The Caribbean - Flying WinAir from St Maarten, make sure your bag is bang on the weight limit!

WinAir has a policy that bags can not weigh more than 23kg (around 46lb) which is fair I guess as they use tiny prop planes to places with very short landing facilities.

Checking in from St Maarten to St Bart's with WinAir, one of the bags was 28 kg's the other 10 kg's. We were told that there was no way they would let us get away with this even though the weight didn't (combined) add up to 46 Kgs. We had to repack and ended up taking some of the stuff as hand luggage which ended up in the back anyway together with the rest of the luggage. Anyway, when our one bag came to 23.5 Kg's the checkin lady still wouldn't let it go. There was no point in starting to argue and made sure she saw we repacked as carry on... She couldn't care or less!

Last time I'm going with WinAir...

//F

if you are going to reject all airlines that observe the rules, you may never fly again. AA,ua and US will not allow 52 lb(23.5kg) bags when the allowance is 50 lbs.

Winair flies small planes, including STOL. Believe me, you don't want to fly an overweight plane, unless you're an ancient Egyptian and want all your crap to follow you to your watery grave.

that's how every carrier in the Caribbean that flies small planes works :) I suggest visiting somewhere else next time

that's how every carrier in the Caribbean that flies small planes works :) I suggest visiting somewhere else next time

Not EVERY carrier. Ever been to Haiti?? :D

Not EVERY carrier. Ever been to Haiti?? :D
Yup... on an Air France A320, and on land.

Never on a small plane. Please tell me what can be done in Haiti ;)

that's how every carrier in the Caribbean that flies small planes works :) I suggest visiting somewhere else next time

Weird answer, as this has never happened to me before flying in The Caribbean amongst other far out places in the world... :rolleyes:

The 23Kg on the checked bags means (according to Winair) 23Kg and not a gram over. The rest came as hand luggage so the weight on the plane was still the same had the extra kgs been in the bags...

I hold a PPL so I'm very well aware of weight restrictions and weight distributions...

if you are going to reject all airlines that observe the rules, you may never fly again. AA,ua and US will not allow 52 lb(23.5kg) bags when the allowance is 50 lbs.

I have NEVER been told that I should pay overweight because my bags were too heavy even though they have been a few kg's too heavy.

Could be different in the US or on US carriers...

Could also be that I'm not over weight :eek:

That's, by the way, an iterresting point. Why should a person holding and BMI over the average not pay extra for his/her extra personal weight?

Weird answer, as this has never happened to me before flying in The Caribbean amongst other far out places in the world... :rolleyes:

The 23Kg on the checked bags means (according to Winair) 23Kg and not a gram over. The rest came as hand luggage so the weight on the plane was still the same had the extra kgs been in the bags...

I hold a PPL so I'm very well aware of weight restrictions and weight distributions...
well, this is where I live, and what I deal with.

Some carriers (Air Sunshine comes to mind, but I know others have done this) will actually request the pax weights at checkin.

Some carriers (Air Sunshine comes to mind, but I know others have done this) will actually request the pax weights at checkin.

99% of the time pax is weighed for the actual weight distribution for seating, but usually you don't have this for tiny planes (such as a 6 seater).

Seaborne Airlines (amongst others) which flies between St Croix and St Thomas practices this no matter what size you are. Have also been asked about my weight before boarding a DC-3 years back when flying in Africa...

Seaborne Airlines (amongst others) which flies between St Croix and St Thomas practices this no matter what size you are.

That they do. They also fly to San Juan (Isla Grande), which is quite convenient for weekends in the VI

Brilliant little planes don't you think? I love flying these (as pax) and landing on water always fascinates me :-)

Complain all you like, but the other carriers that fly this route will do the same.

Brilliant little planes don't you think? I love flying these (as pax) and landing on water always fascinates me :-)
Oh yeah... but they've gone completely land based for flights out of SIG.. boo! No more fun.

But then again, no SJU, so no complaints from me:D

Yup... on an Air France A320, and on land.

Never on a small plane. Please tell me what can be done in Haiti ;)

Based on what I can only imagine was crammed onto that A320, I suspect you already have a pretty good idea. ;)

I am flying this same route in two weeks. I am looking on WinAir's site and cant find specifics about what you can carry on. It lists the typical handbag, umbrella, camera stuff, and says the limit is 6lbs, and then that all cabin bags are included in the 50lbs free allowance. It specifically mentions cabin bags, briefcases, etc.

I have a 22" rollaboard that I intend to check, and it wont be over 50lbs. But could I carry on a small backpack that fits under the seat? It would be at around or less than 6lbs, but I am curious as to what the OP meant by having his hand luggage put in the back anyway. Do they take hand luggage from you to put in the back like on the Regional Jets in the US?

"Fits under the seat" may not apply in this case. But their guidelines are pretty accurate. If it's small (like, six pounds), you'll be fine. Last time I flew, I had a small backpack and just held it on my lap (it's not like there's a FA or anyone making sure you have everything stowed). It is tight, tight quarters, especially if the flight is full. Nothing even like a regional jet in the US.

So all went well, one of us had a camera bag (DSLR size) and one of us had a beach bag which both went under the seat. Our checked luggage was the 22" rollaboard bag we check in SXM. It was given back to us plane side after we landed in SBH, even though there was a baggage claim in SBH.

Interesting thing though, our flight was showing on the monitors in the airport that morning as a 945a departure, though our BP and reservations said 955a. At 925a we began boarding the flight, and we were in St Barths on the ground by 950a. I have heard stories of WinAir changing flight times, but wow! So be sure you are at your gate early. There were only 4 of us, and they had all of us at the gate, so they go!

On the way back, we checked in early (checked the bag at 11a for a 430p flight and left for the beach), and at the gate, they called out for passengers on the earlier flight. We told them that we were on the flight leaving 30 minutes later, but they just moved us to the earlier flight. Cool with us!

Immigration in SXM defeated any early arrival benefits though...the immigration agents moved at a snails pace and had a whole MD80 from Haiti in front of them.

WinAir has a policy that bags can not weigh more than 23kg (around 46lb) which is fair I guess as they use tiny prop planes to places with very short landing facilities.

Checking in from St Maarten to St Bart's with WinAir, one of the bags was 28 kg's the other 10 kg's. We were told that there was no way they would let us get away with this...

Last time I'm going with WinAir...
Your alternatives are:

1) St. Barth's Commuter (operating a 7 pax Britten Norman Islander - Pilatus)-- smaller than WinAir's plane and 20kg per passenger checked bag limitation-- so this won't work for you;

2) Private aircraft charter;

3) Circuitous, expensive connecting routing with long layover via Pointe a Pitre on Air Caraibes;

4) MV Voyager ferry (75 minutes travel time) 5 times per week;

5) The Edge high speed ferry (45 minutes travel time) 5 times per week;

6) High speed boat charter; or

7) Alternate destination with more frequent service by larger aircraft.