Concerns on flights to St. Kitts, Question on connection time needed in St. Maarten

[BigJimDiver]

I still need to book my St. Maarten-St. Kitts flight for our trip next spring on Caribbean Explorer II St. Kitts-St. Maarten itinerary and have concerns about connection times in St. Maarten. We are flying Continental R/T Newark-St. Maarten, and still need to purchase a one way St. Maarten to St. Kitts leg. Arrive in St. Maarten Friday at (currently) 12:05 PM. My issue is that the only option seems to be Liat, and currently have options of a 2:20PM departure from St. Maarten through Antigua, taking a direct at 8:50PM that evening, or trying to enjoy a portion of an afternoon in St. Maarten and catching a flight the next morning/midday. Concerns are:
1) We don't have enough time (2.25 hours) to get luggage, clear customs in St. Maarten, check back in with Liat, clear security and catch the 2:20 PM flight, especially if Continental changes arrival times or we have any delays to St. Maarten;
2) If we go with the 8:50PM SXM-SKB nonstop we kill what could have been a nice day in St. Maarten and a boring 8.5 hours at the St. Maarten airport (but will still enjoy the morning in St. Kitts before heading to CEII, and seems to be the "safest" option, unless of course Liat has some issue and cancels that flight before then or it's cancelled that day for equipment/maintenance issue);
3) Chose the 2:30 1-stop but have 2x the possibility of luggage issue with plane change in Antigua;
4) If we chose to enjoy the ~1/2 day in St. Maarten, kill too much time getting to the hotel for an eventual 1/3 afternoon relaxing, dinner, and bed to just have to get up early the next morning to back to airport for the whole check in process again to catch a ~7:30AM direct flight to St. Kitts.

If anyone can fill me in on how crazy St. Maarten might normally be on a midday Friday and Saturday early morning for customs clearance/Liat check in/security clearance it would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Rhone Man]

My experiences of clearing in (and out) of St Maarten is that it is not an especially time consuming airport. Certainly takes less time than most US airports.

However, I always tell people booking flights on LIAT to treat indicated times as "guidelines". Rough "guidelines" at that.

I can't recall which routes they do now, but is Winair an option for you?

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

When I did the CEII from St Kitt to St Maarten, I was thinking of doing round trip from NYC to St Kitt and after the liveaboard, fly back to St Kitt (cuz St RT to St Kitt seemed to be much cheaper). Turns out to be not worth the effort. What we did was fly in Sat to St kitt and went directly to the liveaboard, and once we reached St Maarten, stayed an extra day on St Maarten on Divi since and flew back to NYC on Sun. The RT airfare flying back on sunday was strangely much cheaper so the one night at the resort cost us less than if we flied back on Sat.

 

[1erCRU]

SXM has an "IN TRANSIT" door/route for passengers just changing planes, you won't need to go though St. Martin C & I if you stay inside the secure area of the terminal. How you handle your checked bags is important; they'll need to be checked through at EWR to St Kitts (on which ever flight you decide), otherwise you will have to claim your bags go through with the whole C & I entry process then back through the C & I exit process, recheck your bags to St Kitts, AND secuity again!

 

[BigJimDiver]

Unfortunatley LIAT seems to be the only option. If we are a little late (late departure from Neark, who'd of thought?) and have a line clearing Customs & Immigration, and then stil have to check back in and go through security it may be tight.

 

[1erCRU]

Unfortunatley LIAT seems to be the only option. If we are a little late (late departure from Neark, who'd of thought?) and have a line clearing Customs & Immigration, and then stil have to check back in and go through security it may be tight.

I wouldn't sweat too much about being late for a LIAT flight, it's quite likely THEY will be late, even hours! (Leave Island at Anytime Time is still true)

As I mentioned in my previous post when you arrive at SXM use the "passengers in transit" door, don't follow the de-planeing crowd all the way to baggage claim and immigration. You'll be right at the departure gates, check LIAT's "estimated" departure, grab a beer and find a seat.

 

[BigJimDiver]

Thanks for the suggestions. I just received some further clarification from Continental, The one complication is that Continental doesn't have an agreement with LIAT so will only check my luggage through to Saint Maarten. I travel through many international airports on my way to another country and am familiar with the "In transit passengers" route (to avoid another pass through security), the baggage drops after clearing Customs are typically generic (not specific to an airline, just for all Passengers passing through with luggage already tagged) so typically cannot check you in and tag your luggage to its final destination. When on business I am often traveling with only a Suit bag carry on, and even if I have checked luggage it is already tagged through to my final destination on CO’s partner ariline so this is not an issue. Hence my issue/question: If I need to get my luggage tagged is there a LIAT desk prior to exiting the “secure” area of the airport where check in will likely be faster than at the main check in desk, and I avoid a possible delay in passing through security?

 

[1erCRU]

Prior to exiting the "secure" area SXM now has some "Transfer Information Desks" where you can get assistance with your non thru-checked bags. They service their connection customers collect your checked tags and bags and route them to their airline and collect the SXM "in transit departure fee" ($15) and get you to the departure area.

I never check bags so I did not pay too much attention (I just head for the in transit area with my roll-aboard) but last time I was there LIAT (and US carriers) were NOT among the airlines operating at this service desk. So you guest it...you will have to go thru the entire drill. You might try calling LIAT to see if that's changed.

A friend uses Air St. Maarten VIP Service which for a fee gives the same baggage services for any airline or private plane connection. I've no experience with them but maybe it's worth checking out if time is tight.

Hope this helps a bit!

 

[BigJimDiver]

Thanks, it helps quite a bit. At least I now know who and what to ask. Appreciate the insight!