TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin how delayed flights work on SXM

We are leaving from Charlotte NC tomorrow (2/26) and the weather here is pretty sketchy - supposed to start snowing tonight and getting 5-8 inches. for anyone in NE they will laugh, but we generally don't have the equipment to deal with big storms down here.
at any rate - if our flight is delayed, is it still easy to get to SXM? I know its a tight schedule for landings/take offs in St Martin so just trying to prepare myself.
thanks! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

Once you leave Charlotte on the direct flight you will get there even if late. You may have to take the bus or even sit on the tarmac but you will be there.

Being from NE I DO understand your concern. Once your flight is able to take off you should be ok! If the airport closes God forbid or your flight is cancelled they will book you on the next available flight. Good luck with your travels tomorrow!

well at least we can have drinks at the airport! I guess I am more concerned because I have my 4.5 yr old with me - makes traveling a little different.
thank you and I am looking forward to some fun in the sun for 10 days (hopefully) <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

If your also concerned about getting to the airport tmr....go tonight and stay in a airport hotel with a free shuttle. We do that a lot and it takes the worry off a bit! :o) Happy Travels!

yeah hard to want to spend $$ on hotel when we are not even 10 minutes from the airport. but we will watch the storm to see how things shape up - really as long as we get snow and not ice this time, it probably will be ok. thanks again!

If you live 10 minutes from the airport and it is too bad to drive there... probably your flight won't be able to leave.

That being said you could monitor your flights status from home and drive to the airport.

SXM??? Wendell

very good point! well fingers are crossed that we have a clear path. thank you

Yeah, NE has gotten slammed hard this year but your concerns are legit even though it should be fine. We here in Maine just got 4 inches of really slippery snow this morning causing a 40+ car/truck pileup on the interstate 25 miles south of where I live, luckily no one was seriously injured or killed! It's not always the snow amounts that are the problem, it's the type of snow and how people drive in it! Good luck! We'll be there in 10 more days and I can't wait to get out of this frozen tundra!!!

Only cold your going to want is a cold one on the beach. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

As the others have said, if you're on a non stop from Charlotte and your plane gets off the ground, you should be fine. I know other people who are supposed to be travelling tomorrow and have to make a connection. Making a connection makes it a lot more dicey. Hopefully you should arrive fine, even if a bit late.

The weather forecast for Charlotte is 5-8 inches of snow overnight. I'd be extremely surprised if flights are departing in the morning. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Sad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Sad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Sad.gif" alt="" />

It's the 'if your plane gets off the ground' part I'd be praying for.

If the flight gets cancelled its a whole other game plan. If I were you, jic, I'd have a Plan B in my back pocket. Nothing involving spent dollars or canceling existing plans, but I would have alternate carriers and flight numbers available jic they might be needed and assuming there are other route options available that you could use if you had to.

We never want to think it's our flight that might get cancelled but it does happen. We had friends who lost three days of their vacation a couple of years ago.

Their well planned and much anticipated Valentines Day dinner at Spiga ended up at one of the JFK area hotel restaurants. All the other flights up to that point were already fully booked so they had to wait it out in NY instead of sunny SXM. And on top of losing half their first week, they had to pay for their own hotel in NY since it was a weather related issue that kept them grounded, and it was too far for them to travel back home in the weather mess that caused the problem in the first place.

At least you're near the airport should the worse happen, but I wonder if a twenty-four hold on seats for for the next day flight would help in that particular situation. I know AA allows you to book and hold tickets for 24 hours and they automatically cancel if not purchased but I don't know if it would work in this situation or if your carrier does this in the first place.

Or - just think positive MY PLANE WILL FLY! MY PLANE WILL FLY!! I sincerely hope all goes well for you and all who are flying tomorrow. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

As I said, IF the plane gets off the ground, she should be fine. It depends whether they delay the flight or cancel it. They will have the problem of the people who are supposed to board that plane to come back home also, possibly those people will be stuck another night on SXM..

I'm sure you have already checked, but I just looked, and Flight Aware is reporting your flight has been canceled. Hope you can get out tomorrow!

Ah, that's really tough when you have weather at your origin point. Hard to even get switched to another flight. I have friends going through Atlanta today and so far everything is ok, they arrived in Atlanta.

bummer - flight was canceled and as of now we are booked to leave first thing Saturday - 2 day delay! and go figure, the snow is already melting here. will try to get something out tomorrow. oddly the lady we are renting a house from has not gotten back with me on our changes.

No way, don't let them screw you out of two days' vacation! Do some research and see if you can find some other way to get there before Saturday. Call back and check to see if you can get switched to AA through Miami or somewhere, at least for tomorrow.

Looking real quick, not sure you want to do it, but I found AA or US Air with two stops, JAX (so should be no weather issues there) and Miami (again, should not be any weather issues) and you would get to SXM tomorrow.

yeah just called and only 1 flight out tomorrow so far - but the agent said to call back later - they may add another flight since the weather is clearing up and so many were canceled. fingers crossed we will be there tomorrow - we will be ready!

Don't know that you want to do it, but as of this minute, you could fly out to Miami this evening and supposedly get on the morning flight from Miami. You might want to call and check that, although it only showed two seats a few minutes ago.

Good luck! I hope you'll leave for SXM as soon as possible. I know the feeling, been there, done that!

5 years ago, due to the blizzard in Pittsburgh, we arrived in SXM 2 days later than planned. On the way back, due to the volcanic eruption at Montserrat and ashes in the atmosphere, our flight left SXM late and we had to stay in Atlanta overnight.
Talk about a nightmare!

Again, good luck!

I've experienced many flight delays over the years but have always been able to get out the within 24hrs.
Don't know if this would work but it might be worth a try. Since you said the weather is clearing up and you live fairly close to the airport you might be able to get on a flight standby via MIA if you are actually at the airport. Others might chime in whether this is a viable option. Good luck.

Actually, as I said before, earlier there were seats available on a flight to Miami, not stand-by, but regular seats, this evening. Overnight in MIA, then first flight tomorrow on AA.

But perhaps US Air will add another flight and she can get the nonstop tomorrow.

Overnighting in MIA is pretty slick with the hotel in the airport. Done it many times down and back. Even if they can't get the morning flight out to SXM from MIA there is another later flight. Lots of places to stay close to airport if they need to take the later flight to spend afternoon by the pool. Turning a cup half empty to one half full.

Yes, there is a later flight, but it doesn't arrive until like 9:30 PM. If they are guaranteed a nonstop on Saturday, it might not be worth it to arrive late on Friday evening. Plus, they'd have to pay for the over night themselves.

Regardless, the principle is don't necessarily just accept whatever they give you, if you can find better alternatives that suit you. One time our Delta flight from Tampa to Atlanta was cancelled that morning, and we were able to get them to switch us to US Air and actually got in that same day, earlier than we would have originally.

I would still want to get there Friday no matter what time it was. Waking up in St Maarten Sat morn would be better than getting there Sat afternoon. Loosing one day is much better than loosing two. I just hope it all works out for them.

I also do hope it works out for them. It is awful getting robbed of vacation time by flight problems.

How did it work out for you?

yes, would like to know what happened..