I was really holding out hope for our February trip!!

[pipergal]

Then this came
Important update on your upcoming flight


An update about your scheduled flight to/from the Caribbean



Due to the hurricanes that impacted the Caribbean, United is suspending all flights to and from St. Thomas (STT) and St. Maarten (SXM) through April 8.

[hoosierdaddy]

Don't give up! What about a different airlines?

[PatrickMcc]

Check out flying United to San Juan and connecting on Cape Air. AMerican, Delta, Jet Blue and maybe others are still flying to St. Thomas.

[chicagoans]

Me too! I was in 'wait and see' mode... also planned to go down in February. (Original plan was to do 8 Tuff.) I just got off the phone with United and they're processing a refund. I'd rather have my vacation! (Booked with miles, so it will be tough to get a better fare!) I was so excited about the house I booked, and of course to return to my favorite island.

[HeidiD]

We’re in the same boat. We had 10 nights booked at Grande Bay for Easter and were very much looking forward to getting back to St. John. From what I hear, everyone on island is hoping tourists will return for the winter/spring season. Well, last week our flights were canceled. We were booked with American and Delta. I looked at rebooking but there’s only a couple flights going but they’re with 2 layovers (from JFK, direct flights are usually not a problem) and the fares are nearly $1000. For a family of 4, we can’t do that. We were forced to cancel our reservations and are really upset about it. I will give a shout out, though, to Crandall (who we booked our Grande Bay villa with) they were very understanding and gave us a prompt refund of our deposit.

[KAY]

Our return flight to Chicago in February was also cancelled however I just rebooked with American Airlines as their prices dropped since initially looking after the United email. Little more than I originally paid, 1 stop instead of nonstop (a rare luxury) and American is not my favorite but... still hoping to get there!!

[lpowmacback]

I wonder why United is canceling - if the airport is open, it's open. I also wonder if other airlines will follow suit. We have flights with American going April 2nd, and with Delta returning on the 11th.

[lpowmacback]

Strange- I just did a search with United for flights leaving April 2nd and returning April 11th, and they have them available.

[RickG]

United is backing away from St. Thomas. Go with Delta. We used to love our direct flights on United from IAD, but Delta has better service and is more reliable.

If we can get our boat repaired in time, we'll be down for two weeks in January.

Cheers, RickG

[iheartsj]

Just a couple replies to comments on this thread

Heidi D
“From what I hear, everyone on island is hoping tourists will return for the winter/spring season.”

Not EVERYONE. the businesses want tourists. But residents are not ready. Still too much devastation and trauma. There is still only power to Cruz Bay and a small distance outside Cruz.

by lpowmacback
I wonder why United is canceling - if the airport is open, it's open.

The airport has only 2 gates open. Flights can only arrive or leave during daylight since the control tower is still a temporary. FAA rules. The airport departure lounge is still very damaged. The luggage carousals aren't working properly.

[Chas]

Many residents do want the return of visitors; their presence provides employment either directly or indirectly for most of the people who live in the USVI!

Jet Blue has re-instated their BOS/STT non-stop starting Jan 4 (and at a great fare).