I am less than impressed. The good news is: we had a jetway. That is a terrific improvement! Upon entering the building, took escalator down one level to arrival hall. There were a ton of people there, I assume coming in on a flight that didn't have a jetway. Ropes separated four or five long lines of people. I was one of the first off my plane but still had a long wait after being mixed in with the folks from another flight. It appeared to me that many folks had not completed the entry form and were taking awhile at the kiosks. After the kiosk read my passport, I was directed to see an "official." You have your picture taken at this next spot. Then on to passport control (?) where I got my passport stamped. The agent asked if I had been on flight from MIA or CLT, where was I staying, and a couple other questions already answered on the online entry form. I told her I had filled out the form and asked why I was having to answer the questions again. She said they don't see the results of the form. I asked what the purpose of the form was then; "I don't know" was the response.
By the time I got through the three stations, my luggage was out. Bit of a cluster on that as well as flight number was listed on two different monitors; passengers from my flight were at both belts with some getting their luggage, others not. About 50 minutes from landing to exiting arrival hall.
Well so much for the new and improved system. Sorry to hear your arrival was a mess. But on the bright side you're on island and hope you have a wonderful visit, and looking forward to your reports. Our arrival experience will happen next month, our fingers are crossed that everything works.
Beats standing outside in the heat, but still less than it should be. We arrive Sunday, with rarely checked bags (donations). I have my expectations low, we will see.
CLT. I like that one because there's a three-hour layover. I can go to Admiral's Club for free, have breakast, and change from PNW clothes to SXM clothes.
We do to but because of price I got and timing from SEA we are going through MIA direct and returning through CLT. Same layovers and will be using the lounge.
We will be on the red eye to Miami Saturday night with a 2.5 hr layover in Miami. We don't mind as it gives us time to shower, change, eat and relax at the club for a bit. I think the CLT lounge has better food, and a more relaxing vibe than Miami but the cost was high. We leave to go home out of Anguilla this trip, it was about $500 less per person than from SXM so that justifies a few days there prior to leaving. I love justifying extra days. We are booked to make it home in two flights same day, not often do we get that option or does that option hold up as we travel but hopeful.
Yes, aware of FC access to the lounges. Something to consider is the AE Platinum Card where you get access to the Centurion Lounge but only for yourself unless you are pushing $75k per year across the card. The fee is high, but here are a lot of benefits that I use that make most if not all of it back up. The Centurion Lounge at CLT gets over crowded at times but the drinks and food are much better. The AA lounge fills up at times as well, but usually first thing in the morning off a red eye they are both fine.
I'm confused. I thought you weren't supposed to have to see an agent if you filled out the form online? Was everyone having to see a real person?
Two real people. One at the photo posts telling you where to stand, and then another asking silly questions and stamping your passport. I thought you didn't get stamps any more, but that wasn't the case yesterday. I have no clue how it's supposed to be, just what I experienced yesterday.
Sorry to hear that arrival did not go well. By the response you got to your questions, would guess that either no real training has been provided or the staff just doesn’t care. Hopefully we can meet up with you after our arrival on Nov 18.
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