TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Feb '25 trip planning - AA to EIS

Anyone have recent experience or news about AA to EIS from Miami?

I am considering it for our Feb 25 trip. Memory tells me this route was having issues.

We took this flight on April 15th. Dtw to Eis. We had a one hour connection. I was concerned because the air train was not working. I asked a golf cart driver if she could take us to gate d55, we landed at Gate d1. She said no, I can take to you gate D 24where the train will take you your gate. 5 $ later we were at our gate with plenty of time.
These fights are weigh restricted. They were offing $1200.00 to take the later flight. There were five of us. They couldn’t get us there until the next day. We all got on the 1:00 flight, dive bvi picked us up, we were on our beach at 330. No bad leaving Detroit at 6am.
We flew out on May 3. Everything was on time, again weigh restrictions. We tried to get on the earlier flight but with the restrictions we couldn’t. We will be doing the same flights next April/ May. Hope this helps your decision.

Ellen

We just returned from a trip and took this flight both ways. Our preferred way for sure.

Thanks..I'll stick with STT and the ferry

Took this flight in January arriving was fine the departure was a different story. Due to weight restrictions because of the short runway we had to stop for fuel in Puerto Rico which took an hour and a half. Missed connections in Miami. AA did put me up in a very nice hotel even though I was only there for a few hours better than sleeping in the airport.

I assume wind conditions are a primary contributor to the issues being reported. We are taking this route next month - fingers crossed, we are a lighter family in body mass, but we make up for it with bags.

Have taken this route several times, and will do so again at the end of June. Without question, it is the preferred route for us. The ability to be on island at EIS by 11:30 am the day of departure makes it possible to get off the docks the same day. We are still at a stage of life where every vacation day counts, and thus the day saved in travel has real value.

Sure, there is the possibility that flights can be disrupted. And yes, the probability of a disrupted flight out of EIS is higher than out of STT. That said, if AA experienced this at a high rate, the route would not be profitable, and would eventually be terminated. It's a small sample size, as the route has only been in existence for about a year, but it seems to be very popular, as they keep adding capacity.

I continue to be in the camp of "more options are better than less". I know many here will continue to use STT and ferry, almost regardless. Having been visiting regularly for only 10 years, I have much less experience, to be sure. I appreciate the option the AA route provides, none-the-less.

The E175 used on the route requires a minimum headwind and a dry runway to depart non stop to Miami. Even with those conditions they need to restrict the weight. Currently they are only booking the flight outbound to 60 people. The aircraft has 76 seats which is the max passenger load American is allowed to sub contract to outside airlines. Normally the aircraft would seat 82 to 86. They are running it at less than ¾ capacity.
The route however is very profitable with the current fare structure.

Ahoy Captains,

The Captains Compass is offering Free Sleep Aboards for anyone flying into EIS.
8 Guests arriving in the Evening by Ferry on 15 Apr were 3 Hours late due to engine troubles on the Ferry.
Then 6 Guests, from the same charter, spent the Night of 26 Apr on floor of STT due to flight cancellations due to Tornados across the mid USA.

I would find it very useful if Anyone could do a spreadsheet on the Expenses of Flying AA RT MIA-EIS, as opposed to a Flight & Ferry with the cost of the Loss of 1 Night of Charter & Hotel in STT.

I Need More Quality Cats for Chartering !
Fair Winds, Brent
thecaptainscompass.com Yacht Charters and Management
heatseekerinternational.com 5% Comm and Sales-Tax-Free Yacht Brokerage

The new flight is a game changer, particularly for those who can now get to the BVI in two flights instead of three. We have taken it successfully, and have already booked it for December.

Brent, apart from missed ferry connections, add in the higher, post-Covid, ferry fares and luggage charges, plus taxis. I suspect for many it would be cheaper to charter a plane for the last leg.

It is an hour or less connection time for us from DTW to arrive same day. I am not willing to risk that in MIA. I also get 6 free bags with Delta and with the amount of stuff we lug to the boat each trip I need it. We routinely take a water taxi inbound and the ferry on return. It is what it is for us.

Cancellations and delays can happen anywhere but they are far less frequent at STT then EIS however sleeping on the floor at STT is not. No hotels available, not even with the Westin and Frenchman’s Reef now open?

Thanks all.

Our trips are to VG. We typically fly into either SJU or STT and use Island Birds for arrival and Island Birds to SJU for departure.

I think we will stick with that. Our schedules are not yet flexible enough to not mind missing a day on either end of the trip.

We do DCA to SJU then Island Birds as well...get in around 100

@bailau, you turned me on to the SJU route a few years ago. Does anyone know what the cost is from SJU to Anegada via Island Birds? I have Nadia's number. Just curious if anyone has flown that route on this board.

MIA-EIS non-stop is now our preferred. We've taken it 4 times now. No issues. AA added a 2nd flight each afternoon which improves the reliability, I think. Booking in advance and watching fares the total fare vs flying thru STT (including the offset ferry and taxi costs) is slightly more, but comparable.....worth it for me considering the shorter total travel time from the west coast.

I am also in the camp of "the more options the better", while certainly respecting and appreciating Malcom's position and experience and approach to things.

It's been nearly 10 years since our last trip down, so not sure when we will be able to make it down again, but hopefully we'll be able to make it somewhat routine again as our kids (ages 5 and 2.5) are approaching the stage where we can realistically bring them along and start sharing the beauty and blessing that the BVI is with them. Selfishly, I'd just as soon tell you all that this route is a miserable experience to be avoided.

We just flew the route for our recent trip April 27 to May 7 - with very mixed results. I do not think the MIA-EIS leg had much to do with our issues. We are flying out of JAX, so JAX-MIA-EIS and reverse was the plan. I'll start by saying that our flight back from EIS-MIA yesterday afternoon was fantastic, close to perfect. I think the only frustration was that they started boarding before the time that they even announced over the loudspeaker in the airport. We were grabbing some chicken fingers outside security with plenty of time, then they announced they would begin boarding about 20 minutes or so early (and then boarded even earlier than they had announced). Net-net, by the time we got through security, we were late to board with our group (we were group 5 and didn't get in until group 7) and had to play some bag Tetris to get our two carry ons to fit in the overhead bin at the front of the plane (not first class but first 2-3 rows behind first class) where we were sitting. Not a huge issue in the grand scheme of things. Plane was boarded and doors closed quite early, but then sat on the tarmac waiting for another plane to land and ended up leaving only slightly early. I have to give credit, the AC on the plane was quite cold, even without the engines running. It was very comfortable relative to some other experiences we have had on the tarmac in the past). Excellent flight and we landed a few minutes early at MIA. The plane and seats were comfortable and the service was excellent. We had some turbulence on our flight, but not too bad and overall it was a very enjoyable experience.

Following our particular flights on flightstats.com, it seems that the flight takes off and lands ahead of schedule more often than not.

Now to the flip side. And I knew this was a risk ahead of time and should have changed our plans accordingly. Our original itinerary allowed for only a 45 minute layover in Miami on the way down. Instead of taking the 8am from JAX-MIA, we absolutely should have gone ahead and taken the 6am from JAX-MIA. We did book seats right up front on that leg and even decided late to upgrade to first class to be sure we would be the first off the plane at MIA. Unfortunately, we were awoken at 4am on the morning of our flight down to notifications that our flight would be delayed. We pretty much spent the rest of the day scrambling to get to the islands in whatever way we could. AA initially rebooked us to the same flight the next day. We eventually ended up taking our original delayed flight from JAX-MIA, and making it to the gate well in time for the later flight to EIS which would have gotten us in by about 3pm. Despite the fact that we had been bumped by AA's issue, and that there were others on that later MIA-EIS flight willing to give up their seats and accept the $1,200 vouchers, AA still put those people on the plane and told us there would be room for us, but eventually shut the doors without us because of weight restrictions. We finally made our way on to a flight that got us into STT around 4pm and took the cab over to the ferry dock at CA and had some wonderful drinks and AMAZING fried chicken before catching the 5:30 Bomba Charger to RT. Then had to catch a cab to pick up our Hertz car rental at EIS, thanks to Diane who stayed late to get our car to us along with someone else who had a late flight coming in. Also, need to shout out to the good folks at Heritage Inn/Bananakeet who once again stayed open just for us for a late dinner after a very long day.

All of the extra hitches certainly cost us a good amount more money, including tips for the several people who went out of their way to help us out, but at least we got there on the same day, eventually.

Net/Net, I would recommend this route, but allow extra time and additional connection options. The JAX-MIA flight had a very strong track record of being on time for the few weeks that I followed it before our trip, but I got queezy in the stomach about a week out when I noticed that the Saturday flight that we were on was also an hour late the week prior to our trip. While our plane was supposed to be on the ground at JAX by 9pm the night prior, due to "mechanical reasons", that previous flight didn't actually get in until Saturday morning. No idea if the previous week thing was a coincidence or something that tends to occur. Long story short, we should have known better and taken the earlier flight. If we had, we would have had no issues, or worst case would have had a backup option that could have gotten us to our original connection on time. While we hoped if we missed our original connection that AA would have found a way to get us on the later flight, given the weight restrictions, that turned out not to be the case.

Lots of detail there, but hope this is helpful to OP and perhaps others.

I will add that our takeaway was a reinforcement that we very much prefer flying into EIS, clearing customs at the airport and picking up a car there, vs the taxi shuffle, the ferry experience, and especially the customs ferry dock experience. Perhaps that is the wrong lesson to learn, but I think if we had just taken the 6am flight out of JAX and accepted not hugging and saying goodbye to our little girls the morning of and having the 3 hour layover at MIA, we would likely have had a very smooth and premium travel experience, and arrived on Tortola much happier and better rested.

I dont but SJU to EIS is $6500 for the 9 seater...there is also a $50/head cost one way for something that is built into the regular carrier airfare (I am sure George knows).

By comparison 2 years ago it was $5,000.

I did fly Silver in April as I was solo and was impressed with their new planes and the flights were on time. The MIA EIS contingent of our crew made it down OK but were delayed getting back. I like SJU customs better than MIA. We gave up STT years ago due to ferry and lack of options out if/when the flight is delayed.

Althoguht Nadia still at Island Birds there is a Aneika Hodge now who does most of the logistics. info@islandbirds.com
Aneika Hodge <aneika.hodge@islandbirds.com>

SJU upped some fee for departing from (but not arriving into) the airport, which is why the cost increased so much. We take a cab to Isla Grande airport to avoid that cost.

The fee is a BVI fee and you are correct as it would save us by doing the cab thing...we are usually tryign to beat the clock to get the boat out that day