Eleven More Days!

Dear Melissa

When you say "that wasn't the way to go"...I am assuming you are referring to flying on American Airlines through San Juan to St Croix.

Well...I don't know who gave you that bad advive. Because I have flown on America Airlines through San Juan dozens of times over the years and I have NEVER had a significant problem. You heard me right, no luggage delayed, let alone lost. No major flight delays, let alone cancelled. So...

Rest easy, your air connections should be trouble free. American Airlines has more flights in and out of the USVI than any other airline ,so they have the experience to do it well. I am sure that some people occasionally have a problem and complain on line. think of all the people who DID NOT HAVE A PROBLEM so had nothing to complain about.

Enjoy your trip.

I concur -- never had a bad connex in SJU. When we lived in the DC suburbs we had a direct flight from Dulles - San Juan with a close connection to STX. We never missed it going either way. In probably 20 round trips, our luggage was delayed only once, and it was in STX on the next flight an hour later. For us the alternative was flying to Miami and waiting three hours -- unacceptable.

My son will be in school in Colorado in the fall -- connections from Colorado Springs to Dallas to San Juan to STX. It sounds like a nightmare, but I've transited both Dallas and San Juan a lot on AA and never had a problem.

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm glad to hear that AA isn't all bad. I guess I should've made myself a little more clear. Specifically I've heard the trouble being the connect in Chicago.

Congratulations! You sound a lot more prepared than I was, and even so, it just didn't matter. My shipment was delayed by one month due to all of the hurricane activity last summer near Florida, but I had a roof over my head, a LOT of advice from this board and the discussions, and went right to business getting things done (and getting to the beach every afternoon!).

I loved it then and love it even more now.

Best wishes, welcome and safe journey to you both,

Dan G.

Melissa,
Can you still get to Toledo? We're always up for a beer. You deserve one now that the hardwork is done. We are still waiting on all our answers as an update for you. Not ready to pack just yet, though.
I've done the connection (DTW, Chic, San Juan) and all has gone well. Although Toledo used to have an ATA flight Tol, Chic, San Juan that I liked better.

One time we missed a flight from Dallas to San Juan due to a problem with the airplane. The previous pilot was a large man, and our pilot was skinny. The seat adjuster was broken. So they had to switch planes whuch caused us to miss the fight. AA put us up in a hotel room in the SAn Juan airport, food vouchers, and we arrived in STX the next morning a 9:00 instead of 10:00 at night. No big deal.
The first time we have luggage that didn't arrive until later the next day. It wasn't lost, they just didn't have room on the plane for all of the luggage.
Going through Chicago, we have not had any problems except the same luggage problem. That is a San Juan to STX problem.
Just pack enough in a carry-on to get you through a couple of days, just in case.

My parents were just here visiting. They flew AA and were stuck in San Juan for 4 hours because of "a problem with the airplane door" (translation: crew late; passengers usually don't get as pissed if they claim a mechanical problem rather than personnel issue).

On the return they were again stuck in San Juan for even longer, again due that darn plane door (different plane)...

This is a very sad situation. Sorry Your parents had such a hard time Jules. I made the decision to fly AA direct from NY a while back after hearing such stories. I don't know where your parents are flying in from, but maybe they can make their stop in NY instead of PR. However, I have yet to make this trip so who knows about the luggage making it there!! LOL!

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