USAir.com states that both off-peak and peak recommended check-in times for STT are 3 hours. Never having flown this route before (and going to in Sept), does anybody have a better feel for the necessity of this overly-long check-in requirement? I'll be on the CLT flight that leaves at 3pm. Also, can UA Premier members use the First Class line? Thanks for your advice :)

I think CLT-STT you can use your usual check-in time. Returning STT-CLT, I would give yourself three hours. The ticket agents are extremely slow, and customs can be a mess (at least it was for me). I was there while a volcano erupted, resulting in the airport coming to a halt. Hopefully less worries for you...

STT does have a preferred/first class line which I suggest you avail yourself of ;)

I flew STT-CLT most recently on May 11. The regular check-in lines can be verrrrry slow. I do not know if United elites are allowed to use the US preferred line. Be aware that on Saturdays, there is an additional PHL-STT-PHL flight that leaves before yours, bogging things down even more.

Typically, I check-in 2 hours before flight time, due to the ferry schedule from St. John. The longest it has ever taken me in a preferred line, immigration, customs and security was 45 minutes. For this last trip I checked-in online, carried-on my bag and total time from taxi drop-off until I was at the gate was 8 minutes.

I would strongly consider a 2 hour check-in time rather than 3 hours.

At LGA and BDA, I was able to check-in using the Preferred line as a Premier on United. Also, every reservations agent I spoke to regarding this trip, informed me that I could use the First/Perferred line as a United Premier.

The signs at the airport say the recommend a 2 hour arrival. In any event, in July, we checked in at noon with no line, our bags were tagged and returned to us. We then took a taxi to Charlotte Amalie ($6 per person) and spent the afternoon at an outdoor cafe. When we got back to the airport at 4:00, we got through customs/TSA quickly since we avoided the check-in line. i haev to agree with other posters that the staff were not as quick as at some other airports.