TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin No more early check-in at the airport

I'm presently at Princess Juliana - for the second time today <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />
For about 15 of the 18 years that I've been here, I've dropped off my luggage in the a.m. in order to enjoy a leisurely day (w/o worrying about luggage) before returning to board in the late afternoon.
No more.
We were not allowed to check in more than 4 hours before flight time (which ended up being delayed) --- "new policy" we were told.

Hi. That stinks.. What airline????

US Airways

JetBlue has a similar policy. 4 hours before departure is the earliest bags can be checked.

And on a busy Saturday it's not always even as much as four hours. We had a 2:00 Saturday departure a year ago and they wouldn't accept our bags more than two hours ahead of our flight. We were allowed to check in but what good is that if you still have your luggage?

Yes. that is kinda normal.

SXM??? Wendell

This has been the recommended time for check in with luggage for several months now. Most airlines will not be open for check-in earlier than this timeline .

We checked in today (Jet Blue) around 10am only to find that our flight was delayed. Would have been nice to hang out at the beach, plenty of time for lunch and a few drinks, but our group decided to just hang in the AC at the bar. Guess it was better to spend our money at the bar than on a taxi back and forth! (11 of us)

The LaPlage lets us keep our luggage with them in a room near the lobby desk until we are ready to head to the airport.

..except for AA. We've always been able to check in bags early with them.

We have the same option at the Towers but we've always been in the habit of flying home on AA and they used to have a far more liberal baggage check policy, and for all I know, they still may. As long as their early morning flight (8am?) was all cleared they would accept bags for later flights, but because they've eliminated their n/s to JFK for some time frames, we now find ourselves going home on JB more and more. A year ago April past, not knowing this, we tried to checked in around 11 ish and as they completed the paperwork we started putting our bags on the conveyor and they told us we couldn't check our bags until 12:30 for our 2ish flight. This was on a busy Saturday and they cited space constraints as their reason. But they did say this could vary by day of the week and time of year but the earliest was two hours before departure. Based on our past experiences with AA it sounded a little crazy to us but it is what it is, whatever that is. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

United wouldn't let me check luggage before 4 hours

Flamingo has a luggage check room to keep your luggage in before you leave to airport. They also have a unit set aside as a free change room with shower you can book ahead for cleanup if you want to spend the afternoon on the beach or pool after check out.

We attempted a 10 a.m check in on July 3. Our return flight on AA was scheduled for 2:45 p.m. No one was at the AA counters. We went to the AA info booth near the entrance and were told that 3 hours was the maximum time that we could check in ahead of our flight. They even suggested that we wait until 12:30 or so. Thank goodness we ignored them and came back at 11:45 and got our luggage checked in just before the airport evacuation that day. Saved a lot of hassle.

And they suggest 3 hour for international checkin on the web page.

Interesting, we have always been able to check in and leave bags on AA way early.. Odd that there was no one at the counters at 10 AM for you. We returned to the US on AA on June 23. We had decided to just go to the airport and stay, so didn't show up until around 1:15. Obviously no problem at that time to check in and check bags. Guess next time on AA we will need to keep better track.

Another reason to go carry-ons only.

Having checked bags is no big deal. To me, limiting yourself to just carry on is. Especially with all the TSA liquid restrictions. Always fun watching people with an overstuffed carry on try and stuff the bag in the overhead only to be told they have to gate check it. Then thank them for a delayed departure.

Yes, that's what we ended up doing ... returning to Flamingo in order to store them, allowing us a few "worry-free" hours.

Yes, that's what we ended up doing ... returning to Flamingo in order to store them, allowing us a few "worry-free" hours. [/quote] I've stayed there 3 times and never knew this was possible. As we were leaving this trip someone mentioned it but it was too late to take advantage of it. I still don't know how to go about it.

I've stayed there 3 times and never knew this was possible. As we were leaving this trip someone mentioned it but it was too late to take advantage of it. I still don't know how to go about it. [/quote]

Simply tell whoever is at the reception desk that you need to store your luggage before your flight. There's a locked storage area to the right of (before) the entrance door.

Simply tell whoever is at the reception desk that you need to store your luggage before your flight. There's a locked storage area to the right of (before) the entrance door. [/quote] I didn't know about the shower room thing being available.

The same is available at Divi---storage & shower