BostonAndy
SBH Member
Carry-on only and in row 2. More worried about getting through TSA line in BOS for 7:30am flight. I've seen Reddit posts about JFK this week where its been a war zone.
Blasphemy?
- Thread starter Aipotu
- Start date
cassidain
Senior Insider
in February we did outbound thru SXM and return thru SJU.
don't know if this is SOP but, upon arrival at SXM, we walked down airstairs to tarmac and then onto bus (packed to the gills) and it no longer mattered if you were in row 2 or 42.
if we hadn't had Premium IV it would have been a cluster you-know-what.
Yes, it is SOP, which takes away all of the value of paying extra for front of the plane seats, if that's your thing. The only thing to do is to make sure you grab a seat or standing spot near a door on the bus and run through. But things do move faster inside the airport now, with all of the kiosks and facial recognition tools. As long as your plane lands on time, 65 minutes will be annoying for the airline, but they will get you onto your plane.
jamiem4
SBH Insider
Hi, if you travel frequently, you may want to check out CLEAR, or CLEAR+. It also comes free with some credit cards. My friend just went through BOS yesterday with CLEAR and it took 14-minutes vs. ~ 3-4 (or more) hours. She said that at least 10 people missed their London Heathrow flight. I believe now the TSA personnel will be paid so perhaps it will not be so awful as it has been this past week.
cassidain
Senior Insider
Boston International Airport CLEAR Locations & Hours | CLEAR
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cassidain
Senior Insider
Not flying in cattle section is definitely one of my things
jamiem4
SBH Insider
Oh goodness then. I believe the Heathrow flight was out of B terminal so she easily made it with CLEAR. Hopefully it will improve shortly.CLEAR in A, B, E terminals. Not JetBlue's C terminal.Boston International Airport CLEAR Locations & Hours | CLEAR
Discover how CLEAR powers seamless security at Boston Logan International Airport. Skip the long BOS airport lines and travel with ease using CLEAR today.
In our never-ending musical houses travel, yesterday my husband flew SBH - SJU - ATL - SAN (Delta) and he said the CLEAR line in SJU was a breeze vs the TSA and TSA+ lines which were out the door. When I flew back to St. Barts on Tuesday, I used CLEAR+ in San Diego (SAN) however SAN did not have long TSA lines at all. It was 7:30pm though and it took about 5-minutes so the time of day was also a factor. At the gate in Atlanta traveling to San Juan, about 20 people missed the flight. When we landed in San Juan it was very sad to see. It was warm at ~ 11:30am and since I connected to Tradewind, I walked past the never ending sea of people. There were a lot of people and pets struggling between standing for hours and the A/C was almost non-existent and probably at capacity, coupled with a lack of bottled water at the little stores. The lines snaked outside of the airport. Very sad.
Let's hope for easier travels for everyone going forward and best to monitor it closely of course.
cassidain
Senior Insider
Did anyone mention that flying TW is sexier too ? 
Saline Man
SBH Insider
I have always said: you know you have "made it" when you do not have to fly commercial anymore. Private to SXM and connecting, would not be an issue at all.
BostonAndy
SBH Member
Waiting to board St.Barts commuter flight. BOS -> SXM flight arrived 20 min early, but would have made connection even if on-time or a little late.
No bus on landing - just walk in terminal and then down corridor (past transfer security) to SBC counter. Get boarding passes and then go back to transfer security. Easy-peasy.
BOS TSA line @5:30am was typical length (about 15 min). No sign of JFK chaos.
cassidain
Senior Insider
for those who want to wake up at 4:00 am and have available a nonstop to SXM, the SXM connection can be a reasonable option. especially without checked bags. for many of us, SXM means a mid to late afternoon tight/risky connection amid lots of incoming flights from stateside.
True story...many years ago...I took a small charter with the family from SB to PR....I couldn't get Tradewinds...anyways, about 30 minutes before the flight...I'm in the men's room...there is someone smoking a joint...I leave...and then wait outside...the pilot...a young kid comes out...I say nothing...anyways, we get flying to PR...my son is in the co-pilot seat...me and Momma are in the back...I notice something funny going on...My wife says to me...Is Ryan (our son) flying the plane? I say quietly...yes...it will be alright...no problems...Ryan looks like he is having fun...We get near PR...pilot tells us...to start looking outside for other planes as his radio has quit...and the backup isn.t working...We fly into PR with no radio...we make it in OK, but it was quite an adventure...I'm very chill in high risk situations...but Momma was very upset with me...but still married after 36 years...I've taken her on a few adventures...
amyb
Senior Insider
Yikes!
Beachcomber
SBH Insider
Was his name Fredrick and did he have a German accent?
I wouldn't have gotten on the plane.
Dennis
Senior Insider
Was his name Cheech?
Beachcomber
SBH Insider
There was a guy named Fredrick that lived on Island and he made his living flying overbooked passengers to SBH. He would hang out at the commuter airline desk at SXM and approach people who couldn’t get on the flight over. I flew with him twice and lived to tell. The first time over to SBH the left wheel of the plane was off the runway in the grass. On the flight back over to St Martin we went to Grand Case. As we were approaching the airport the plane stalled and we were heading straight down to the water. There was dead silence from the engine. He messed with the controls and suddenly the engine roared back to life. We came in hard and bounced down the runway a couple of times. When we got over to the terminal he looked over the top of the little blue Granny glasses he was wearing and said. “Eetz not alvase like Zees.” That was my last flight on Air Fredrick.
My first laughs of the day reading these! My own story is in 1970 flying from SXM to Saba daytrip with then boyfriend. Those who have been, know that landing space too. On our departure, hurling down the runway, I could see the door was open so yelled to the pilot who in response said, close it !
