St Barts Flights
 

Can anyone tell me how often the flights leave from St. Maarten to St. Barts, and how many carriers are available? Thanks

I believe that there are two carriers, WinAir and CaribeAir (or something close to that). WinAir has the most flights and is the only one that I have used. Their schedule is very loose. They fly as many flights as they need to get everybody over before the sun sets. (You can't fly into St. Barts after dark.) Most days there are probably 10-12 flights. It is more tightly scheduled coming home.

Winair has about 7 or 8 flights per day from St. Martin to St. Barts. There are no flights after maybe 4 pm or so, because St. Barts has no runway lights or "air traffic control" - it's all visual by the pilot.<BR>The name of the other airline is Air Caraibes. They probably have a similar number of flights, and again, nothing at dusk.

Thanks so much. Do you know the approximate cost? When you book your flight over, do you also book your return?

This year price is around $120-$140 round trip. You do book round trip.<BR>Our experience is that there are "lots" of "scheduled" flights but in reality they fly sporadically when they have enough people. Don't worry they will get you there and often earlier than what is "scheduled". (The first year or two we went we would get hyper over schedules that were "approximate".<BR>During peak times the planes shuttle over and back at about 30 min intervals.<BR>What you do is go check in at the counter inthe main hall (unless you use Gate 10) and go to the gate. At the gate they will have a clipboard with names for the various flights. You wait until they call the next flight and go out onto the tarmac and wait until they "escort" you to the plane (good thing there are several planes all alike and in the dame area. Don't stray from the gate area since they announce the flight orally and not well heard over the loudspeaker system.<BR>They do adhere to more of a "schedule" on the return flights.

Thanks John. Sounds like you're a regular. Mind if I ask where you stay while in St. Barts? We're in the early stages of planning for a trip we hope will take place this fall.

We stay at Le Toiny. If you can afford it, is's the best. Off season rates are not so bad. <BR>when in the fall? It makes a big difference, vis-a-vis hurricanev season and annual closings.<BR>For lesser $, try a villa.<BR>Where are you coming from?

John: We will be going most likely October of this year, and we leave from Boston/Logan. I did find when checking some websites of hotels that at least half were closed at that time, including Le Toiny I think. There is a possibility that by that time, a friend will have bought property on the island (we have our fingers crossed!) and we might get to stay in his villa. It seems that have many on the island to rent as well. I like the looks of Guanahani so far when looking at hotels. We usually travel to the Caribbean in October and are quite familiar with hurricane season...have only had difficulty on two occasions and able to re-book both times. I appreciate your feedback.

I share John's opinion that Le Toiny is the best place on the island. If it isn't available, some other very good and popular "top of the line" choices are Hotel St. Barth Isle de France, Guanahani, Eden Rock, Carl Gustaf.

We take a Charter from Logan direct to SXM then do the Win Air/Air Caraibe thing. The charter is run by GWV and has to be booked thru a travel agent. Not sure they run in Oct. Otherwise you will need to connect. Several options and you can avoid American if you like (US Air thru Phil).<BR>We take the charter since it is nonstop to SXM and makes the connection easier.

Thanks John and Paul. We have used GWV in the past on several occasions, as well as TNT. I don't think they fly to St. Martin in October, but not sure of that. We now have at least one frequent flyer tix so we now take scheduled air to our Caribbean destinations. We usually take American. Best part about the charter, however, is the non-stop. Can't beat it!