TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Requesting travel advice/opinions on Jet Blue

Plan to travel to SXM in mid-August and would like to know if anyone has any advice on when I might be the best time to book to take advantage of cheap airfares. Also, has anyone had any experience on flying Jet Blue to SXM? Thanks, in advance

Best time to take advantage of cheap airfare is when you see cheap airfare...

MANY here (and me) have flown JB to SXM....great flight

We have flown Jet Blue many times from Portland, Maine and have had very good service every time.

What airport are you flying out of? We fly from Tampa all the time on JetBlue. We booked Aug/Sept a few months ago and got great rates---120/150 each way.
Having said that, to me anything under or around 200/250 each way is not bad.

We use Jet Blue direct to SXM from Boston and love it. Little more expensive than some other airlines but JB's a smooth operation and it's worth the extra to fly direct--- don't have to worry about a plane change and miss possible precious time in SXM.

Don't know what flights they offer in August but we have several to choose from in Feb/March.

Use JetBlue direct Boston/SXM. Would not consider any other venue.
Booked once again for April.

Jim,

Don't know where you're traveling from and what your other options might be, but as a CT.YANKEE who has the option of using multiple airports and then multiple carriers out of my preferred airport, which is JFK, Jet Blue is not my first choice in SXM transport.

When they first came on the scene I read with interest the raves reviews but for the most part, AA has been good for us so I was hesitant about taking the leap and making the change.

Situations change as has AA so I've now used Jet Blue on multiple flights but given my choice and assuming non-stops are available, I'm sticking with AA whenever possible.

In April we will be taking AA n/s to the island but coming home again on JB because we had a free ticket but I just booked my December trip and I chose to do so on AA r/t n/s at prices just slightly below the recently announced JB prices for weekend travel. And doing so, I fully acknowledge the fact JB will probably run a few sales that will beat what I paid but having flown the two, AA still remains my preferred carrier.

Two things in particular about JB that I've noted are their dedicated international immigration hall in T5 at JFK is a shorter walk than AA which makes that one very nice plus. Their check-in regs at PJIA are annoying. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

But in the end, it's all about what works for each traveler so the thing to do is give JB a try and form your own opinions. You may well fall into the group who loves them, too. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

ditto for us! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> When do you fly out? Maybe we'll be on the same flight!

It really depends where you are flying out of. If you let everyone know they can tell you what a "General" good fare is. It's really a crapshoot when to book.

We flew JB from JFK-SXM two weeks ago. Our flight ont he way down was dleayed because hte pilot was sick and they had to wait for a replacement. OK, stuff happens but the flight attendants were not so friendly considering we were delayed 2 hours and at least could have offered a free drink.

Return flight from SXM we were told an hour prior to boarding that we had to make an unexpected stop in San Juan. Again, the flight attendants were not so friendly and nothing complimentary (like an alcoholic drink or a snack pack or whatever they call it which they charge you for anyway) for the inconvenience. The food for sale was pretty lame. Arrived at JFK and went through a slow and annoying immigration experience at T5 and then waited almost an hour for the baggage. Basically, not impressed. I have flown them to Aruba and that experience was better. The positive about JB is there is mor eroom in coach. However, starting this year they are planning to cram more seats into the plane so that benefit will be gone. I usually go for the lowest fare as I can't say any of the American carriers are any good.

Now I flew home from Europe on Lufthansa not too long ago...that was how flying should be...and it was in regular economy but passengers were treated like paying customers, not an annoyance to the flight attendants!

sorry for all the typos above...was typing very quickly

Thanks, all for all the valuable information! Will probably fly out August 15 from DCA (Reagan National) and am persuaded by the favorable reviews to try Jet Blue

Non stop JB from JFK to SXM. And I know timeshare folks don't have the option but we but we usually fly on a weekday. Usually $800-$900 r/t for both of us. No issues yet.

JB is my airline of choice as long as the price is near the competition but what ever happened to the "changes" that were supposed to be in place by spring?...different fare structures, ? fee for 1st bag, seat config change etc.

It still looks the same to me....

I have to agree. Jet Blue is not what it used to be EXCEPT at check in. When we fly direct from Boston to SXM on Saturday morning, we get through our checkin process FAR faster than on American. The lines at American are out the door. Jet Blue has more agents to assist with checkin and are SO MUCH FRIENDLIER than the American Agents.

The more room in coach is nice but like you said, that is going away.

I'm curious as to why you are standing in line to check in anyway. Why aren't you checking in online? Can you not check bags outside?

was thinking the same thing, We always check in online

Carol,
Even though I do check in on-line, I prefer to go inside of Logan for the bag check in. The JB Int'l check in counters are maybe 30 feet inside from the door and totally separate from all the domestic flight counters. Stood outside once in chilly Boston weather once, but you're in with all the JB flyers.
Years ago we were all lumped together and that was a mess, but kudos to JB for the change a few years ago. It is far faster to just go inside. This Saturday, it was rainy and damp and I laughed at those standing outside.
If I was down south, I'd stand outside more than likely.

Given that we travel in winter and are not in a warm climate, it is far better to go inside.

OK, that makes sense, if it's a long line to check bags outside. Usually here the lines are pretty short.

Hmmm...we always do the bag drop thing inside at Logan (JB) and, as far as i know, there is a bag drop line on the left (usually with 8 million people in it) and a full service area on the right ( with only a million but it takes longer per person) and the kiosks.

Where is this special "international check in" you are speaking about??

When entering the center door to Terminal C just a take a few steps and turn right and after a few more steps look left and turn and you'll be there. The small counter starts with Cape Air on the left and ends with Jet Blue Int'l. To the right of the counter is Jerry Remy's Sports Bar across the walkway.

We've been traveling exclusively with Jet Blue from Boston. They have a non-stop from Boston in high season only, however, I've connected thru SJU and the gate from Boston is directly next to the gate for SXM so it was cinchy. The return, not so hot. Not J.B.'s fault.....it's the SJU airport is so huge and the International terminal is very far from Immigration/Customs. If you have any walking issues I strongly suggest requesting a wheelchair.
RE: cheap flight on J.B.....good luck. I haven't gotten a good fare with them in a couple of years. We pay the price for the service. We do love the non-stops.
Good Luck and enjoy SXM.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> Contessa

We love JB... Not the cheapest, but we have an AMEX/JB miles card to rack up the miles and with kids/Grdkids in LA and loving the Caribbean sand, they don't go to waste. hate they only have n/s out of Logan on the wknds.

One caveat though. If you are not flying direct, you have to use the longer line.....so if you are connecting through JFK first, you can't use the international checkin.

Ahhhhh....so SJU connect would be a no go also. We only return N/S (Saturday)...always connect going to SXM (Sunday)

Thanks for the info for the future though...

We love Jet Blue. We try to do all of our traveling using JB. We are going to SXM in five weeks. We fly from Boston to JFK (love that terminal) and then to SXM. Return flight on May 2 is direct flight from SXM to Boston. Just love it. We bought our tickets down last summer and tickets back in late October, I think. With combination of miles and money, think it's about 600 for the two of us. Right now, Yapta is quoting 1000 round trip. We book early and if the prices go down JB has always refunded the miles or money into our miles account and jb bank account. I believe that may have recently changed, though.

Correct, the cash back deal if the price goes down has virtually gone away. I think there is some short period of time after you book you can get money back regardless of the amount, but otherwise, it has to be something like over $100.

According to Yapta, the change fee is $75 for JB now. I still am tracking this most recent flight for November through Yapta, but don't hold much hope of getting a credit since the price we got was pretty good. Too bad; I loved those credits. Used the last of them in my bank against the cost of the November tix. Still free luggage (1 bag per person).

Question, I am planning a return trip to SXM in Nov/Dec. I have never flown Jet Blue, but was considering for this trip. I am a tall guy at 6'2" and was looking for the extra leg room. Do you know when the extra leg room is going away? Also, someone noted that connecting via SJU is a "no go" for for them. Is it worse then MIA??? Just went through there last week on my why home from SXM and it is bad.. can SJU be worse?

Thanks!

The International Check In is still basically where it was; however, as of this week, temporarily, as the terminal is being redisgned, the counter has Alaska Air first, Sun Country next then Jet Blue and Cape Air is on the right in last position. This will change again in the summer.

Book it when you feel comfortable with the price. We bought our tickets last weekend for our 2wks down there over Thanksgiving as soon as they opened those dates. Price per person jumped up $200 from 750 to 950 and double the miles from 37000 R/T, to 76000 R/T

Maybe JB came to their senses.
Or maybe they heard SWA was planning on flying to SXM <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

A friend and I just returned from a week's trip to SXM taking JetBlue and I'd be happy to sum up the experience. Why did we choose JetBlue? Because the RT/all-in price per person was $575. You can't beat that. Also, with the few extra inches of legroom (I'm 6'3") even in their normal seats, any more room is better than less - although I should have splurged for the "even more room" just to sleep a little better.

Our trip was LAX-JFK-SXM and back with a 3-hour layover in T5 each way. If you care to know some other details, please read below but overall it was a decent experience.

The LAX-JFK flight was a 4.5 hour red-eye which was expected and JetBlue has those nice sleep amenity kits provided for free (ear plugs & eye mask) and a cool flight staff walking by on occasion to give those small bottles of Dasani water to keep hydrated.

The 3-hour layover started around the 5:30am hour and to our surprise, alot of the restaurants in T5 were open for breakfast even though we weren't that hungry and opted for fruit and coffee. Many shops were open too. The terminal has free WiFi all over and the signal's pretty decent. Also, the multiple charging stations helps tremendously with keeping you occupied on the iPad to pass the time away.

The SXM-JFK flight is another 4 hours with little wifi/satellite reception, but the free movies help pass the time again (I caught The Imitation Game and a little of Birdman before getting some sleep). We landed a bit early and getting through customs/immigration at SXM is at a relatively easy time where there aren't too many lines from other massive flights coming through the gates.

The flights home were pretty much the same except the free movies were exactly the same as they were on the way down even though the movie guide specifically said some movies were northbound and others were southbound.

The JFK T5 International arrival process was really smooth. They have new kiosks for checking in US residents so the passport control process is alot faster. Swipe your passport, get your pic taken and confirm your flight number before you go to a passport agent and then the return passport stamp couldn't come quicker. After you pass customs (same as any other with the random checks) you drop off your bags again and you're back in the main luggage carousel area of T5.

One small complaint is I thought international connections would have their own small TSA line so we didn't have to basically go back into the terminal and start over for the usual long TSA lines with all the other JetBlue passengers. No big deal.

The other is the knowledge of the security staff when it comes to bringing in goods back from an international country. Some said the candy I bought from the Duty Free would be ok going through TSA while others were adamant I put it back into my suitcase before going back into T5. At least I had the new "sealed alcohol bag" so TSA can let you pass it through the machines and they will swab the interior pretty quickly. Maybe if the candy was in there I'd have got less trouble from that luggage agent.

Overall, I liked the JetBlue service/process and I'm glad that T5 got the remodel with all the new restaurants and space. Would I use them again? I'm not sure. I say this only because the flight departure/takeoff times as well as the journey time itself are grueling. I've done flights through CLT, ATL and MIA and I'd honestly choose CLT again since its not as busy and hectic as ATL/MIA with a slightly less travel/layover time altogether.

Good report! Gave everyone some first hand knowledge.

Agree here .. I booked last week Jet Blue out of Boston for November.. I had checked the prices just a few days before and did not book.. I ended up paying about $150.00 more each ticket.. I know better ..if you see a decent price book it.. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

We fly out of Boston as well and we find JB to be great. The price isn't great, however, but we do pay it for the non-stop which is worth it's weight in gold. We've been using this route since it's inception. We had to use the connex thru SJU last year due to hubby's becoming ill and we had to change our flights and it was a HORROR SHOW!! The outbound is fine....Bos-SJU...but the connex on the return is horrible. It must be 3 zipcodes. It was way too far for me to walk...I ended up in a chair. They really need to make a change there.... But, other than that....I'll keep flying them even w/the $$$$ fare.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> Contessa