BGI Same day turnaround?
 

Hi everyone,

Has anyone ever tried doing a same day turnaround at BGI? I'm planning to come on AA526 from CLT and return on the same aircraft back to CLT.
Arrival time is 2:27pm and departure back to CLT is at 3:50pm.

Also can anyone give me a list of airports in Central/South America/Carribean served nonstop from AA's east coast hubs (NYC,MIA,CLT,PHL) whose distance is barely over 2000mi?

You might have already guessed it this is a MR to get BAEC status.

Thanks

I've been in and out of Grantley Adams International a number of times, but never checked into this aspect of it. I'm thinking it should be doable.

As forbyour second question, try the innosked oneworld interactive map and schedule here.

The Great Circle Mapper here is a good tool to check your mileage on.

Google Flights is a handy tool as well.

A quick-turn CLT-BGI-CLT *might* be doable, IF you can obtain the return boarding pass before leaving CLT. The BGI airport is set up for connecting pax, but it is typically used for pax connecting to/from the smaller islands like St. Lucia and St. Vincent. You might have some explaining to do in order for the local security staff to let you into the departures area.

If you are not able to check in for the return segment at CLT, it will be very, very tight. The immigration lines can move slowly in the afternoon, and you would need to check in at the AA ticket counter at BGI by 2:50pm (1 hour in advance of departure time) in order to be eligible to travel (to meet APIS requirements). 23 minutes might not be enough time, assuming your inbound flight is on time.

Why not stay a night at BGI? There's a Courtyard Marriott, Hilton, and a bunch of others...so you can burn hotel points if you want. And enjoy a beautiful island sunset!

Oistins Friday evening fish fry!

Oistins is pretty good, but expensive. watch out for the hustlers, they will ask you what you want and cut the line for you, but in return they want a tip.. A lot of shady characters at oistins, but great fish that's for sure. Ohh and gotta try their Macaroni Pie.. Pretty good if you're not watching your Carb intake haha.

I go to BGI about once every 6 weeks for work. I hate that airport- That whole island really is "island" time, everything is so slow. Also, they do not take mobile boarding passes, make sure you have a paper pass..

The priority pass lounge is ok, because the terminal is just horrible, so at least you get out of that hell whole until boarding..

I hate that flight and the old ... planes AA uses for the route.. every now and then they have their old school "Lie flat" seats with the IFE screen that is about 50 years old, that's the only time that flight is somewhat enjoyable for me...

BGI is definitely not my favourite airport, but when I'm there I'm prepared for the laid back, care less attitude, because it is what it is.

I certainly agree about Oistins. The hustlers are out there for that. But on the whole, it's a friendly experience and it's easy to get in the "limin', mood and enjoy the freshly cooked fish. Tuna, swordfish, flying fish, spiny lobster... its all there. Very informal.

I tend to agree. IIRC, everyone arriving at BGI must go thru immigration and customs (and then, of course, security) - it's not like SIN where entering the country is at your option. Doing all of that and getting to the gate by 3:20 pm* might be a stretch.

*Must be at the gate ready to board 30 minutes prior to departure or risk being offloaded.

Pre-merger, AA recommended arriving at BGI 2-3 hours prior to departure, and the BGI website still recommends that everyone arrive 3 hours prior to departure. If the OP is prepared for the very real possibility that they miss the flight back to CLT, then they should go for it.

That said, I've turned around on a same-plane trip to Aruba, where you really do need three hours to enter Aruba and complete US pre-clearance and security. I jumped off the plane, ran to Aruba immigration and customs, sprinted to US immigration and zipped thru security to get back to the gate just as they were getting ready to close the door. I had told the crew on the way down what I was doing, and they said they would alert the gate agents and try to hold my spot. It was paid J (albeit at a steep discount), so that may have helped.

Island time is the OP's biggest potential impediment.

Grantley Adams customs waits can be long particularly if there are several wide-bodies in from the UK. I know VS arrives at 305pm with an A330 and BA at 315pm with a 777. Hopefully you will beat them! Shame you are not staying overnight, BGI is a world class destination.

Thanks everyone for your inputs!

I just talked to a Barbadian friend and he warned me about how slow things can get at that time of the day, the biggest issue on my end is that the CLT-BGI-CLT flights are only once a week so missing the same-day return flight will ruin the MR.

I've already been to BGI twice in the past, now staying there for a week just to catch the nonstop flight back to CLT is not an option.

I've looked into other flights that satisfy my criterion such as PHX-SJO or LAX-MBJ but unfortunately they both run once a week.

Why not JFK-LAS, PHL-SFO or CLT-SFO? Those exceed 2000 miles and there are multiple flights daily. :confused: