rain in the morning. If so it’s certainly going to slow things down. If it’s a rain only event you will be fine. Current low temp forecast is 31 on the weather channel but 33 for the airport.

Or have the Phoenix person fly to Miami on Saturday and the rest of you fly from Boston, through Miami to Tortola on Sunday.

As usual, GeorgeC1 is spot on with his advice, but on early morning flights such as yours scheduled for a Saturday departure, it's the ability to get the aircraft into the hub the night before that really matters. Right now, the Charlotte forecast for Friday is clouds and cold, but no major precip. You may be okay if that doesn't change, because there'll be an airplane there to take you out.

How are you getting from St. Thomas to BVI: ferry, water taxi or flight? If your flight out of Charlotte gets delayed, will you still be able to get to the BVI?

We fly CLT to STT arriving 1:57 Sunday and are flying to Virgin Gorda. Our pilot will wait - I presume- if we are late but that goes against my every controlling grain. 🤣🤣🤣🤣. My husband is retired so we would leave Friday and just hang at the emerald bay and walk to our flight on Sunday. But it’s a lot of moving parts with my son’s girlfriend joining us who has NOT traveled outside the contiguous US ever. So big changes might bring more fear for her than someone like me who apparently lives to shake things up. 😜😜😜. I may look into the Miami connector Her flight times don’t change much and we would overnight in Miami where we actually have friends. It would cost more $$ tho of course. But I really love this forum and all the knowledge.

Chartered flight is a big advantage over ferry. How late is Customs at Taddy Bay open on Sunday? Customs at Beef Island has to stay open until all scheduled flights land. I'm big on contingency planning, which gives Miami an advantage, as there is almost always another flight to San Juan. Not sure if your charter company flies San Juan-Taddy Bay, or how much more that would cost.

I am in the “ always have plan B “ camp also .

If the money difference is not a fortune I would look at Miami. Also agree tho that if the weather window 24 hours out with AA is questionable they should be able to change/ help .

…but that said I worry about the young girlfriend travelling for the first time outside US. …the best part tho is the reward being on Virgin Gorda in the end will be totally worth all the worrying.

Hard decision …frigging stupid weather this time of year eh?

We will be on Virgin Gorda the month of May and can’t wait

8 am Aviation weather update has minimum temp at CLT as 35 at 4am and 36 at 7am. I think you will be fine.

Thank you for looking that up George!!! Very kind!!

Tradewinds is now flying San Juan to Virgin Gorda - scheduled flight (not charter).

The only thing better than having GeorgeC1 giving a weather/ airline prediction is to be having him be your pilot and flying you to BVI!

I only wish I could afford an aircraft I could fly to the BVI! Weather forecast is looking better for CLT on Saturday. Storm is moving in faster than forecast. The NE is going to be a mess starting Saturday evening.

Ok George- time for me to get worried?
My flight is out of STT at 5pm on Delta into JFK on Sunday. My understanding is that in order for me to get out that flight would have to be able to fly in earlier Sun and I'm beginning to not be confident east coast airports will not see major issues. If they anticipate this, any chance they leave our plane in STT so if the storm moves out by later Sun they can run our flight? Or is this wishful thinking?
I can extend our villa thankfully but I'm supposed to be on the 8:30am ferry off VG . My real worry is that Delta cancels me after I'm already stuck on STT.

That’s a bit of a tough call but at the moment JFK weather starts to get much better Sunday morning. I also believe the inbound equipment for that flight actually comes in from ATL. A change in track east for the storm could could create a major snow event for Long Island but at the moment a bit of snow during the day on Saturday quickly turning to rain is all that’s forecast. If that flight could not depart for JFK Sunday afternoon one of two things would happen. They would lay the aircraft over in STT and use it for a extra section Monday morning or they will run the flight to ATL and connect the passengers from there.

Truth...

Forecast for JFK on Sunday has changed with a bit of snow around 1PM as the tail end of the storm moves through. Still don’t see it as causing major issues.
Charlotte looks ok. Rainy and cold But no snow or ice. Maybe some delays but the flights should go.

Update- I weanied out and changed it. Flying to Miami tomorrow noon (big rain there but that’s ok). Moved our phoenix friend to a daytime flight as well. So we all will be together in Miami and having dinner with friends. Then fly out 8:30 the following morning. No luggage to check but I hear Miami security lines have been horrible so we will leave a lot of extra time. We all have global entry and tsa but she doesn’t so.:::: Biggest bonus is we arrive STT an hour and a half sooner. So that’s nice.

Thank you all for you support and help. In the end - I don’t love to roll the dice (tho I love gambling so that’s a weird hypocrisy). This trip is so short , I feel better doing it the way we are.

Skipdastraw- if you end up not leaving we will be at Sugarcane Sunday evening. God willing. 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎

George- thanks for the updates. What are the chances that if flights start getting backed up they'll let me know pretty far in advance? I'd need to know by 8:30 AM about a 5:20 flight. Otherwise I'm on the ferry. I'm guessing they won't give me that much notice.
Gettinbye- haven't been to Sugarcane this trip so if we get stuck maybe we'll see you there!

As scheduled the aircraft for your JFK flight comes off flight 1889 from ATL. I would check the status of that flight the morning you leave. Delta has 3 flights inbound from the US to STT. 2 come from ATL and 1 from JFK. Once all 3 flights are airborne from the US you can feel reasonably assured they will make the return from STT. I don’t think you will know that by 8:30 but you could check at that point and if they all show ontime departures scheduled at least have a good idea.

George- I'm seeing DAL1889 out of Atlanta every day at 11:35. That's my plane? So if see that plane cancelled I can be certain I'll be cancelled as well?
I was taking the 11:30 ferry from RT to STT so if I even know by then I'll just hop back to VG. I'm feeling good I should at least know in enough time to not head over to STT. This is incredibly helpful! Thanks!

It’s not 100% but likely if 1889 were to cancel then your flight would be canceled. Delta would have 2 aircraft and 3 outbound flights. Usually they will cancel the latest but they could decide to operate the 2 ATL flights. The JFK forecast has changed yet again and they are now looking at a snow event. There are no weather issues for the two ATL flights. The JFK flight is 1910 leaving at 8:10. If a flight were to be canceled that’s actually the likely one. Keep in mind the BVI is one hour behind the US which does not help your decision. I would check both ATL flights in the morning and the JFK. In Snow events they thin the herd often the night before so a CNX should be posted well before that 8:10 departure time.

Ok George I'm keeping a watchful eye. Let me know if you see major changes please?
Unfortunately even if we make it into JFK we still have to drive 1.5 hrs north to home where we are predicted to get 10-12 inches. Such fun this time of year!
Thanks again!

George- how invaluable you are to this forum. Thanks for all the tips and knowledge. Skipdastraw- I think you should just cancel and stay three more days and then the roads will be good. My unsolicited two cents. We live on the coast north of Boston and they act like the sky is falling down. But we will likely get 2”. That said- north and west is definitely going to get it. Stay put. I will buy you a painkiller. 😎😎😝

Delta has issued a weather waiver for the NYC airports and Boston. You can rebook for free. That drive does not sound like it will be fun.

Oh jeez that doesn't sound promising. Now I'm torn as to what to do.

They are only calling for 1 to 2 inches of snow at JFK. You can sit on it until about 9 pm tonight. If Delta thins flights you will know at that point if it operates. I suspect the flight will be fine. It’s the drive that would worry me. That is an area where you will know far more than me.
I do think the flights will operate normally. They thin the regional jets first and then flights with easy alternative bookings. STT would have a high priority.

I will take your lead and see what it looks like tonight.
So just to be clear, if the 11:35 flight out of ATL looks like it's good still tonight, then I should probably keep my current flight. I got that right?

That’s what I would do. I would also check the other two flights.

Right now everything looks good. All 3 flights are planned to operate and the weather at JFK should be passable tomorrow. Just North of NYC looks a bit ugly!

Can't thank you enough for your guidance!
Right now we are sitting tight. Packing and assuming departure as planned and see what the AM brings.

George- just wanted to thank you again- made it home with absolutely no issues (except coming home to over a foot of snow!). If not for your advice I probably would have panicked and re-booked unnecessarily.
Gettinbye- have a fabulous trip...painkillers next time! 😀

Will be following along and May need George’s advice in March . Flying from Boston /JFK to Europe for a stretch then to STT onward to VG via ferries end of April. Always a gamble with East coast storms in March .