st. maarten to saba.. questions

[seff]

I arrive in philipsburg at about 3pm on friday, may 1st. However, it seems as though none of the ferry's will be operating at this time (I sure didn't plan that flight accordingly) and only winair will be operating. Now, I will have 2 or 3 bags with me at this point.. what do you recommend I do?

one option is to take winair at 5pm to saba, and only take a bag with me and hope the others come within the next day or two (also, what do we do about that... does a taxi just pick them up for us and drop them off??)

the other is to get a hotel in st maarten for the night and take the early ferry on saturday morning... thoughts? input?

[seff]

decided to just go ahead and book winair

i guess ill get my bags ......someday.

[darkmansaad]

your bags will be dropped off at the school, label them with your name CLEARLY. Last time i was there they were all dropped off at the cafeteria, believe me when all the students fly in they will have similar problems u arent alone. Enjoy the quiet time before school starts, i recommend drinking many heinekens

[seff]

what about shipping things down beforehand? do you recommend any company over the other for "on-time" shipping... fedex, ups, etc?

[KingMo]

what about shipping things down beforehand? do you recommend any company over the other for "on-time" shipping... fedex, ups, etc?

Those are some expensive options. The only reasonable way is ******* free exports...but that takes about three or so weeks.

[awelchnp]

If you are flying to SXM on U.S. AIRWAYS you can check your bags all the way through to Saba. Winair has a baggage agreement with them. It will also save you from having to clear immigration in St Maarten. Just check in @ the Winair desk @ the "transfers" area before you get to Immigration. There is an in depth Thread on this subject somewhere on here. Just do a search. Good Luck, and always remember that winair is on "Island Time" so don't get excited!!!!!!!!

[seff]

perfect
i actually am with US Airways.. i will do a search for this.

I still think im going to ship a box down with some things, like a printer, desklamp, paper, stationary etc and some snacks

[awelchnp]

http://www.valuemd.com/saba-university-school-medicine/162467-luggage-restrictions-air.html


This is the thread..... I did the same thing that you are planning (shipping some items by ******* Free) and it worked great.. Best of luck..

[JLea]

The last two times I flew with USAir (November and January), the USAir Ticket agent in the US refused to check the bags all the way through. USAir is now collecting tariffs for its interline baggage agreement partners, so the ticket agents are supposed to make you pay Winair's bag fees. What happened with me is that the USAir agents in the US did not want to figure out how much Winair charges nor did they want to go to the trouble to collect said charges.

I suggest that you take your USAir and Winair iteneraries to your airport of departure PRIOR to the day that you travel to the island and see if the USAir people will find out how to check your bags all the way through to Saba and how much it will cost. At least you will not have any surprises when you check-in.

[awelchnp]

the last two times i flew with usair (november and january), the usair ticket agent in the us refused to check the bags all the way through. Usair is now collecting tariffs for its interline baggage agreement partners, so the ticket agents are supposed to make you pay winair's bag fees. What happened with me is that the usair agents in the us did not want to figure out how much winair charges nor did they want to go to the trouble to collect said charges.

I suggest that you take your usair and winair iteneraries to your airport of departure prior to the day that you travel to the island and see if the usair people will find out how to check your bags all the way through to saba and how much it will cost. At least you will not have any surprises when you check-in.


great advice!!!!!!!

[seff]

Thanks for the input.

Also, do you guys know if 1hour between landing and departing is enough time to get everything done between getting off my US airways plane and onto my WinAir? I arrive at 3:15pm and depart at 4:15pm... hope that is enough time!

[awelchnp]

If your bags are checked all the way through it will be no problem. If not, it will be tough.

[seff]

hmm
i really hope they check all my bags through then.. i cant necessarily go the day before and do it either, because im going to be driving from toronto to buffalo and then flying out from there... and my flight is reallllllly early.. so I really hope the US airways knows what they're doing!

do you know if winair charges money to change my flight time? say an hour or so later?

[awelchnp]

Not to discourage you, but the only thing dependable about Winair is that there are NO solid answers. They may change your flight for no charge, they may not..... Depends on who you talk to and what kind of day they are having. They do have a later flight that leaves @ 1720 but with it being close to the begining of the semester.... chances are that flight will be full. In my opinion, the best thing you can do is call US AIRWAYS @ Buffalo. Talk to a supervisor there. DO NOT CALL the 800 number. You will be dealing with the agents in Buffalo when you fly. They won't care what someone @ the reservation center told you. Don't give up!!! And don't panic if you get stuck @ SXM. You aren't the first and you won't be the last. Planes fly every day (unless the wind is blowing the wrong direction :)). You WILL get to saba!!!!!!!:)

[awelchnp]

I'm curious...... How did everything work out?

[andrewdalton]

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